AP, SUNRISE, Florida
The Florida Panthers often show up to work in suits, but until further notice, they are wearing robes.
The Stanley Cup champions received personalized bathrobes for their two-game trip to Finland last week, a gift from the team. They showed up for the two games there wearing the robes and won both.
As winning streaks in ice hockey are never messed with, the robes are still in style. Every Panthers player showed up at the arena on Thursday wearing their robes — which remain unbeaten after Florida beat the Nashville Predators 6-2.
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky reacts after their NHL game against the Nashville Predators at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Thursday.
Photo: AP
“I think we’re just going to ride it out until our luck runs out,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said.
It was a spur-of-the-moment idea by the Panthers to wear the robes — a nod to Finland’s sauna culture — to the games in Tampere, Finland, last week.
They decided at their morning skate on Thursday to keep the new tradition alive, with captain Aleksander Barkov sending a message to the team group chat saying to wear the robes to work.
“You’ve got to be some kind of superstitious at some point, right?” Barkov said. “While it’s working for us, we’ll keep going with that.”
