Gary Bettman Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov Stanley Cup celebration
Photo credit: Sportsnet

Gary Bettman violates NHL rule book in favor of the Florida Panthers’ Cup win

Bettman reportedly granted an exception to the Panthers team that’s considered ‘rare’.

The NHL made two exceptions for players that would get their names on the cup with the #Panthers, despite not reaching the games played eligibility:

Jonah Gadjovich (@jgadjovich)
Josh Mahura (@joshmahura)
Both deserved for sure, great to see the team petition to get them on the cup.

The two players, who are AHL players happily got their name on the cup, following a special request from the Florida Panthers, but conditions were violated.

Mahura is 26 years of age and only played 30 points with the Florida Panthers this past season, as well as zero playoffs games contributed towards the Panthers Stanley Cup.

Gadjovich had 4 points in 39 regular season games for the Florida Panthers, and has never played a Stanley Cup playoffs game in his career.

Many believe that this is an act of favouritism and Bettman would not grant this exception to the Edmonton Oilers organization if they had won the cup.