The Florida Panthers’ great run came to a bitter end. They dropped the Stanley Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games, giving the Golden Knights their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
After it was all said and done, a laundry list of injury reports came out for most of the team. This includes a broken sternum for forward Matthew Tkachuk and a high ankle sprain for defenseman Radko Gudas. But one thing that stood out from all the rest was the insane situation of defenseman Brandon Montour.
Mountour’s Torn Labrum
It turns out that Montour was playing with a torn labrum and will likely require surgical repair. His timeline to return is roughly three months. It is unknown when the injury itself occurred, but it is commendable that he toughed it out and played through the pain.
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Although a deep playoff run was not the only thing he had to fight through with his injury. He had something crazy and unexpected come up just as the Stanley Cup Final started.
Montour is Now a Father!
During the first two games of the Cup Final, Montour had his first kid; a son named Kai. And the timeline during the whole process is something out of a movie.
Montour’s wife Riyan went into labor earlier than previously anticipated. She was expecting to give birth on June 18 but labor was induced during Game 1 on June 3, 15 days early. Not long after the game finished, he flew back down to South Florida to catch the birth of their son.
“I tried to get there as quick as I could…Luckily I was there for it all and got to experience it with her.”
Brandon Montour on the process of seeing his son Kai being born.
Shortly after, he returned to Vegas in preparation for Game 2. All in all, this was easily the craziest 48 hours of Montour’s life, especially since he was playing through an injury. But in the end, it’s worth all of it for his family and he’d likely do it again to experience the moment he became a father for the first time. Congratulations Brandon and Happy Father’s Day!
Even With Everything Going on, Montour Became Immortalized in Panthers Record Books
Even with what felt like the world on his shoulders, Montour made a massive impact through the entire playoff run for the Panthers. Throughout his entire run, he had 13 points (eight goals, five assists) which is the franchise record for most points by a defenseman in a single postseason.
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His performance could make a good argument for the team MVP throughout the playoffs. But regardless, he overcame a ton, showing that he was a true warrior for the Panthers this postseason.
What’s Montour’s Future with Florida?
Montour has one year left on his current deal. Once it expires, he will become an unrestricted free agent (UFA). But more than likely, general manager Bill Zito will do everything in his power to try and keep him around, especially with the season he had overall. Through 80 regular season games, he scored 16 goals and assisted on 57 others for a total of 73 points. That is a new career high, which is the highest since his last full season with the team just last year.
Montour has made a splash for the Cats, and the story of his playoff run will go down in history as one of the craziest a player has ever experienced. That alone should give anyone motivation to do anything they put their mind to.
