SUNRISE – Surrounded by a dozen members of his family, including his wife, Quebecois Sylvain Lefebvre, assistant coach with the Florida Panthers, fully enjoyed the celebrations of the conquest of the Stanley Cup on the ice rink at Amerant Bank Arena , Monday evening, at Sunrise.
• Read also: The Panthers win their 1D Stanley Cup!
• Read also: Connor McDavid sulks Conn-Smythe
• Read also: The Canadian famine continues
• Read also: A stressful conquest for Roberto Luongo
• Read also: Paul Maurice dedicates the victory to his father, a great admirer of Béliveau and Richard
• Read also: Dmitri Kulikov keeps a thought for Drummondville
• Read also: Every sports journalist’s dream
• Read also: Autopsy of an extraordinary final
• IN PICTURES: Oilers fans invade Sunrise and… Fort Lauderdale
“To share all this with my wife, my children and my grandchildren, it’s truly incredible,” he confided, his eyes moist.
Only her eldest daughter, Jade-Isis, was absent on the ice. However, this had an excellent reason, since she is pregnant with a second child and the birth was expected any day now.
Could we now witness a second Stanley Cup baptism in the Lefebvre family? Ironically, Jade-Isis was in fact baptized in the precious trophy after the triumph of the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
The decision will obviously come down to the parents, who live in the Sutton region, but it would undoubtedly be the first mother-daughter duo in history to be baptized in the Stanley Cup.
“We’re going to bring the cup back to Quebec at least for a day, that’s for sure!” said Lefebvre.
A hard worker
Now 56 years old, the former Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques defender worked very hard to win the Stanley Cup again, this time as assistant to Paul Maurice.
His three other children, Djan, Jordan and Alexanne, could proudly testify to this, as could his wife, Marie-Claire Fillion, whose union dates back around forty years.
“Sylvain has great values,” she noted, with emotion. “He’s a fairly easy-going man, but he works hard. It’s effort on top of effort. It’s well deserved.”
Giving back to the Panthers
Another particular fact about Sylvain Lefebvre’s most recent conquest of the Stanley Cup?
“I had the chance to win the Stanley Cup as a player with the Avalanche [du Colorado] in 1996 and it was right here, in Florida,” explained the Quebecer.
The Avalanche had indeed beaten the Panthers in Game 4 of the 1996 Finals at Miami Arena to complete the sweep. Another former Nordique player, defender Uwe Krupp, then scored in the third overtime period in a 1-0 victory. A certain Patrick Roy, for his part, signed a 63-save shutout.
Roughly 28 years later, Lefevre will now have done his part for the Panthers to finally get their first Stanley Cup in the organization’s history.
Happy for Paul Maurice
Assistant to the head coach of the Florida Panthers, Quebecer Sylvain Lefebvre has not hidden his admiration for Paul Maurice.
“He does incredible work, he is an extremely brilliant man,” he described. Paul Maurice knows how to work with players to build a team. I’m proud for him. He deserves it so much.”
Paul Maurice, head coach of the Florida Panthers, raises the Stanley Cup.
Photo BRUCE BENNETT / Getty Images via AFP
Lefebvre said he was fortunate to be part of this group of players and coaches for the Panthers, who reached the Stanley Cup final for a second consecutive year.
“Since last season, we have been a very united group,” said Lefebvre. It’s teamwork with the players and coaches.”
“Reaching the final for a second year in a row is extraordinary because of the way we play,” he explained. We impose ourselves physically, it’s an intense and aggressive system in terms of forechecking. Our players bought what we sold them. The guys are sacrificing and as a coach, it’s really rewarding to see that.”
Avoid running out of gas
The Panthers’ style requires robust play, game after game.
“There are teams that respond and don’t let themselves be beaten down,” said the Quebec coach. We ran out of gas last year against Las Vegas. We had players who were injured. This year, we were luckier, we still managed to stay healthy. There are little bumps here and there, but the guys worked so hard.”
During the recent final against the Edmonton Oilers, it seemed, at one point, that the Panthers had also started to run out of gas in the tank. The Florida club, after three consecutive defeats, however managed to win match number 7.
