SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The on-ice success story for the Florida Panthers is easy to see: They’re one win away from a second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. The off-ice success isn’t hard to figure out, either.
SUNRISE, Fla. — The on-ice success story for the Florida Panthers is easy to see: They’re one win away from a second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.With an 18th sellout of the season expected for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday night, when the Panthers play host to the New York Rangers, Florida has already lured more fans to its rink this year than in any other in the team’s 30-season history.
“If you win and you build a good program, you create an expanded fan base that isn’t necessarily then going to fluctuate with wins and losses all the time,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “You have to, over time, play an exciting game of hockey. But I’d like to feel that we’re part of something with deep enough roots that we would be considered a model franchise.”
That phrase — “model franchise” — was not one that anyone in hockey would tag the Panthers with a few years ago. Relocation rumours, despite the team steadfastly saying they were totally untrue, were constant. The home rink was half-empty, at best, much of the time.Florida will play its 50th home game of the season on Saturday night, tying last year’s team for the second-most in club history.
Add it all up — the wins, the deep playoff runs, the sellouts, the opening earlier this year of a new practice facility with fan-friendly amenities such as a store and restaurant in downtown Fort Lauderdale, more and more sponsor deals — and it becomes obvious that Florida is enjoying a run from the business standpoint like never before.
“You have to play a style of game that if you’re going to spend your money and you’re going to go to the rink in February, you’ve got a real good chance of being entertained,” Maurice said. “And I think these men do that.”Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
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