FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Olympic gold medalist Matthew Tkachuk spent part of his Wednesday back in South Florida the same way he has celebrated before — with fans at the Elbo Room on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
The Florida Panthers star forward, fresh off competing in the Winter Olympic Games, was at the iconic beachside bar wearing his gold medal, posing for photos and sharing drinks with fans.
The Elbo Room has become a familiar celebration spot for the Panthers after their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, and Tkachuk’s appearance drew a steady crowd.
Earlier in the day, the Panthers returned to practice in Fort Lauderdale for the first time since Feb. 5.
While several players, including Tkachuk, remained active in international competition during the break, the team has not played together in weeks.
Florida resumes its schedule Thursday night at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs with 25 games remaining in the regular season.
Head coach Paul Maurice said the lengthy breaks — including international tournaments in consecutive seasons — are now behind them.
“So many things that go on, especially after you win. There’s all these other events around, and then you’ve got the Four Nations last year and the Olympics this year, and there’s really defined breaks in there where everything stops and then it gets going, but for us this is it, right?” Maurice said. “This is opportunity for extreme focus. Now there’s nothing left. We’ll get these guys back hopefully sooner rather than later and we can get a real hard push here.”
The back-to-back champions will look to get back to their winning ways. The team is 29-25-3 this season and sits last in the Atlantic Division with 61 points.
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