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Panthers Captain Wins Selke, King Clancy Trophies

The Florida Panthers' leaders is taking home some hardware ahead of the Stanley Cup Final.

Jon Alfano

Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov warms up against the Toronto Maple Leafs before game four of the second round.
Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov warms up against the Toronto Maple Leafs before game four of the second round. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov has led his team to a third straight Stanley Cup Final as they look to go back-to-back, but even before that, he's adding to his trophy case.

On Monday, the NHL announced Barkov, 29 as the winner of both the Selke Trophy and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. He's now won the Selke two years in a row and three times overall, but the King Clancy is a first for the Finnish superstar.

Barkov scored 71 points (20 goals, 51 assists) in 61 regular season games while averaging 20:15 of ice time, including 3:17 on the power play and 1:37 on the penalty kill. He finished ahead of Panthers teammate Sam Reinhart and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli in Selke voting.

Patients from Joe DiMaggio's Children Hospital in Hollywood, Fla., surprised Barkov with the announcement at the Panthers' practice facility. Barkov, who wears No. 16, donates $1,600 to the hospital for each goal and $800 for each assist, totaling $420,000 since 2019. The hospital specializes in treating children with cancer, blood disorders, heart transplants and more.

“During my first visit, I didn’t speak English too well. I saw everything going on — how incredible the healthcare workers are, and how special the kids are — but I couldn’t really say anything. Now, I’ve gotten more comfortable with talking. I get to connect with the staff, the kids, and their families. I do what I can to give these kids a reason to smile,” Barkov wrote in a special essay for NHL.com.

"For now, if I have an opportunity to do something good, I don't think about it too much," Barkov said. "I just do it. But there is one thing I know for sure ... If we win the Cup again, I'm definitely bringing it back to Joe DiMaggio's Children's Hospital."

The NHL will make a donation of $25,000 to a charity of Barkov's choice to honor his King Clancy win. The Panthers are also eligible to receive a grant from the NHL of up to $20,000 to organize a special event related to his cause.

Barkov and the Panthers will take on the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row, with Game 1 scheduled for Wednesday night.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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