Barkley has appeared to become a fan of the Panthers during their Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final

Charles Barkley is hockey’s biggest new superfan.

The former NBA superstar and current well-known studio host for the NBA on TNT studio shows has actually been a hockey fan for a while, but thanks to the TNT network beginning to broadcast NHL games this season, Barkley has been much more vocal about hockey.

Recently, Barkley has been talking about the Florida Panthers.

While promoting the upcoming Stanley Cup Final, which will feature the Panthers and be broadcast on TNT, Barkley took the opportunity to praise the Cats and their superstar.

“We are not worthy” Barkley proclaimed while speaking about Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk.

“He’s a nonstop highlight reel,” added fellow panelist Ernie Johnson.

Barkley went on to say that he was passing the torch from Keith Tkachuk, one of the best hockey players in American history, to his son, Matthew, who had just scored the series-clinching goal to send the Panthers to the championship series.

There was another thing Barkley said during the promo that has gotten a fair amount of attention.

Barkley, in his trademark amusingly oblivious way, butchered the name of Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

“I’ma just tell ya’ll something,” Barkley began as he was setting up his comments on Tkachuk.

“Sir-jay Bo-bov-ka, the goalie for the Panthers…”

I’m sorry, Charles…who?

Sergei Bobrovsky? The ridiculously hot goaltender for the Panthers who has been playing lights out while leading Florida to the Stanley Cup Final?

The leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the playoff MVP, who is currently carrying a 11-2 record during the playoffs along with a 2.21 goals against average and .935 save percentage?

All kidding aside, this is clearly just Barkley being Barkley.

It’s fun, it’s hilarious, and at the end of the day, it’s very telling that one of the biggest names in basketball is continuously talking about how awesome both the Panthers and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are.

The next step will be Barkley attending a Stanley Cup Final game, or perhaps even better, joining a TNT broadcast of the final and, dare I say, interview Tkachuk or Bobrovsky.

For now, it’s probably safe to say there is a nice, warm seat with Barkley’s name on it on the Panthers bandwagon.

Join us, Chuck.

Next stop, either Vegas or Dallas.