– It took Florida coach Paul Maurice 30 years to win a Stanley Cup championship ring. And after he was handed the box holding his new piece of jewelry Monday, he had to wait about 30 minutes before he could actually look at the prize.
The reason: The Panthers wanted the whole organization to see the rings together. It was worth the wait.
The Panthers handed out dozens of rings Monday at a private ceremony commemorating last season’s Stanley Cup title to players, coaches, team executives, members of the athletic training and medical staff, and more. But owners Vincent and Teresa Viola had one rule: Since, in their view, it took everyone in the organization banding together to win the Cup, everyone had to open the boxes at the same time.
“No peeking,” Vincent Viola said as he and his wife handed out the rings that their family designed. The rings contained 617 gemstones, mostly diamonds, weighing 15.6 carats, all set into yellow gold. They had the image of a rat etched on the inside of the band, a nod to the plastic toys that fans throw onto the home ice after wins.
