Bryan McCabe has worn many hats with the Florida Panthers over the years.
He first joined the team before the start of the 2008-09 season after a big deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and was named the sixth captain in franchise history a year later.
McCabe was traded away by Dale Tallon in a cap-purge in 2011, only to be brought back by Tallon to work with the team’s younger players as a director of player development.
Now the team’s director of player personnel, the best hat he has ever worn with the Panthers is the Stanley Cup champions one he slapped on his head in the celebration following Florida’s Game 7 win over the Edmonton Oilers on June 28.
McCabe had been chasing the Stanley Cup for a long time, many of those years with the Panthers.
He has seen good times and bad with the Panthers.
Today, it is nothing but good.
“To be part of it, it has obviously been a long time coming,’’ said McCabe, who wrapped up another development camp with the Panthers on Thursday evening at the IcePlex.
“My first NHL game was 29 years [ago], so, yeah, a dream come true just to be a part of this whole thing with this group. This organization, making my home here, it has been very special.’’
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As is the case every year, there are a lot of first-rime Stanley Cup champions with the Panthers.
The celebrated ones have been the likes of Paul Maurice, Sasha Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Sergei Bobrovsky … it’s a long list.
But then there are those in the hockey operation side such as McCabe who not only got to experience this for the first time, but have put in a lot of time with the Panthers.
There is Roberto Luongo, obviously; hockey lifer Rick Dudley as well.
To share this moment with them, McCabe said, made it all the more special.
“It means more to share it with people who have been through it with you, have their roots here,” McCabe said. “To see a guy like Duds win it — he has been in the league like 50 years, held every title and is a living legend — to see his name etched on it, gives me chills. Nobody deserves it more than him.
“He has put his time in over the years, driven millions of miles in his Dodge Ram. People like that, people you genuinely look up to and has been a mentor to me here, to see him get his flowers is really nice.’’
McCabe, in working with the younger side of the Panthers all these years, has always fought for the promise of brighter days around the franchise.
With the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup just a few weeks before development camp, there was certainly a different vibe around their prospects.
Although they were not on the ice when the Panthers won, many of them felt the same sort of pride when Florida finally won it all last month and, in some small way, were a part of it as well.
“It is a different feel when you are bringing guys in and you just won the Stanley Cup,’’ McCabe said. “Proud moment for sure to be a part of it. Let these guys experience. There is a different glow around here, certainly, for some of these kids. People want to come here with the new facility and the track record we’ve had over the past couple of years. It’s awesome.’’
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