Sam Bennett walked to the front of the stage at the Florida Panthers’ latest Stanley Cup championship parade, and before he could even speak the crowd began serenading him with their request.

Two people familiar with negotiations tell The Associated Press the NHL and NHL Players' Association are close to an agreement on a four-year extension of the collective bargaining agreement.

Moving to an 84-game regular season from 82 is one of the topics that has been discussed in collective bargaining talks between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association, a person with familiar with negotiations tells The Associated Press.

Champagne was swilled and spilled, cigars were smoked and the Stanley Cup was hoisted a few more times, all with about 400,000 people watching.

The Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship festivities have included an all-night celebration at a popular beach bar; crowd surfing, pole climbing and impromptu karaoke at a Miami nightclub; a Brad Marchand appearance at Dairy Queen; a few team dinners and a boat ride.

The Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the final.

The U.S. named Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy as its first six players for the 2026 Olympics.

Connor McDavid scored his first goal of this Stanley Cup Final in Game 5, only after he and the Edmonton Oilers fell behind 3-0 on the way to getting pushed to the brink by the defending champion Florida Panthers.

Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck has won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender.

In a single shift, Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett showed why he’s been one of the most unstoppable players in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Florida’s Aleksander Barkov thought the team meeting was over.

Florida captain Aleksander Barkov is an unassuming star.

Carter Verhaeghe broke a tie off a feed from Aleksander Barkov with 7:39 left and the defending champion Florida Panthers advanced to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Niko Mikkola and Aleksander Barkov each scored twice, and the Florida Panthers scored five goals in a nine-minute span of the third period to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday night and move one win from a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

Sam Reinhart did not play for the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against Carolina on Saturday night because of a left knee injury, one that happened Thursday when he was skated into by the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho.

The Carolina Hurricanes have found themselves in the same dire position in the conference-final rematch against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers are playing for the Stanley Cup again.

Brad Marchand scored on a deflected shot at 15:27 of overtime and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Friday night to cut their deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 2-1.

Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists to lead the Florida Panthers to a 6-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning and advance Florida to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning came back to beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to cut their deficit in the first-round series to 2-1.

The wild-card berth has suited Minnesota well.

The Florida Panthers are waiting to see if captain Aleksander Barkov will be able to play Saturday when their playoff series resumes against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Florida captain Aleksander Barkov missed the final 10:09 of the Panthers’ win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series at Tampa Bay on Thursday night, after taking a hit from the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel.

Nate Schmidt scored his third goal in two games, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

It’s been a long month for Aaron Ekblad.

The Florida Panthers have been playing without injured top forward Matthew Tkachuk for a month.

Brad Marchand stepped back onto the ice at the TD Garden in a Panthers practice jersey as the longtime Bruins player returned to Boston for the first time since he was traded to Florida.

Aleksander Barkov looked across the Florida Panthers’ locker room on Saturday morning and noticed a new addition.

The Florida Panthers welcomed the arrival of Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand in a Friday trade that adds even more grit and experience to the Stanley Cup champions’ roster.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have acquired defenseman Seth Jones in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.

President Donald Trump mostly stuck to sports and avoided any talk of tariffs as he celebrated the NHL's defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at the White House.

The U.

The Florida Panthers often show up to work in suits.

What happened on the ice on the night of June 24 was something that the Florida Panthers will never forget.

The NHL has unveiled new player jerseys for the 2024-25 season made by Fanatics.

There was no collapse. The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions for the first time, and they took about the hardest path possible to the title.

Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff successfully challenged a goal by the Florida Panthers at a crucial juncture of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Vladimir Tarasenko has brought Stanley Cup-winning experience to the Florida Panthers in their pursuit of the first NHL championship in franchise history.

Florida captain Aleksander Barkov practiced again after being knocked out of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final in the third period after Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl launched toward him and hit him in the head.

Evan Rodrigues had two goals in the third period, Niko Mikkola and Aaron Ekblad also scored and the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

Sure, Edmonton’s Corey Perry is in the Stanley Cup Final for a fourth time in five years, but he lost his three previous trips.

Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal 1:12 into overtime, and the Florida Panthers topped the New York Rangers 3-2 to even the Eastern Conference Final at two games apiece.

Alex Wennberg deflected home a goal 5:35 into overtime, and the New York Rangers reclaimed home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference finals with a 5-4 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 3 on Sunday.

Aleksander Barkov had two game-winning goals in Florida's series against Boston.

Aleksander Barkov slipped through three Bruins defenders to score the go-ahead goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over Boston and a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Aleksander Barkov had two goals and two assists, Sam Reinhart added four assists and the Florida Panthers beat the Boston Bruins 6-1 on Wednesday night to tie the second-round series at a game apiece.

There are no shortage of storylines for this Florida-Boston rematch.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves, Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaege each had two goals and an assist, and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-1 in Game 5 on Monday night to clinch their first-round series and advance in the NHL playoffs.

A slew of big NHL names will be heading back onto NHL playoff ice on Tuesday night with 1-0 series leads.

