Panthers help send Stoneman Douglas hockey team to nationals on charter flight

The Florida Panthers continue to lend support to nearby Parkland, sending the hockey team from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to the national tournament on a special charter flight.

The NHL team teamed up with Swift Air to send the Eagles to Minnesota in fine fashion, and Shawn Thornton, former NHL forward and Panthers vice president of business operations, was there to send them off Wednesday.

"They're getting the full experience that our team would get when flying on a road trip," Thornton said, according to Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post.

The Eagles recently won the state championship, less than two weeks after a former student opened fire on teachers and students at the school and killed 17 people.

The 17 players who appeared in the state final brought their medals home and placed them on the memorials set up for those lost in the tragedy.

The Panthers also recently invited the team to practice at the NHL rink, bringing out the Stanley Cup as an added bonus.

"You can't ask for anything more than a team of guys that just understand what you're going through and they're going through the same thing with you," said player Matthew Hauptman. "And everyone's come together and making us even stronger as a team."

The Eagles begin their national title quest Thursday.