Belle River Native Climbs to the
Pinnacle of Success in the NHL
Story by Matthew St. Amand
Photography Courtesy of Florida Panthers Marketing
The seeds of the Florida Panthers’ 2024 Stanley Cup success were sewn a year before in the team’s bitter loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
“Last year, I followed every superstition in the book to sway the Finals our way!” says Belle River native and Florida Panthers defenceman, Aaron Ekblad. “When it came to Edmonton, this year, I abandoned all superstitions, all jinxes. After Game Three, I felt like we should start planning the parade, and get the Cup rings ready!”
That was the unspoken feeling in the Panthers’ locker room going into Game Four against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals.
“There is something about waking up in the morning with an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup!” Aaron says.
It is a feeling that every young hockey player in Essex County, throughout the province—through the professional ranks—works toward every time they don their skates.
The ice has felt like home to Aaron ever since he can remember.
“My parents had me in skates when I was two years old,” he says.
He grew up with his brother, Darien, who is older by eighteen months, and who was a ready playmate and worthy athletic rival.
“We played all sports growing up,” Aaron continues, “but it always came back to hockey. I played other sports to get better at hockey.”
Although Aaron was a stand-out player, early on, his future success seemed foreshadowed in the 2010-11 season playing for the Sun County Panthers minor midget AAA team in Belle River, which he led—as team captain—to an alliance championship.
A couple of years later, Aaron became the first defenceman granted exceptional player status, which allowed him to enter the Ontario Hockey League a year earlier than his eligible age.
In 2014, he was selected first, overall, in the NHL Draft—not before winning top honours in four categories of the 2014 Coaches Poll in the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League: best shot, hardest shot, best offensive defenceman, and best defensive defenceman.
Drafting Aaron was part of the Florida Panthers’ plan to turn the franchise around. The fact was, when Aaron came on board, the Panthers had gone more than ten years between playoff appearances.
He had his work cut out for him. The Panthers’ 2014–15 home opener set a team record for lowest opener attendance. At the next game, where the Panthers’ hosted the Ottawa Senators, only 7,311 seats were occupied in the arena, marking the team’s lowest attendance ever. Things slowly got better.
If Aaron has learned one thing in his hockey career, it is holding onto his focus.
“On the ice, I’ve always been in the moment, playing the game,” he explains. “People around my parents in the arena stands would say: ‘Oh, he’s going to make it!’ I just played the game of hockey. Making it to the NHL never dawned on me. It wasn’t until I was in minor hockey, I realized I was preparing for something.”
That focus served Aaron well during the slow, steady climb—season after season—until the Panthers met the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. There is no poetic or philosophical way to describe losing a championship series. It stinks.
“When you lose in the final, you think: ‘It was all for nothing!’” Aaron says.
It’s easy to look at professional athletes and see only their physical skills, but years of dedication have quietly honed their mental strength as well. Disappointment does not last long.
“How did we feel coming back after losing the Finals? Like we had a new opportunity!” Aaron says.
He missed training camp and the first sixteen games of the 2023-24 NHL season due to shoulder surgery.
“It felt like a short summer,” he continues. “We were upbeat… felt good. The guys had a good start to the season. I came back in November. We had a much better year than the previous, finishing fairly high rather than scratching and clawing into the playoffs.”
And so, the Florida Panthers found themselves up three games to none against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 NHL Finals.
“I woke for Game Four feeling confident, but nervous,” Aaron remembers.
Game Four did not go the Panthers’ way. Neither did Games Five or Six.
“We are trained to deal with these situations, but every emotion goes through you,” Aaron says, referring to the three missed opportunities to close out the Finals.
“Game Four we played bad,” he says. “Game Five was at home, and we played really well, thought we had a chance to win it. Game Six, we were evenly matched and knew it just took one game. Game Seven was on our home ice. That’s so important. You try to focus on the positives, on the game plan which changes each game—the matchups change on a shift-to-shift basis. If you do lose your head, it’s OK. You’re not always perfect. You rely on your training when the puck drops.”
Much as hockey fans may have believed the Florida Panthers despaired their missed opportunities, the feeling among the team was that the pressure had shifted in Game Seven, settling squarely on the Oilers. That was the sense in the Panthers’ locker room. What was the feeling on the ice?
“It was insane,” Aaron recalls. “Especially when the puck went into our corner with fifteen seconds left in the game! That was stressful. Then as the final seconds ticked off the clock, the emotions began to pour out. It’s a pretty crazy, special experience.”
Aaron credits the love and support of his wife, Dayna, along with his parents David and Lisa, as well as his brother, Darien, for seeing him to this summit of success.
Aaron had his turn with the Stanley Cup in the middle of August, bringing it to the Atlas Tube Center, sharing it with the region’s hockey fans.
For the wild ride his hockey career has been—much early success, ten years in the NHL culminating with the top prize—Aaron never forgets what it’s all about.
“I remember before I left for the OHL, there would be ‘free ice’ at Belle River Arena,” he recalls. “There was no charge, the Zamboni hadn’t even gone over the ice yet, but I’d be out there—sometimes all by myself—and I remember how awesome it was that they’d do that… how it felt to be out there just gliding around the ice.”
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