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Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played its home games at Miami Arena before moving to what is now known as Amerant Bank Arena in 1998. Located in Sunrise, Florida, the franchise is the southernmost team in the NHL. The Panthers are one of two NHL franchises based in Florida, with the other being the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The team's local broadcasting rights were held by Bally Sports Florida (formerly SportsChannel and Fox Sports Florida) from 1996 to 2024 when they made a new broadcast deal with Scripps Sports. The Panthers are primarily affiliated with two minor league teams: the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL.
The Panthers began playing in the 1993–94 season, when they set the record for the most points by an expansion team in its inaugural season, which was later surpassed by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017–18. In 1996, the team made their first appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, reaching the 1996 Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Colorado Avalanche. Between 1997 and 2021, the Panthers only qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs six times, not winning a playoff series in that span.
Since the 2021–22 season, the Panthers have found considerable postseason success. They won their first playoff series in two decades in 2022, and appeared in the Stanley Cup Final for three straight seasons from 2023 to 2025, winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2024, and repeating as champions in 2025.
Blockbuster Video magnate Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for Miami on December 10, 1992, the same day the Walt Disney Company earned the rights to start a team in Anaheim that would become the Mighty Ducks. At the time, Huizenga owned both the newly founded Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) and a share of the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins. The entry fee was $50 million. Huizenga announced the team would play at the Miami Arena, sharing the building with the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Miami Heat, until a new arena was built. Offices for the team were only established in June 1993, while vice president of business operations Dean Jordan conceded that "none of the business people, myself included, knew anything about hockey." The new franchise would be the first professional ice hockey team in Miami since the folding of the Tropical Hockey League in 1939.
Huizenga initially wanted to name the team the "Block Busters" in honor of his video rental chain. The team would have the same colors as the video rental chain (blue and gold) and even a uniform concept was designed. In the end, the NHL rejected the nickname.
On April 20, 1993, a press conference in Fort Lauderdale announced that the team would be named Florida Panthers, with former New York Islanders general manager Bill Torrey as president and Bobby Clarke as general manager. The team is named for the Florida panther, an endangered species of large cat endemic to the nearby Everglades region. Once the logos and uniforms were unveiled on June 15, the team also announced its financial commitment to the panther preservation cause. Huizenga had held the Panthers trademark since 1991, when he purchased it from a group of Tampa investors who sought to create an MLB team in the Tampa Bay area.
The new franchise joined the NHL for participation in the 1993–94 season, along with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Panthers' and Ducks' rosters were filled in both the expansion draft and the 1993 NHL entry draft in June 1993, hosted by Quebec City; that draft produced ten players who would eventually be a part of the 1996 Eastern Conference-winning team.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played its home games at Miami Arena before moving to what is now known as Amerant Bank Arena in 1998. Located in Sunrise, Florida, the franchise is the southernmost team in the NHL. The Panthers are one of two NHL franchises based in Florida, with the other being the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The team's local broadcasting rights were held by Bally Sports Florida (formerly SportsChannel and Fox Sports Florida) from 1996 to 2024 when they made a new broadcast deal with Scripps Sports. The Panthers are primarily affiliated with two minor league teams: the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL.
The Panthers began playing in the 1993–94 season, when they set the record for the most points by an expansion team in its inaugural season, which was later surpassed by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017–18. In 1996, the team made their first appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, reaching the 1996 Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Colorado Avalanche. Between 1997 and 2021, the Panthers only qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs six times, not winning a playoff series in that span.
Since the 2021–22 season, the Panthers have found considerable postseason success. They won their first playoff series in two decades in 2022, and appeared in the Stanley Cup Final for three straight seasons from 2023 to 2025, winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2024, and repeating as champions in 2025.
Blockbuster Video magnate Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for Miami on December 10, 1992, the same day the Walt Disney Company earned the rights to start a team in Anaheim that would become the Mighty Ducks. At the time, Huizenga owned both the newly founded Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) and a share of the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins. The entry fee was $50 million. Huizenga announced the team would play at the Miami Arena, sharing the building with the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Miami Heat, until a new arena was built. Offices for the team were only established in June 1993, while vice president of business operations Dean Jordan conceded that "none of the business people, myself included, knew anything about hockey." The new franchise would be the first professional ice hockey team in Miami since the folding of the Tropical Hockey League in 1939.
Huizenga initially wanted to name the team the "Block Busters" in honor of his video rental chain. The team would have the same colors as the video rental chain (blue and gold) and even a uniform concept was designed. In the end, the NHL rejected the nickname.
On April 20, 1993, a press conference in Fort Lauderdale announced that the team would be named Florida Panthers, with former New York Islanders general manager Bill Torrey as president and Bobby Clarke as general manager. The team is named for the Florida panther, an endangered species of large cat endemic to the nearby Everglades region. Once the logos and uniforms were unveiled on June 15, the team also announced its financial commitment to the panther preservation cause. Huizenga had held the Panthers trademark since 1991, when he purchased it from a group of Tampa investors who sought to create an MLB team in the Tampa Bay area.
The new franchise joined the NHL for participation in the 1993–94 season, along with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Panthers' and Ducks' rosters were filled in both the expansion draft and the 1993 NHL entry draft in June 1993, hosted by Quebec City; that draft produced ten players who would eventually be a part of the 1996 Eastern Conference-winning team.