Brandon Montour goes on crazy travel schedule to catch son's birth during Stanley Cup Finals

Florida Panthers star Brandon Montour wanted to do everything in his power to return home to see the birth of his first son. It meant traveling with a crazy schedule — something the NHL player was more than willing to deal with if it meant he got to be by his wife’s side.

Saturday, the Panthers lost a 5-2 contest to the Vegas Golden Knight in Game 1 to open the Stanley Cup Final. Immediately after the game ended, coach Paul Maurice and general manager Bill Zito told Montour that his wife was in labor.

Montour hopped on a plane at 11 p.m. and landed in Florida at 6:30 a.m., per NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin. He went straight to a hospital in Boca Raton, where he met his wife.

“I was getting text messages from her parents, just where she was at,” Montour said. “They didn’t think I was going to make it.”

Montour made it in time to see his son’s birth. And though he had to hustle from one spot to the next, he said it was all worth it.

“I didn’t know when he was going to come, I tried to get there as quick as I could,” Montour said. “Luckily I was there for it all and got to experience it with her.”

Montour headed back to Vegas for Game 2

Montour had quite the adventure getting from the locker room in Vegas to a hospital room in Boca Raton. But the crazy travel schedule paid off. But his arrival in Florida wasn’t the final leg in his journey.

After meeting his son, Montour had to travel back to Las Vegas and prepare for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, which was played on Monday.

By Sunday night at 9:30 p.m., Montour landed in Vegas and rejoined his teammates. And they welcomed him back with open arms.

“It’s great. Obviously, I have family back home, but this is my family when I’m at the rink,” Montour said. “They care about what’s going on in my life and they’re excited for me. 

Unfortunately for Montour and the Panthers, all the excitement didn’t translate to success on the ice. The Panthers dropped a 7-2 contest to the Golden Knights, falling to a 2-0 deficit in the series.

“Unfortunately, Game 2 didn’t end the way we wanted, but we tried to have that motivation, new baby in the world to help us out. But obviously they care so much about me and as do I with them. It was nice to come back and try to get back to business as quick as we could.”