Barkov expresses admiration and appreciation for what his teammates battled through during the postseason

Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov has always been a lead by example kind of guy.

The combination of giving his all and having a great attitude while doing so have been synonymous with Barkov since his arrival in South Florida ten years ago.

Over the past few months, Barkov has helped the Panthers franchise reach heights that must have seemed nearly impossible after some of the down years he’s endured with the team.

A run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final was a great reward for the work put in by Barkov and his teammates over the past nine months.

Many of those men who skated alongside Barkov were quite hobbled during their impressive postseason run.

From Matthew Tkachuk, who played with a broken sternum, to Aaron Ekblad skating on a broken foot for eight weeks, or Sam Bennett needing help getting his equipment on and off, the stories of what these Panthers went through while trying to make their dreams come true are both difficult and amazing to hear.

“I don't know how (Tkachuk) did it and I don't know how other guys like (Ekblad, Gudas, Montour), those guys, I don't know how they did it with how bad they felt, but they still wanted to play and still played amazing and helped the team so much,” Barkov said. “I don't know how they did it.”

It’s difficult to imagine what it must feel like to see teammates in so much pain but still trying to give everything they have for the group.

The most noticeable instance, at least from an outside perspective, came from Tkachuk, who was clearly playing through something during Game 4 but still gutted it out as best he could.

“(Tkachuk) is a good example of what he brought to this team this year, especially in the playoffs, and how bad he wanted it, how bad he wanted to play, how bad he wanted to help the team,” Barkov said. “I wasn't the guy who helped him out of the bed, but I could see how much he was in pain and still going to the rink and doing his thing.”

During the first half of Barkov’s career, success was not a common thing around this hockey team.

He’s experienced some high highs and low lows since being drafted second overall in 2013, but now he’s on a team that has made the playoffs four straight years and can say it knows exactly what it takes to compete for the Stanley Cup.

From top to bottom, Barkov credits every member of the team for pulling together the way it did and working as hard as they could until there were no more games to play.

“Our trainers did an amazing job to put them all together, all the pieces together, and put them back on the ice,” said Barkov. “The way they played and the way we battled them as a team was something amazing and something that…of course you respect guys even before their injuries, but the way they battled for the team and did everything they can, even when they're not 100%, that's playoff hockey and that's what describes our team pretty well this whole season, how everyone just gave everything they had, even if it was one arm or one leg.”

The key now for Barkov and his pack of Panthers is to make this an annual occurrence.

They’ve learned how hard it is just to get into the playoffs, and now they know how much effort must be given, and in many cases, how much must be sacrificed, to find success once there.

Overall, it was an amazing season in Sunrise.

If anyone can appreciate what the past nine months have meant to hockey in South Florida, between the fans and the franchise, its Barkov.

“This full season was something amazing,” he said. “We clicked together really well, just grinding it out, and the fans were amazing. They helped us out every single night, and just the buzz around the theme was excellent, so I enjoyed every second.”