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Trump Hosts a Visit of the 2025 Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, Jan. 15, 2026

January 15, 2026 · The White House · 0:18:56

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump welcomed the Florida Panthers — “the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions” — to the White House on January 15, 2026, alongside team owner Vincent Viola and forward Matthew Tkachuk, with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, general manager Bill Zito, and head coach Paul Maurice in attendance, and Secretaries Doug Burgum, Sean Duffy, and Chris Wright and FBI Director Kash Patel among the administration officials present. “These men are responsible for the greatest feats in Panthers franchise history,” the President said.

The President recited the run as he stated it: 94 goals in the playoffs, “more than any team in a generation”; a record 10 wins on the road; leading the finals for over 255 minutes, “the most of any team in NHL history”; and a second straight finals win over the Edmonton Oilers, denying Canada the Cup for the 32nd straight year. He singled out Sam Bennett — 15 playoff goals and the Conn Smythe Trophy as tournament MVP, “the first skater in Panthers history” so named — and Sam Reinhart, “the first player in 103 years to score four goals at a Stanley Cup clenching win,” as the President stated the marks. The team presented the President with rings, a hockey stick, and a number 47 jersey, as shown in the White House’s companion clip of the ceremony.

Why it matters

Championship visits are the ceremonial fixed points of a presidency, and this one carries a Florida signature: the President’s home-state team, on its second consecutive visit, honored in the same week he dedicated the boulevard bearing his name in Palm Beach — filed here as the full ceremony rather than the White House’s short gift-presentation clip.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Participates in a Visit of the 2025 Stanley Cup Champions The Florida Panthers,” The White House, January 15, 2026 (official upload, embedded above). All figures and characterizations as stated at the event.