SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hockey team got a chance to practice on the Florida Panthers’ home ice at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Monday.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Stoneman Douglas hockey forward Joey Zenobi. “It was great to get on the big boys’ ice and just skate and have fun.”
The Stoneman Douglas Eagles team also had the opportunity to hold professional hockey’s ultimate prize — Lord Stanley’s Cup.
“It was the last thing I was expecting,” said Zenobi. “I was expecting like maybe Barkov or Bjugstad just to come on and skate with us, so it was the last thing I was expecting.”
“We were expecting seeing like Stanley out there — like Stanley Panther, not the cup,” said Eagles hockey captain Matthew Hauptman, “but it was just unreal, and they let us like play around with it, lift it, brought it in the locker room. It was just amazing to have that. It was really special to all of us.”
The Eagles won the Florida state high school hockey championship just 11 days after the shooting that killed 17 people at their school.
“When we got there, we all met up, we all walked, and we all stood behind a memorial, and we all dropped our medals, and they’re still hanging there ’til today,” said Hauptman.
The Eagles will compete in the national high school hockey championship tournament in Minnesota later this month.
“It’s gonna be something very special,” said Hauptman. “Just playing in the national championship itself is special, and then with the story that we’re coming with is just gonna make it even more special to our hometown, and I’m just hoping we can bring back even more hardware.”
The national championship tournament will be held March 22 through March 26.
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