Eight Western Hockey League alumni help Florida Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup Champions

Calgary, Alta. – Eight Western Hockey League alumni have captured the Stanley Cup as members of the Florida Panthers.

Former WHL Player of the Year Sam Reinhart (West Vancouver, B.C. / Kootenay ICE) scored four times as the Panthers downed the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to repeat as NHL Champions.

Reinhart’s hat trick plus change has tied the NHL record for most goals by a single player in a Stanley Cup Final game.

He’s also the second player to score four times in a cup-clinching win- and the first in more than a century to do so- after Toronto St. Pat’s forward Babe Dye tallied four goals in Game 5 of the 1922 Stanley Cup Final against the Pacific Coast Hockey Association’s Vancouver Millionaires.

Reinhart is the sixth player in NHL history to score four goals in any Stanley Cup Final game and the first since Hockey Hall of Famer Maurice Richard with the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the 1957 Stanley Cup Final versus the Boston Bruins.

The 29-year-old closed out the postseason with 11 goals (seven of which came against the Oilers) and 12 assists for 23 points in 21 games, tying for the team lead.

This marks Reinhart’s second Stanley Cup after scoring the championship-clinching goal against the Oilers in Game 7 of the 2024 SCF. Reinhart was also a member of Canada’s Four Nations Face-Off-winning team earlier this year and was just named as one of Canada’s initial six players for the country’s 2026 Winter Olympic Games roster.

He won a WHL Championship with the then-ICE in 2011 and went on to capture WHL Rookie of the Year honours in 2010-11, WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player and the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy in 2013-14. H

Reinhart amassed 319 points (120G-199A) in 250 regular-season matches.

Veteran defenceman Seth Jones (Plano, Texas / Portland Winterhawks) was acquired by the Panthers in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on March 1, 2025.

Jones added four goals and five assists for nine points in the 2025 NHL Playoffs, tying for the second-most goals by a defenceman and finishing second in plus/minus (+11), while averaging 25:30 of ice time per game.

The 6-foot-4 rearguard burst onto the WHL scene in 2012-13 with a 56-point (14G-42A) regular season, helping the Winterhawks clinch the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions.

He added another 15 points (5G-10A) in 21 playoff contests to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL Champions and clinched the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as WHL Rookie of the Year.

Florida Panthers assistant coach Jamie Kompon was the General Manager and Head Coach of the Portland Winterhawks from 2014-16, while Cats goaltending coach Rob Tallas suited up for more than 100 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds before moving on to the professional ranks.

On the staff side, Senior Advisor Les Jackson (Manning, Alta./Great Falls Americans, Brandon Wheat Kings), pro scout Reid Jackson (Lethbridge Hurricanes, Prince George Cougars, Moose Jaw Warriors), Director of Player Personnel Bryan McCabe (Medicine Hat Tigers, Spokane Chiefs, Brandon Wheat Kings), Director of Amateur Scouting Shane Churla (Medicine Hat Tigers) and amateur scout Dallas Gaume (Red Deer Rebels, Victoria Royals, Prince Albert Raiders) all contributed to Florida’s second-ever Stanley Cup.

The Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton Oilers featured 13 WHL graduates, including alternate captain Leon Draisaitl (Cologne, Ger./Prince Albert Raiders, Kelowna Rockets), James Hamblin (Edmonton, Alta. / Medicine Hat Tigers), Evander Kane (Vancouver, B.C./Vancouver Giants), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Burnaby, B.C./Red Deer Rebels), Noah Philp (Canmore, Alta. / Kootenay ICE, Seattle Thunderbirds),  Derek Ryan (Spokane, Wash./Spokane Chiefs), Matthew Savoie (St. Albert, Alta. / Winnipeg ICE, Wenatchee Wild, Moose Jaw Warriors), Brett Kulak (Stony Plain, Alta. / Vancouver Giants), Calvin Pickard (Moncton, N.B./Seattle Thunderbirds) and Stuart Skinner (Edmonton, Alta./Lethbridge Hurricanes, Swift Current Broncos).

Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch played more than 200 WHL games with the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton/Kootenay ICE and Lethbridge Hurricanes as a gritty forward before going on to coach the Prince Albert Raiders and Kootenay ICE, where he won a WHL Championship with Sam Reinhart in 2011. Assistant coach Glen Gulutzan played parts of five seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Brandon Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Blades, while Edmonton goaltending coach Dustin Schwartz backstopped the Medicine Hat Tigers and Red Deer Rebels over four seasons and went on to spend nearly a decade as a goaltending consultant for the Edmonton Oil Kings.

About the Western Hockey League
Regarded as the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL offers a world-class player experience featuring three key cornerstones: hockey development, education, and a safe and positive environment for all participants. A diverse and inclusive organization, the WHL consists of 23 member Clubs with 17 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for close to 60 years. The WHL is also a leading provider of hockey scholarships, with more than 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada’s National Junior Hockey Team.