The Florida Panthers often show up to work in suits, but until further notice, they are wearing robes.
The Stanley Cup champions received personalized bathrobes for their two-game trip to Finland last week, a gift from the team. They showed up for the two games there wearing the robes and won both.
As winning streaks in ice hockey are never messed with, the robes are still in style. Every Panthers player showed up at the arena on Thursday wearing their robes — which remain unbeaten after Florida beat the Nashville Predators 6-2.
Photo: AP
“I think we’re just going to ride it out until our luck runs out,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said.
It was a spur-of-the-moment idea by the Panthers to wear the robes — a nod to Finland’s sauna culture — to the games in Tampere, Finland, last week.
They decided at their morning skate on Thursday to keep the new tradition alive, with captain Aleksander Barkov sending a message to the team group chat saying to wear the robes to work.
“You’ve got to be some kind of superstitious at some point, right?” Barkov said. “While it’s working for us, we’ll keep going with that.”
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
RSS