Miles Morrisseau
ICT
The Stanley Cup is headed back to First Nations lands for the second year in a row after Brandon Montour and the Florida Panthers edged past the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, June 24, in game seven of the National Hockey League finals.
The Panthers’ 2-1 win over the Oilers marks the first championship for the franchise in the team’s 30-year history and means Montour, Mohawk, will be able to take the trophy home to his Six Nations of the Grand River.
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“All season just came down to this game,” Montour told Sportsnet soon after lifting the cup. “The boys showed up and there was no question that we were going to win this one.”
The series sparked mixed emotions among some First Nations.
The Oilers were not only representing their city but were anointed Canada’s Team with the responsibility of bringing the cup back to Canada after a 31-year drought. The last Canadian team to win it all was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The last Oilers win was not much older, with Edmonton winning the last of its five cups in 1990.
The Oilers had longtime fans everywhere, including a significant following among the numerous Indigenous puckheads, as hockey fans are called, in the Edmonton area. The team has garnered hockey fans across the country since achieving its greatest success in the late 1980s, when the legendary Wayne Gretzky led the team.
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The city itself has a permanent Indigenous population of nearly 90,000 and likely boosts a six-figure population with all the visitors and workers from surrounding communities. The city is in Treaty Six and just south of Treaty 8 territory, so it also serves as a central meeting and administrative base. The province includes eight Métis settlements that are less than a 100 miles away.
But Six Nations is one of Canada’s largest First Nations, and many Indigenous hockey fans were supporting Montour.
Montour, a defenseman, joins a select group of Indigenous hockey players who have not only raised the cup but also contributed to a first win for their franchise team.
Last year, the Panthers lost in the Stanley Cup finals to the Vegas Golden Knights, who notched their first franchise win, and Knights defenseman, Zach Whitecloud, took the cup home to the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. The two men are among a small but significant group of Indigenous players who have hoisted the Stanley Cup.
Each player on the winning team gets to keep the Stanley Cup for a day.
“Be ready for it to come home,” Montour said, when asked about the support he received from his community. “The support I had my whole life, obviously this team, my family and friends, everybody back home. We’re going to enjoy this one for the summer and then do it all over again.”
Down to the wire
The Panthers took an early 3-0 lead in the series, but the never-say-die Oilers pushed the series to the max by winning the next three games and forcing a game seven.
In the media availability before the game, Montour said the chance to play in game seven was the realization of all young hockey players’ dreams.
“You’ve got to treat it like that backyard game,” he said. “It’s here and you’ve got to relish and enjoy that moment and have fun.”
The Panthers got out to an early lead with a goal by Carter Verhaeghe, but the Oilers came back and tied it up just over two minutes later. The score would stay tied until 15 minutes into the second, when Sam Reinhart scored what proved to be the winner.
As the clock counted down, the hometown Florida crowd went into a frenzy, and soon rubber rats — a uniquely Panthers tradition — rained down on the ice along with the cheers.
Montour was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2014 and spent three seasons playing in California, putting up his best numbers in the second season by scoring nine and adding 23 assists. His numbers dropped the following season; he missed 20 games due to injury but still put up 25 points.
He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 24, 2019, and although he was less than 75 miles from home, his career never got a chance to take off in upstate New York. His first season was shortened by injury and the following season was cancelled by the COVID pandemic.
On April 10, 2021, he was traded to the Florida Panthers and joined a team being re-built for a championship run. In just three years, the mission has been accomplished.
A scouting report on Montour describes him as “a highly offensive defenseman,” and “a natural point producer who can quarterback the power play and score goals due to a very good point shot. His mobility and skating ability are off-the-charts good.”
On July 27, 2021, he signed a three-year contract extension that pays him over $3.5 million a year. His contractual bonus for winning the Stanley Cup is unknown, but the winning team will have a $3.75 million prize from the league to reward the players.
Winning combination
The Panthers were better than they were a year ago.
Not only was the team healthy, but goaltending was solid and the addition of key offensive contributors like former cup winner Vladimar Tarasenko and veteran Panthers like Sam Reinhart stepped up.
On the back end, Montour didn’t have to carry all the minutes and offensive load after last year’s record-setting campaign for points on defence. He finished second in points and time on ice to fellow Panther Gustav Forsling.
Nonetheless, Montour still finished with an impressive 3 goals and 8 assists with an average of 22:44 minutes of ice time.
The Oilers near-historic comeback was led by team captain, Connor McDavid, who is considered one of the league’s top players and who was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
McDavid is only the second non-goalie to achieve that feat of winning the Conn Smythe Trophy while playing on a losing team. The only other player to do that was Reggie Leach, Ojibway, who won the award in 1976.
The Florida Panthers launched in the 1993-1994 season at the same time as the Anaheim Ducks with both teams celebrating their 30th season in the league this year.
Other Indigenous winners
A handful of Indigenous hockey players have hoisted the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup with winning teams over the years. The list includes:
*Brandon Montour, Mohawk of the Six Nations of the Grand River, won the cup in 2024 with the Florida Panthers, after losing out in 2023 to the Vegas Golden Knights.+
*Zach Whitecloud, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, won in 2023 with the Vegas Golden Knights over the Florida Panthers.
*TJ Oshie, Ojibway, won the 2018 cup with the Washington Capitals, a first in franchise history.
*Jordan Nolan, Garden River First Nations, and Dwight King, Métis Nation, raised both cups won by the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014.
*Chris Simon, Ojibway, won in 1996 with the Colorado Avalanche. Simon was one of the more colorful players in the league during his time in the NHL. He wore his hair long and could be seen flying around the ice looking to score or slam someone into the boards. He died in 2023 at age 52.
*Bryan Trottier, Métis Nation, won back-to-back cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992. He also won all four cups for the New York Islanders starting in 1980.
*Grant Fuhr, Enoch Cree Nation, was the goaltender in the first of five Stanley Cup victories for the Edmonton Oilers beginning in 1984.
*George Armstrong, Mohawk, was captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs when they won their last championship in 1967. Armstrong hoisted the cup four times and was inducted into the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame.
*Clarence “Taffy” Abel, Ojibwe, was on the roster when two of the Original Six won the championship for the first time. Abel played for the New York Rangers when they won the cup in 1928 and when Chicago won the cup in 1933.
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