Matthew Tkachuk shares never-seen-before picture with Sam Bennett from Panthers' Stanley Cup celebration

Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and the Florida Panthers had an epic celebration after winning the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row. The team had a memorable night partying at Miami's E11Even night club with fans, which included crowd surfs, emotional messages and heartfelt moments.

Panthers forward Tkachuk made public a special picture of the night alongside his close friend Sam Bennett. In a story on Tkachuk's Instagram, the two were seen standing on the table, with Tkachuk chugging down champagne and a cigar in hand and Bennett looking at the crowd in front of them.

"More of this please, @sbennett_93," Tkachuk wrote with a hearty-eyes and trophy emoji.

Matthew Tkachuk's Instagram story featuring Sam Bennett (Souce: Instagram @matthew_tkachuk)

The post might have been a way to celebrate Bennett's new eight-year $64 million contract exteions with Florida. His friendships with teammates like Tkachuk could have factored in to his decision to stay despite being expected to get a bigger paycheck elsewhere.

Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk have been teammates since their Calgary days. The pair were drafted two years apart, in 2014 and 2016, respectively, by the Flames. As youngsters 18 months apart, they formed a close bond, living in the same building in Alberta.

Bennett was traded to the Panthers in 2021. During the 2023 offseason, Tkachuk, too, demanded his move to the Panthers. Bennet later acknowledged his close friend's role in it:

“You guys can thank ‘Benny’ for my love for Florida."

The two have gone on to make a formidable pairing, taking the Panthers to three straight Stanley Cup finals and winning the last two.

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Sam Bennett makes feelings known after signing contract extension in Florida

The Florida Panthers had made their intentions clear through general manager Bill Zito that their No. 1 priority in the offseason was keeping Sam Bennett for the upcoming future.

They did just that by signing the forward long term. Bennett, in his first address to the media a day after signing the deal, spoke about his love for Florida and wanting to continue at the organization.

“I knew that I wanted to be here, and I was pretty confident that it was going to get done,” Bennett said. “Obviously, you never know. Things can change. It had to be the right fit for both me and the team. We obviously came to that solution. Obviously, I couldn’t be happier. "Being in South Florida has completely changed my life. I love playing hockey there. I love living there. I love the team, the staff and the owners. Everything about [this place] is really the dream situation. I couldn’t pass up the chance to be back here for another eight years.”

Bennett won the Conn Smythe this year, scoring 22 points in 23 games. He's also coming off a career high in regular-season points, scoring 51 in 76 games.

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Edited by Bhargav