“If you’re the captain … how you interact really defines how everybody else will. He’s wickedly smart with short one-liners, but he doesn’t talk a lot. He’s a quiet guy.” That’s what Paul Maurice said when he and the Panthers were just about to play Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. The coach and players were confident in Aleksander Barkov’s captaincy. And Barkov went on to lead the team to its second Stanley Cup victory. But do you know the secret to his back-to-back Stanley Cup wins? We heard it out of the horse’s mouth in a recent interview. The Florida Panthers captain revealed a strong piece of advice from his former teammate, Jaromír Jágr, that he is sticking to. 

On 26 February 2015, Jaromír Jágr was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 2015 second-round pick and a 2016 third-round pick. There, he developed a brotherly bond with Aleksander Barkov. When the interviewer asked Barkov about his former teammate and the advice, he just said, “When I came here, he opened his leg to me.” Barkov then drew more wisdom from his friend and former teammate Jágr. 

He added, “During the training, for 45-60 minutes, if someone counts how many times the opponent hits the puck, or how many times the puck flies to him, and then you count how many times you throw in one training. It’s like 10-12 times less you throw. And you need to work on this after the training, before the training, or when you’re at home, if you have a gate, a leaf, or something where to throw. You need to throw more than the goalkeeper reflects on the puck during the training.” And he further explained that if someone throws 10 times during the training, the goalkeeper hits 100-120 times. It’s a huge difference that is strategic for goal scoring. 

The interviewer intervened and asked, “So after the training, you stay to throw more, right?” Barkov replied, “Yes, I stay to play, to throw, or just to play with friends, with partners.” He continued, “If you think about it, when there is no gate, there is nothing, there is a leaf, a heavy ball, just throw it against the wall, so you don’t throw a puck, but a heavy ball. Then it feels easier.” In the postseason, Barkov scored six goals and 16 assists, which means his points tally was 22 with only 4 penalty minutes. And his average time on ice was 20:29 minutes. 

Barkov pulled off crucial plays while deciding on moving important pieces on the ice. But it resulted eventually in winning the cup and not allowing the Oilers to force the series into game 7. After the Panthers won the Stanley Cup, Aleksander Barkov sent a strong 6-word message to other teams and NHL fans. 

Aleksander Barkov’s six-word message after winning the Stanley Cup again

“We’ve been waiting for a little bit here. Obviously, it was nice to get a couple of days off, stay in Florida for a bit, and not think about anything. But now it’s starting to feel like, alright, let’s get it going.” That’s what was going through Aleksander Barkov’s mind as the Panthers were about to play the first game of the series. But the Oilers didn’t presume that this calm demeanor would turn out to be a silent killer in the games that followed.

Winning the Stanley Cup for the second time, Barkov now has two trophies to his name while he and his teammates is eyeing a three-peat.
But before the Panthers set their sights on a third title, Aleksander Barkov and the team celebrated with a parade in Miami. During the parade, Barkov sent a six-word message to the world: “I don’t see us slowing down.” No doubt, the Panthers are going for another Cup.

In fact, when Matthew Tkachuk was asked about the same, he offered strong hope to fans: “I don’t know. I think I want to get used to this whole winning thing. So, I guess it starts with coming out strong at the start of the year again. And then, hopefully, we can win the Olympics and win another Cup.” And last but not least, franchise GM Bill Zito echoed the sentiment, saying, “I think we can.” Now, let’s wait for the new season to begin. No surprise—it’s going to be fun.