The Florida Panthers: the team that the Avalanche beat to win their first Stanley Cup in 1996. That’s about all I got for my knowledge about the Panthers’ hockey club. However, when I turned on the TV for Saturday night’s game, their jerseys impressed me, and that sparked a slew of questions that developed as the game progressed. Are the jerseys new this season? Jagar plays for them? And even worse yet, where exactly is Sunrise, Florida?
As an “Avid Avaholic,” I am truly embarrassed by my ignorance of the team, but would like to take this opportunity to expand my league knowledge to you about the poor fellows in Sunrise, Florida that have slipped passed my radar.
While it is obvious that I am a geographical degenerate (Sunrise, Florida I’ve learned is in the Miami metropolitan area), it is not entirely unfounded that I knew so little about a team who in their 23-year history has only made the playoffs five times. In those five playoff berths, the only time they made it past the first round was when the Avs swept them in the Stanley Cup Finals. In their second home game of the 2014-15 season, the team set an attendance record low at just 7,311 in attendance of their 19,250 available seats at BB&T Center. Even after winning the Atlantic Division last year, finishing above Tampa Bay and the Red Wings, their attendance was remarkably low the other night, with Adrian Dater tweeting, “Lots of fans came to the game in Florida dressed as empty seats for Halloween tonight”.
Old jersey
It is clear that the Panthers are in need of a bit of boost, and rebranding is one of the things that the team is trying. The idea was to make their franchise appear more mature, and in doing do so got rid of their cartoon-like ferocious feline logo. The new logo features a more regal panther, and is inspired by the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. The military theme extends to the arm patches where there is the Florida state flag, and the word “Florida” is sown above their home jerseys, and “Panthers” on their away jersey. Additionally, the team’s captain, Derek MacKenzie, and alternate captains have the banner of “Captain” or “Alternate” on the left sleeve.
Their rebranding campaign comes at a good time. The Panthers finished with a franchise record of 47 wins last year, 103 points, and their second divisional title, with ESPN ranking them in 7th overall in the ESPN “Ultimate Standing 2016”. [1] It was only two years ago that they were ranked 102 out of the 122 teams, and last year making it up to the 47th ranking. The Tampa Bay Lighting came in first. Who would have thought that two Florida NHL teams would come in the top 10 ranking?
New jersey design
While their snazzy new jerseys (I’d be happy to wear one if I were a fan) are an obvious change, the club has also undergone some housekeeping in recent years. Beginning with the hiring of Dale Tallon as General Manager, who has helped to rebuild the team from the bottom up, as well as the change in ownership.
Original ownership in 1993 was under Blockbuster Video tycoon, Wayne Huizenga. Turns out Florida fans were much like the American public; no one goes to Blockbuster anymore. Eventually the team was purchased by Vincent Viola and Doug Cifu in 2013, and they brought an element of personalization to the club, rather than the previous corporate mundanity.
Additionally, the franchise started experimenting with Spanish broadcasting and aired 3 games in 2014, seven games in 2015, and has had enough success that this year every home game is being broadcasted in Spanish. While the Latino community might not be the obvious hockey demographic, one would think that they would at least attempt to reach the audience in Miami. What’s Spanish for “duh”? It would be amazing if next year they can expand to every game.
While the Panthers have done progressive things in terms of management, it really only matters if they have the right talent, which they do. The Panthers have a combination of young strength like the Finish Alexsander Barkov, as well as old grit like Jagar. They even have familiar backup goaltender, Reto Berra. In an unfortunate example of their skill, the Panthers danced all over the Avs in their 5-2 victory on Saturday. If you missed the game, good for you, I wish I had. The Avs were unimpressive and proved that we still have some consistency issues. But the Panthers did look strong and advanced to a 3-1-1 record.
It seems like the sun might really be rising in Sunrise, Florida.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that writing a positive article about another team is really pushing my comfort zone. But the fact is, I am first and foremost a hockey fan. I love hockey, and believe the world should love it too. I would love for hockey to succeed in Florida, and believe that if hockey can make it in Florida, it can make it anywhere. Also, they are an Eastern team, and the only time we would ever have to seriously worry about them is in the Stanley Cup Finals. We already know how our track record is there. Any hey, any team that is a division rival of the Red Wings, automatically gets my support, underdog or not.
[1] The Avalanche came in 77th, so take what you want from this pole.