SUNRISE, Fla. – Aaron Ekblad was ready to move on.

For the Florida Panthers defenseman, watching the Stanley Cup championship banner being raised to the Amerant Bank Arena rafters for the second consecutive season was great. Bringing the Stanley Cup onto the ice during the banner ceremony as his teammates looked on was great.

“It feels incredible coming out in front of our fans and to be able to hoist it one more time,” Ekblad said after the Panthers’ 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in the season opener for each on Tuesday. “But trying to put that feeling behind us and move on to playing hockey this year.”

The Panthers enter this season as the third team in the past 10 seasons to win the Cup in back-to-back seasons (Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017 and Tampa Bay Lightning

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