Florida Panthers:
Sink Your Teeth into the Action!

Florida Panthers Leaf Hockey Card image

Florida Panthers hockey games are just a little further away from your vacation or retirement residence in Englewood Florida. But, if you are going to the Miami area, or your hometown team is playing the Panthers then it is only a short drive of a little more than a couple of hours to watch this National Hockey League team in action.

I know of hockey fans, who when their favorite NHL team makes its swing through Florida, they get tickets for games not only in Tampa, but they also travel south to Miami, to catch the action between their hockey heroes and the Florida Panthers.

Like their cross-state rivals, the Tampa Lightning, the Panthers have only been part of the NHL and the Florida hockey scene since the early 1990s.

The Florida Panthers came into existence in December 10, 1992 when the National Hockey League awarded Wayne Huizenga, the owner of Blockbuster Video, the south Florida NHL franchise.

Usually, an expansion team in any professional sport can expect begin their existence with a few dismal seasons at, near to the bottom of their league’s standings. But, the Florida Panthers may have been the exception to that rule.

Their first NHL victory was a record breaker in one regard and probably deliciously delightful for Panther fans and their team.

The Panthers recorded their first NHL victory against their cross-state rivals, the Tampa Lightning. The score was a 2-0 shutout victory and was played in Tampa’s Thunderdome before what was at the time an NHL attendance record crowd of 27,227.

The Panthers recorded one of the most successful first seasons for a professional sports expansion team when they finished the season just one point below a .500 season record and barely missed the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It did not take the Panthers long to make a splash in the NHL. Just a couple of seasons after they first joined the league, in 1995-96, the Panthers went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. Unfortunately for them, and their south Florida fans, they were swept in four games by the Colorado Avalanche.

In succeeding seasons the Panthers have continued to play exciting hockey with a cast of great young players. Although they have had little or no playoff action since their run for the Stanley Cup, the hockey action is great and well worth the trip. So if you are looking for another entertainment venue and a day away from Englewood’s great Florida beaches and golf courses why not follow the directions below and head out for a Florida Panthers hockey game.

Directions to see a Florida hockey game featuring the Florida Panthers are easy to follow:

1/ Take I-75 south towards Naples
2/ Take I-595 E, Exit 19, toward SR-869 Toll N/Coral Springs/West Palm Beach/ Ft Lauderdale
3/ Merge onto FL-869 N/Sawgrass Expressway N via the exit on Left toward Coral Springs.
4/ End Point
One Panther Parkway
Sunrise, FL 33323

Note: Some parts of this route are toll roads. But, mapquest suggests that the entire trip from Englewood to the Panthers’ area will be just under 3 hours. Florida hockey games are easy to access from Englewood. Just another reason why we Enjoy Englewood Florida!

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hockey centremen

If you enjoy reading about hockey and especially hockey history, the publishers of my latest hockey book Great Centremen: Stars of Hockey's Golden Age have made copies available for sale on this website.

Great Centremen: Stars of Hockey's Golden Age features short biographical sketches of eleven great hockey centermen.

In the pages of this book you will read about Montreal Canadien legends Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard; Syl Apps, Max Bentley and Teeder Kennedy who all toiled down the center for the Toronto Maple Leafs; Alex Delvecchio and Sid Abel two stars of the fabulous Detroit Red Wings scoring machine of the 1950s.

As well, you can read about Boston Bruin greats Milt Schmidt and Cooney Weiland; Frank Boucher of the Rangers and last but certainly not least the legendary Cyclone Taylor who is reputed to have skated through the entire opposing team backwards before scoring a goal!

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