Florida Panthers’ 2025 Stanley Cup Win Sparks Toronto Fans to Put Maple Leafs on Pedestal: “2nd Best Team”

“We just didn’t handle the pressure,” admitted a long-faced Craig Berube after the Florida Panthers eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs from the Cup race in Round 2 of the playoffs. And yet, as the Stanley Cup is confirmed to be staying back in South Florida, it seems like the Leafs fans think their team put up a much better resistance against the back-to-back champs than the Oilers did in the Finals.

In Game 6 of the ultimate best-of-7 series, the Florida Panthers crushed Edmonton 5-1. With that, Charles Barkley’s hopes of seeing a Game 7 came to an end. And yet, amidst the chaos, the Maple Leafs faithful couldn’t help but highlight how they kept the Cats on their toes for longer than the back-to-back losers managed to do.

Drew Livingstone, of SDPN Sports, took to X on June 17 to highlight how tonight will seal Toronto’s supremacy over the Oilers for holding the fort longer than the Oilers against the Florida Panthers. “The worst part about the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup in 6 games is that Leafs fans will believe this makes them the 2nd best team,” read Livingstone’s social media update, and frankly, we can see why the Leafs camp would think so.

The Florida Panthers fell behind in the second round of the playoffs after losing the first two matches. However, they came back from behind to lead the series 3-2, only to see the Maple Leafs come back in the sixth game and push the series to the winner-takes-all Game 7. But thankfully for Paul Maurice, his men showed incredible grit to hold off their Canadian opponents and proceed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in a row. But that was some series, and the Leafs now feel they have some bragging rights over the Oilers.