It’s the Sunday after the Florida Panthers gained back-to-back Stanley Cups — no must ask the place the boys are. Fort Lauderdale seaside, in fact.
The oceanfront alongside A1A will as soon as once more present essentially the most lovely backdrop in Stanley Cup championship parade historical past starting at midday, when hundreds of followers are anticipated to line the glamorous stretch of seashore to pay tribute to their blue-collar heroes.
Final yr’s Florida Panthers parade drew an estimated 200,000 spectators, who braved rain squalls and lightning for a glimpse of the gamers. Captured on social media and TV broadcasts throughout the US and Canada, the scale, ardour and dedication of the rain-soaked crowd answered any query about whether or not South Florida had hockey followers.
This yr, warmth often is the problem: Temperatures on Sunday are anticipated to be within the excessive 80s to low 90s, with a forty five% probability of rain, in accordance with the Nationwide Climate Service.
The parade route will begin at State Street A1A and Riomar Avenue, ending with a rally at a stage within the sand at Fort Lauderdale Seaside Park, annual website of the Tortuga Music Pageant. The schedule requires the parade to conclude at round 1 p.m., with the rally from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
If latest historical past supplies a template for Sunday’s parade, anticipate the gamers’ enthusiasm to match that of the followers. You’re prone to see Panthers stars, lots of them bare-chested, dart off open-air buses to alternate high-fives with followers alongside the barricades, whereas beer will probably be poured from the Cup onto the group.
One of many signature moments of the rally in 2024 was winger Ryan Lomberg leaping from the stage and crowd-surfing over the viewers. Lomberg isn’t a Panther anymore, however the Solar Sentinel’s David Furones reported that Brad Marchand practiced his browsing abilities at Miami nightclub E11even on Thursday night time.
With a celebration that started early Wednesday with beer-soaked Panthers stars and the Stanley Cup at Fort Lauderdale seaside dive bar the Elbo Room, Sunday’s parade will conclude a frenzy of weekend fan occasions and impromptu Cup sightings, although participant interactions will proceed by means of no less than Wednesday, June 25.
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