Appearing on TSN 1050's "First Up" Ekblad also discussed his Brooks Koepka speech and Jack Eichel's comments at Sam Reinhart's wedding last summer

It's been an enjoyable experience to see how members of the Florida Panthers have reacted to becoming Stanley Cup champions.

From the moments after Game 7 when jubilation ensued on the ice to the days and weeks that have followed, observing Florida's players, coaches and staff members cutting loose and letting go, knowing they achieved their ultimate goal and can let the walls down and enjoy it, has been wonderful.

One of the longest tenured Panthers, whether talking about players or staff, is defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

Selected first overall at the 2014 NHL Draft, Ekblad has played his entire 676 game career with the Panthers.

He's seen some high highs and low lows during his tenure in Florida, and now his name is going on the Stanley Cup.

Earlier this week, Ekblad joined Carlo Colaiacovo and Aaron Korolnek on TSN 1050's "First Up" and was asked about several intriguing topics that were worth mentioning here.

Ekblad's day with the Stanley Cup will be on Aug. 17 and he said he's bringing it home to Bell River, Ontario.

"I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do," Ekblad said. "I feel like we're moving towards some sort of community aspect, so people can count on that, but I've heard when you do the community thing, you always upset a few people because you can't give them your full day, right? So that's always the tough part. But we're going to do some community aspects and try and do as much as we can."

Naturally, Brooks Koepka came up during the interview. How could he not?

Ekblad showed up to the Stanley Cup parade wearing a parking cone on his head for crying out loud.

(For those not familiar with the story, click here)

"That was all in good fun, and I heard he liked it," Ekblad said of his parade prop and speech.

Another topic of discussion was Florida losing several key players in free agency, and it happening literally a week after Game 7.

In terms of the business of the game, Ekbald said he completely understands why certain decisions were made.

Considering he's entering the final year of his current contract, he could be facing some similar decisions in the not too distant future.

“Obviously, good for them, right? Every player has to chase the money at some point in their career, it’s really important,” Ekblad said. “We would have liked to have some of those guys back and run it back, but we reached our ultimate goal. Kudos to them for going and doing what they needed to do, but we’ll be here working and grinding as I'm sitting in front of the practice rink right now, waiting to get back and do what we do best."

Perhaps the most interesting thing Ekblad was asked about was how he and his teammates were feeling physically after the season while taking solace in being Stanley Cup champs.

Last year, many of Florida's players, Ekblad included, spent weeks and even months recovering from the injuries they sustained during their run to the Final, and that came in a losing effort.

This time around, the entire experience seemed to come a bit easier.

"We've seen both ends of it," Ekblad began. "I can speak from true experience that last year was obviously a lot harder. (Having) surgery and wearing a walking boot and a sling to Sam Reinhart's wedding. Jack Eichel sitting down, laughing at us down the table. He said they could have went two more series. So we've seen both sides of it. Obviously we're in a better spot now. A lot of us aren't as injured, so we're not nursing things, and we're obviously much more optimistic and excited about being winners. We love that, there's no doubt about it. To speak to the mentality of being up 3-0 (in the Stanley Cup Final), and them coming back on us and ultimately going to a Game 7 where anything could happen, what a crazy whirlwind, roller coaster of emotions that you go through in those 18 days or whatever it is. The travel and the grind, it's true and it's real for both teams. They played extremely hard, and the fact that they got us all the way to Game 7 after being down 3-0 is truly incredible. When you're up 3-0, it doesn't get any easier to win. That feeling that you wake up with the morning that you get a chance to win a Stanley Cup is a feeling unmatched. We got to do it four times, so you can imagine those mornings and how shaky our hands were."

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