Carter Verhaeghe tapped in a pinpoint pass from Aleksander Barkov for the lead 58 seconds into the third period, Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of their NHL playoff series opener.

Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito is a thinker and a problem solver.

The Florida Panthers started the season without Sam Bennett, and they are bracing to be without him once again.

The Vegas Golden Knights are on the verge of winning their first Stanley Cup title after holding on to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in Game 4 of the final.

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk returned after leaving Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final and provided more of his trademark playoff heroics.

Patric Hornqvist was one of the last Florida Panthers players to leave the team’s locker room on Sunday, which surprises none of his teammates.

Matthew Tkachuk scored a power-play goal with 4.9 seconds left, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to cap off a brilliant series, and the Florida Panthers earned their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 27 years by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 to win the Eastern Conference title in a sweep.

Matthew Tkachuk finished a feed from Sam Reinhart at the 1:51 mark of overtime to help the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference final.

Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner at 8:35 of overtime to lead the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 Game 7 victory and eliminate the record-setting Boston Bruins from the playoffs.

Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, Eetu Luostarinen put Florida ahead to stay with 5:38 left in what was a crazed third period, and the Panthers forced a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference first-round series by beating the Boston Bruins 7-5.

Brandon Montour scored twice and the Florida Panthers had four third-period goals to beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins 6-3 on Wednesday night and send Boston to its first loss in 10 games.

Matthew Tkachuk is under contract to the Florida Panthers for much of the next decade.

The Florida Panthers could have maintained the status quo this summer after posting the NHL’s best record.

Matthew Tkachuk is being traded to the Florida Panthers, part of a blockbuster that sends Jonathan Huberdeau to the Calgary Flames in a swap of players who are each coming off the best season of their respective careers,.

Paul Maurice’s journey toward becoming the new coach of the Florida Panthers included a fortuitous flick of the remote control, plus was aided by a college admissions department.

The Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning shows the value of hitting on top picks in the NHL draft.

Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron has won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward for a record-breaking fifth time.

There will be a Presidents’ Trophy banner hanging over the Florida Panthers’ home ice next season.

Steven Stamkos scored two goals and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to move to the brink of another trip to the Eastern Conference final.

The Florida Panthers found what made them the NHL's best regular-season team just in time to win the franchise's first playoff series in 26 years.

Carter Verhaeghe scored the overtime winner to send the Panthers to the second round by beating the Washington Capitals 4-3 in Game 6.

Carter Verhaeghe set a Florida postseason record with a five-point night and the Florida Panthers escaped a three-goal deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 5-3 and take a 3-2 lead in an Eastern Conference first-round series.

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers topped the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Thursday night to even their Eastern Conference first-round series at a game apiece.

Brandon Montour scored 2:26 into overtime and the NHL-leading Florida Panthers extended their winning streak to a franchise-record 13 games by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night.

Aleksander Barkov scored his 38th goal of the season and the Florida Panthers tied a franchise record with their 12th straight win, beating the Detroit Red Wings 5-2.

Anton Lundell scored twice and the Florida Panthers extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 6-1 rout of the Detroit Red Wings.

Anthony Duclair scored twice, Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and four assists, and the Florida Panthers romped to a 9-3 rout of the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Florida Panthers have matched the best 11-game start in NHL history.

Charlie Coyle had the only score in the shootout and the Boston Bruins beat Florida 3-2 Saturday night, ending the Panthers’ season-opening winning streak at eight games.

Aleksander Barkov scored in overtime and the Florida Panthers — playing a day after coach Joe Quenneville resigned amid a sex scandal — beat Detroit 3-2 on Friday to run their season-opening winning streak to eight.

Andrew Brunette is ready to coach the Florida Panthers for as long as the team needs.

Joel Quenneville resigned as coach of the Florida Panthers on Thursday, two days after the second-winningest coach in NHL history was among those implicated for not swiftly responding to allegations by a Chicago Blackhawks player of being sexually assaulted by another coach during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Aleksander Barkov and the Florida Panthers have agreed on an $80 million, eight-year contract extension with an annual cap hit of $10 million.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid ran away in the voting to win his second Hart Trophy as NHL MVP after leading the league in points.

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon have been named finalists for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy knew it wasn't his team's night when David Pastrnak missed a wide open net with the potential go-ahead goal.

The Florida Panthers entrusted their season to a rookie goalie making his playoff debut.

Brayden Point scored two late goals, including the game-winner with 1:14 left in the third period, to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Florida Panthers 5-4 to take Game 1 of their playoff series.

There used to be a thing called the Governor’s Cup, a trophy presented to whichever team won the annual regular season series between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Some of the NHL's top teams got a head start on the trade deadline by making moves.

Florida’s 6-1-2 start through nine games is the second-best in franchise history, topped only by the 6-0-3 record to open the 1996-97 season. “We've been consistent in most games," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. Starting poorly, however, has pretty much snuffed out some Panthers seasons before they even started. The five Florida teams that went to the playoffs — 1995-96, 1996-97, 1999-2000, 2011-12 and 2015-16 — averaged 12 standings points through the season’s first nine games. There’s obviously a long way to go, but the Panthers finally have the start they wanted.