How the Panthers’ rise to NHL supremacy is transforming South Florida’s sports culture, growing the game

For the third consecutive year, the Florida panthers are in the final of the Stanley Cup and Sunrise is located in the center of the hockey universe. Although some have had problems with the perceived advantages of the panthers and the lack of a huge American hockey market in the final, their success inside and out of ice is good for the long-term health of sports.

For about 23 years, from 1997-2020, the panthers turned from half to the bottom of the Nhl Classification. To say -a little less politely, they were a franchise forgotten in a market where hockey was a basement and not the main event.

This has changed in recent years. With CEO Bill Zito at the helm, the panthers have built a perennial contestant who is hitting the door of his second flag by Stanley Cup. Attendance has improved and the basic support for the team and hockey in general exploded.

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Despite what you could see online these days, the panthers have not done so by taking advantage of the tax benefits and the good weather. Florida has pushed all the right buttons when it comes to creating rankings, and it also has a significant effort to ensure that hockey is rooted in the community over the next few years.

The “Sun belt problem”, even if it is a small tongue in the cheek, has been made with a whole cloth. Panthers are an important success, both for the league and for sports, and is not the result of tax codes.

Smart and aggressive sorting building

You will need a microscope to find the flaws on this list of Panthers, and this is because they have done some different things at a high level. Florida has reached its high selections, found some raw diamonds and has been aggressive when elite talent reaches the commercial market.

Hitting the brand in the first round election may seem easy, but teams are more often lost than you could expect. Panthers are no exception in this regard, but three keys from the main players of the team are the result of home selections at home or near the top of the project

Barkov is the straw that shakes the drink and has just won its third Selke trophy on Monday. Ekblad is a large part of the panthers’ blue line. Lundell is as good from a third -line center as you will find in the NHL, and would play a larger role in most others NHL teams.

This trio is vital for Florida’s success, but the team has really separated to find players undervalued around the league. If any other franchise has problems with the tax benefits of the Panthers in Florida, I suggest that they stop giving offers to the cats to the impact players first.

Carter Verhaeghe, who directed the panthers in the goals of the later season, was signed for two years and $ 2 million in 2020 after the Tampa Bay Lightning released him as a restricted free agent.

How long did the line of teams have in the hope of giving Gustav Forsling, now one of the main proponents of NHL’s stoppage, a reasonable market value contract until the Panthers subjected everyone thanks to their lack of state income tax?

It did not exist. Florida dragged resignations before the 2020-21 season.

Eetu Luostarinen, a member of the Third Line Dominant Florida, was part of the package that returned from the trade of Vincent Trocheck in 2020. Before this agreement, Luostarinen had eight NHL experience games with assistance.

Even Sam Bennett, who is about to become a very rich man this summer, was acquired in exchange for a selection of the second round and the rights to Emil Heineman. This is not exactly a King’s rescue for a player who has become a Lynchpin at sunrise.

These players were initially purchased below their value, but even when Zito has moved to great games, it was worth the price. Two movements that essentially changed the fate of the Panthers organization were the acquisitions of Sam Reinhart in 2021 and Matthew Tkachuk in 2022.

Reinhart commanded a first round and his proposal for Protagonism Devon Levi. A decent compensation for the buffalo knowledge, but they probably want a mulligan in this agreement now. Only a player, Auston Matthews, has more goals than Reinhart since the beginning of the 2023-24 season.

Tkachuk was the missing piece of puzzle in Florida, and it may seem that he has no head in his back, but Zito shot the dice in this trade. He separated with Johnathan Huberdeau immediately after a 115-point season, the top-notch defender Mackenzie Weega and a first round choice.

The idea that teams like Florida, Tampa, Dallas and Vegas have a significant advantage because they operate in income tax without taxes is exceeded and it was not a problem 15 years ago when these teams were not so good.

Each market has its own advantages, but the panthers simply beat everyone else. Due to this, hockey is expanding in different parts of the country.

Growing the game

If the NHL will continue to grow its reach and revenue, it needs teams in non -traditional markets to find success in various ways. This includes winning about ice, but also means taking advantage of this victory and turning it into a basic movement.

This is what the Panthers have tried to achieve for the last decade, told CBS Sports the Vice President of the Community Relations of John Colombo Community Relations. When asked about the main tenants of growing hockey in the south of Florida, Colombo gave what might seem like a simple answer.

“Put sticks in the hands of children,” he replied.

In a climate like Florida, most sports are all year round, and this makes it a challenge more than hockey to get a foot on the market.

“In the south of Florida, you can play any sport you want 12 months outside the year,” said Colombo. “So it’s a conversation:” How do you compete with football where all you have to do is find an open field and a football ball and are you all ready? “Baseball is 12 months.

One of the ways in which the panthers have done, offering different types of hockey to young fans at little or at no cost.

The team’s “Learn to Play” program offers children 5 to 9 years old the chance to try hockey through a six -week program and manage to keep the team once finished. This program increased 12.25% of participation in the last year.

The Panthers Floorball program is located in 560 schools throughout the area and provides free ball ball equipment, as well as a curriculum for PE teachers. The team is also developing a ball hockey program, which means that young fans can introduce themselves to the game in various ways without even having to put their foot on ice.

In addition, the panthers have developed a youth program “only for girls” in which girls can learn the hockey game outside a co-Ed environment. The teams are not only made up of all girls, but coaches are also women exclusively.

These programs have resulted and the general explosion of youth hockey has been impressive. Here are the US hockey numbers.

• From 2022-23 to 2023-24, the participation of youth hockey in Florida grew by 8.4%, the largest increase in any state.
• The youth female participation increased by 9.4%, also one of the highest brands in the country.
• In general, youth hockey participation has increased 73% in Florida since 2012-13.

This number should only be higher if the panthers can keep this dynamic underway. Between this and the basic efforts made by teams such as Florida, interest in hockey will continue to grow.

“When we arrived here (ten years ago), often you would talk to a child and it was like, he played hockey, but it was not something he was carrying as a badge of honor or a feeling of pride,” said Colombo. “For us, we wanted to create a culture where children are proud to be panthers. I think the ice product helps this. Obviously, more eyes on the panthers is important. But I think they continue to make these basic efforts.

“I think it is so critical to let these children grow fans of the panther, which is our goal at the end of the day.”

Long -term gain for NHL

Anyone who cares about what may seem like television ratings for a third consecutive Stanley Cup final with the Panthers, and a sixth consecutive end with a team of The Sunshine State, cannot see the trees forest.

If the NHL has any chance to climb above its current place in the order of pecking of the main North -Americans, it must branch out beyond the more traditional markets. Having an original End of the Stanley Cup Cup can be better for television and streaming numbers now, but recently to gain the interest of fans outside the already developed hockey hotels.

The Panthers have built a fun team with legitimate star power and the community continues to adopt the franchise and sport. This should give the league a certain hope that can expand its reach in less traditional hockey markets to the future.