One of the foundational pieces of the current juggernaut that is the Florida Panthers had a very enjoyable day on Thursday. Longtime Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad took his turn with the Stanley Cup, bringing it back to a very special place in his hockey upbringing. Ekblad decided to share the Cup with the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts organization. It was an extremely proud moment for Ekblad to hoist the Stanley Cup outside of Saldon Arena. It’s where he played three seasons of junior hockey before being selected first overall by the Panthers at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Instead of bringing the Stanley Cup to his hometown of Windsor, Ekblad said he knew teammate Sam Bennett was having his day with the Cup in Newmarket and Muskoka. With Barrie being located in the same area of Ontario, Ekblad felt like the stars were aligning for him to bring the Cup to his former stomping grounds. “I figured I would do it somewhere close, makes it easy on the Cup keepers,” Ekblad said with a grin. After graduating from his AAA minor hockey program, the Sun County Panthers in the Windsor-area of Ontario, Ekblad moved to Barrie in 2011 to join the Colts. In three OHL seasons, Ekblad accumulated 40 goals and 116 points in 175 regular season games with Barrie, adding another 11 goals and 28 points in 44 postseason matches. Just a teenager when he played there, Ekblad was embraced by the hockey town and felt at home during his time with the Colts. His eyes tracked around the building as he reminisced about some of the times “we had it rocking” during some of the long playoff runs Ekblad was a part of in Barrie. “I wanted to make sure that I was able to come back and give back to the community, the ownership and the organization that was so good to me when I played here,” he said. You can check out footage of Ekblad’s day with the Cup in Barrie below: LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Panthers' Sam Bennett and Aleksander Barkov Feature In NHL Network's Rankings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/panthers-sam-bennett-and-aleksander-barkov-feature-in-nhl-network-s-rankings] Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett made sure to visit his grandma on special day with Stanley Cup [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/conn-smythe-winner-sam-bennett-made-sure-to-visit-his-grandma-on-special-day-with-stanley-cup] Panthers Top Front Office Confidence Rankings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-top-front-office-confidence-rankings] Sam Reinhart shares Stanley Cup, championship ring during special day in hometown of Vancouver [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/sam-reinhart-shares-stanley-cup-championship-ring-during-special-day-in-hometown-of-vancouver] Panthers Defenseman Invited To Team USA's Olympic Orientation Camp [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-defenseman-invited-to-team-usa-s-olympic-orientation-camp]
