Florida Panthers Visit President Donald Trump
The Florida Panthers visited the White House on Monday, February 3, 2025. The Panthers will be playing the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. The Florida Panthers are the first professional sports team to visit President Trump at the White House since he returned to the Oval Office. The team presented Trump with a customized jersey, “Trump 45-47” framed for him and a gold stick.
Florida Panthers Visit President Trump
The ceremony was delayed almost an hour because President Trump was talking to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Florida Panthers Owner Vinnie Viola was Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of the Army in 2016 before withdrawing.
The Florida Panthers are the 2024 Stanley Cup champions. They won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Panthers have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row. They lost in 2023 to the Vegas Golden Knights but won in 2024 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Panthers are looking to repeat and defend their title this year. The Florida Panthers are atop the Atlantic Division. Through 54 games, the Panthers are 32-19-3 with 67 points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In Trump’s speech, he said when the Panthers won the first three games of the series against Edmonton, Trump said he thought “it was over” as so many others did. Trump said, “I didn’t watch the next two games because I said this is not going to be too exciting.” Trump continued and said when the Oilers won the next two games and said “Uh Oh, this is not good.” The Oilers held off elimination in Game 6, but the Florida Panthers avoided collapse and came out victorious in Game 7 at Amerant Bank Arena with a score of 2-1.
As the President continued his speech he said, “Both teams showed tremendous willpower and athletic talent, unbelievable talent.” But in the end, the Panthers stood their ground and did what you have to do as a champion. “You can’t be a champion unless you go through something like that…It’s an incredible achievement.”
Florida Panthers and the Washington Capitals
The Florida Panthers will take on the Washington Capitals Tuesday night at Capital One Arena where they will look to get their fourth win in a row. The Panthers had a mini homestand over the weekend and beat the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and then the New York Islanders on Sunday evening. The Florida Panthers and the Washington Capitals are no strangers to each other. Both teams used to be in the same division before the divisions were changed in the NHL.
Washington Capitals Forward Alexander Ovechkin is chasing history with the most goals of all time and passing NHL legend Wayne Gretzky. The Washington Capitals are also atop the Metropolitan Division at 34-11-7 and 75 points. Can the Florida Panthers stop Ovechkin and the high-powered Capitals? It should be an exciting matchup between the two teams.
