Florida Panthers is a hockey professional club serving in the National Hockey League (Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference). The main base of the club is located in the US city of Sunrise, Florida.
Club performance history
In 1992, on December 10, the owners of the NHL hockey clubs made a joint decision to add the number of teams to the league, now clubs from cities such as Anaheim and Miami could take part in the fight for the Stanley Cup.
Wayne Huizenga - owner of the new Florida Panthers team, immediately started recruitment. Billy Torrey was invited to the presidency of the club, Tommy Clark took the place of general manager, Roger Nilson was the head coach.
The team first held its official match in 1993 on October 6, the Chicago Blackhawks club was a rival , the result was 4-4. The first victory of the players, “Florida Panthers” achieved in the third match of the league against the players, “Tampa”, the result - 2: 0.
To get into the playoffs, in the first season spent a team from the city of Sunrise did not have one point.
The next season went with varying success, a series of victories after the losses, and again one point separated the team from reaching the playoff round, after which Doug Macklin took over as head coach.
The 1995-1996 season was a success, the Florida Panthers scored 92 points over the season and came close to the leaders of the championship, which led to the first Stanley Cup. On the way to the final series, “Florida” beat teams such as “Pittsburgh Penguins”, “Boston Bruins” and “Philadelphia Flyers”, but the team failed to win in the final series against the club “Colorado Avalanche”.
Statistics of the seasons 2011-2016:
Season (of the year) | Number of Points | Regular season | Playoffs |
| 2011-2012 | 94 | Southeast | Lost in the quarter finals of the “New Jersey”, the score of the series 3: 4 |
| 2012-2013 | 36 | Southeast | Not logged in |
| 2013-2014 | 66 | Atlantic | Not logged in |
| 2014-2015 | 91 | Atlantic | Not logged in |
| 2015-2016 | 103 | Atlantic | Lost in the 1/4 finals of the “Islanders”, the score of the series 2: 4 |
History of Symbols
The Florida Panthers logo features a Florida cougar, considered the rarest species of cougars. The club was named after her.
Forward Scott Mellabni played a special role in the emergence of the team's mascots. In the 1995-1996 season, Scott spotted a rat in the locker room, after which he took a club and sent the rodent through the room with a strong throw. On that day, Mellabney sent 2 goals into the opponent’s goal. The story somehow became known to the public, and in subsequent matches, when Mellabni scored, fans threw toy rats onto the ice.
By the end of the season, the tradition took root, and the fans didn't care who scored a goal against the opponents, they continued to throw toys at the arena.
Club players
“Florida Panthers” roster at the time of 2017 (the player’s number is indicated in brackets) had the following:
Goalkeepers
- Roberto Luongo (1);
- James Rymer (34).
Defenders
- Jason Dimers (4);
- Stephen Kapper (3);
- Aaron Ekblad (5, vice-captain of the team);
- Alex Petrovich (6);
- Mike Matisson (56);
- Keith Yandle (93).
Forwards
- Alexander Barkov (16);
- Jonathan Uberdo (11);
- Riley Smith (18);
- Derek Mackenzie (17, team captain);
- Vincent Trochek (21);
- Sean Thornton (22);
- Jiri Goodler (24);
- Nick Byugstat (27);
- Garrett Wilson (28);
- Jussi Jokinen (36, team vice-captain);
- Jaromir Jagr (68);
- Greg McKegg (41);
- Logan Shaw (48);
- Korban Knight (53);
- Jonathan Marcesco (81);
- Kyle Pay (92).
We wish you success in the 2016/17 season with the Florida Panthers hockey club. The pre-season matches, the results of which are already known, the club's players performed generally well: “Florida” 4–1 “Nashville”, “Florida” 1–2 “Dallas” (victory in overtime), the second match ended with the same score (victory) Dallas "on the bullets", "Florida" 4 - 2 "New Jersey", "Tampa Bay" 2 - 0 "Florida".