SUNRISE, Fla. — Former Cornell men's hockey captain and defenseman Braden Birch '13 fulfilled a dream everyone working with a National Hockey League franchise aspires to: Hoist the Stanley Cup.

Birch, who is in his eighth season within the Florida Panthers' front office as the director of hockey operations and salary cap management, experienced the gratification of every NHL franchise's yearly aspiration on Monday night as the Panthers posted a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena.

Birch's journey with the Panthers began with the 2016-17 season when he joined the franchise as a special assistant to the Panthers' general manager, Tom Rowe. His contributions were recognized, leading to his promotion to director of hockey operations — a title he has held since. Before the 2021-22 season, Birch had the role of director of salary cap management added to his title, where he aids the Panthers' current general manager, Bill Zito, in making sure the team remains compliant with the NHL's salary cap. Zito is also connected to ECAC Hockey, as he played three years of hockey at Yale (1984-87).

The Stanley Cup victory for the Panthers marks the third consecutive year in which a Cornell hockey alum has played or been a member of the front office of a Stanley Cup-winning organization. Former defenseman Jacob MacDonald '15, who was teammates with Birch for two seasons (2011-13), was able to lift the Stanley Cup as a member of the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 despite not suiting up in any of its playoff games. Darren Eliot '83, the senior vice president of hockey programming and facility operations with the Vegas Golden Knights, was a part of the Golden Knights front office that defeated the Panthers in five games in last year's Stanley Cup Final.

During his time with Cornell, Birch appeared in 128 games for the Big Red, registering 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) and logging a plus-17 rating. He was a tri-captain during his senior year, sharing the honors with Erik Axell and Nick D'Agostino.

Following his four-year career at Cornell, Birch played one professional season, splitting time between HIFK in the Finnish-based Liiga and a pair of ECHL teams. With HIFK, Birch served as an alternate captain and recorded one assist in 17 games before returning stateside, where he logged six points (one goal, five assists) across 31 games combined between the Florida Everblades — owned by Cornell hockey alumnus Craig Brush '72 since its inception in 1998 — and Colorado Eagles.