The Panthers went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 and won the Cup in 2024 and 2025. How many times did Brady watch his brother from the stands?

“Probably six, I’d say,” he said. “Yeah, well, I’ll call it 6 ½.”

The half game came April 6, 2023, when Ottawa visited Florida. Brady fought Panthers defenseman Marc Staal at 8:24 of the second period, the same time Matthew fought Senators forward Drake Batherson, and Brady received a game misconduct. Brady hit the showers and watched the rest of a 7-2 Florida win with his family out of sight of the TV cameras.

“I hid in the suite,” he said.

After thinking about it, Brady said he probably watched Matthew from the stands even more often than that. It was probably eight games, actually. But the exact number doesn’t matter. The point is, Brady knows what he’s getting into.

Brady said he bought a place two minutes from Matthew in an area with a bunch of teammates. It’s golf-cart distance from the practice facility. Brady hasn’t gotten his own golf cart yet, so Matthew has given him a ride to the rink five times since Brady arrived to start skating about three weeks ago.

The guys can carpool to and from the airport. Their kids can grow up together.

“A lot of guys with young kids, so there will be a lot of play dates, a lot of fun down there,” Brady said, “so I’m excited about that.”

Brady fits Florida’s identity, and he said it doesn’t matter if he plays on a line with his brother. The Panthers are hungry after missing the playoffs last season mainly due to injury and fatigue. 

“You can just feel the energy and excitement,” Brady said. “Last year didn’t go the way that they wanted, what they expected, and just the motivation … They’re not even talking about the two Cups. They’re talking about last year and how they want to get back to where they wanted to be.”

Bottom line: The Panthers have a chance to win the Cup. That means Brady does too.

“You can see it, the commitment to get back there,” Brady said. “I know everybody’s champing at the bit to get the season going, and we just can’t wait for the next week and a half.”