Opinion: How Superstition Helped Fuel Florida’s Back-to-Back Championships

There are plenty of storylines that can come out of the playoffs, but by far the most unexpected one this year was the Dairy Queen Saga that followed the Panthers for the final two series. Born from a viral photo and some coaxing by Brad Marchand, there wasn’t a game day that went by where Florida players weren’t asked about it. The full circle moment came on the Friday after the Cats had won the Cup, with Marchand going to a local DQ and working for a bit while interacting with fans and having his staple order renamed The Brad Blizzard.

So, how did this whole thing get started? Well, it came from a photo of a fan who met some of the Florida players on their off day between Games 1 & 2 in Raleigh during the Carolina series. Marchand, Verhaeghe, Mikkola, Luostarinen, Balinskis, & Megna had made a trip to Dairy Queen after dinner and stopped to take the photo, which ended up making the rounds on X as a nice little moment. Florida went on to win Game 2 with a 5-0 shutout. Marchand added fuel to the fire when he was seen on video eating something off a spoon between periods during Game 3. When asked about it, he said it was a Blizzard. But he said it in a way that made it sound somewhat serious, and people took it as such. Brad later revealed that it was honey that he was eating. Following their Game 4 loss, the series headed back to Carolina, and another DQ trip was made; the end result? A 5-3 Florida win and their ticket punched to the Stanley Cup Finals. By this point, the Dairy Queen Blizzards were such a talking point that the Panthers put out an ice cream-themed t-shirt & fans were joining in the fun as well, posting their own Blizzards on social media.

The first question Florida fans asked when they learned that their opponent would be Edmonton was, ‘Where were the Dairy Queens?’ Even during the Cup Final media, there were Panthers’ players being asked about it, and one revealed that Brad Marchand also swears by the DQ burger & fries. It later came out that there was no DQ trip before Game 1, which the Cats lost. They didn’t repeat that mistake and promptly made a trip ahead of Game 2 where Marchand scored both a short-handed goal and the double OT winner, with the group expanding beyond the original six players and guys like Barkov & Lundell getting in on the action. The Florida social media admin got in on the fun and was posting photos of their Blizzards before games. The Cats made more DQ stops ahead of Games 5 & their first home trip ahead of Game 6, both of which Florida won with final scores of 5-2 & 5-1, respectively. Picked up on Tkachuk’s mic, Marchand could be heard saying the Cup win was fueled by Dairy Queen & that the team went undefeated in DQ games. That part is true as the Panthers went 5-0 in games following a trip for Blizzards.

It was only natural that Marchand’s post-Cup Win fan meetup would take place at a local Dairy Queen in Sunrise. He got geared up in some DQ work gear and even made a few Blizzards himself while serving them to fans, taking photos, and signing autographs. In his honor, DQ changed the name of his favorite chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard to The Brad Blizzard with a One Day Only sticker on the posters. He said, “It’s been incredible the last couple days, but I think this tops it all off.” He also spoke highly of the fans and how they’ve embraced him after neither side was very fond of each other prior to the trade with Boston.

The Dairy Queen hasn’t been the only superstition that’s shown itself this postseason, as Florida’s celebrations following the Stanley Cup Win have looked nearly identical to last year. Party late in the locker room? Check. Barkov bringing the Cup out for the workers still in the building & knocking on his neighbors’ doors with the Cup at the wee hours of the morning? Check. Early morning appearance at the Elbo Room on the back of a golf cart, taking over E11even down in Miami, Stanley Cup Parade featuring Paul Maurice in a shirt with his two cats on it, made by his daughter? Check, check, and check. Only time will tell if the Dairy Queen Blizzards make an appearance during next year’s playoffs. If Marchand decides to re-sign with Florida, I’d say it’s a very high probability that they come back.