Florida Panthers Tickets

The Panthers joined the NHL for the 1993-94 season. They initially played in Miami but have since moved to the BB&T Center in Sunrise. Though the warm weather in Southern Florida might make it seem like an usual place for hockey, the Panthers have been able to build an exciting team.

The Panthers had a successful inaugural season in which they almost made the playoffs. Just a short time later, in the 1995-96 season, the Panthers made an unlikely run to the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers were notorious for their conservative, defensive style of play, which made them a difficult opponent. They ultimately lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Colorado Avalanche.

During the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run, a unique tradition emerged in southern Florida. The story goes that a rat was loose in the Panthers’ locker room before a regular season game. Scott Mellanby struck and killed the rat with his stick and went on to score two goals in the game. One of Mellanby’s teammates said that Mellanby had scored a “rat trick,” and the term caught on. Fans began buying plastic rats and throwing them onto the ice after the Panthers scored a goal. By the time the playoffs came around, there were hundreds of rats on the ice after a Panthers goal.

After the 90s, the Panthers struggled and missed the playoffs in every season from 2000 to 2010. Things have started to look up for the Panthers after they finally made the playoffs again in 2011. The Panthers have managed to build around a strong set of young players. Jonathan Huberdeau won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 2013, and Aaron Ekblad—who entered the league as an 18 year old defenseman—was the rookie of the year in 2015.