Tennis legend Navratilova parties with Panthers once again after second straight Cup

SUNRISE, Fla. – When you go back-to-back, you can start to establish traditions.

For the Florida Panthers, one of their new traditions just so happens to involve a tennis icon.

Welcome to the team, Martina Navratilova.

For the second straight year, the 18-time Grand Slam champion partied with the Panthers during their Stanley Cup celebration, this time meeting up with the team at Maple & Ash in Miami on Thursday.

“It’s a good tradition to have her come and take a photo,” captain Aleksander Barkov said of during exit interviews at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday. "It's great."

What is now a tradition actually started as happenstance.

Last year, Navratilova, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000, was out celebrating a birthday when she ended up at the same restaurant as the Panthers, who’d just defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 to capture their first-ever Cup.

Not only did the Panthers invite her to take a picture, but also sip out of Lord Stanley.

As the saying goes, greatness recognizes greatness.

“It’s always nice to see the greats from other sports, and she’s one of them,” Barkov said.

An avid tennis player and big fan, Barkov met up again with Navratilova following last year’s Cup win at Wimbledon, where Navratilova was helping lead the Tennis Channel's coverage of the event at the All England Club.

Catching up, Navratilova later invited Barkov to join the panel to chat hockey and tennis.

“We’re always happy to see her,” Barkov smiled.

If the Panthers have it their way, they’ll be celebrating with her again next summer.

At this point, the Cup and Navratilova seem to go hand in hand.