This will be my 7th season happily covering the Florida Panthers on Hockeybuzz. Love me or hate me, I appreciate all of your input and opinions over the years.
However, one common theme amongst many readers has been that the Florida Panthers relocating to a northern climate is inevitable. Amongst other myths and presuppositions is the fan base in South Florida doesn't care, they are small in number, and are not intelligent when it comes to analyzing the game.
While these notions are preposterous in every way, I certainly understand why uneducated people from northern regions would haphazardly throw assumptions at a fan base in the hopes they could be that fan base in the future.
I get it.
The fans get it.
The media gets it.
The NHL gets it.
Most don't want hockey in the Floridas and Phoenixs of the world. They'd rather the Hamilton Coyotes or Quebec Panthers or whatever godforsaken name they'd be called upon arrival.
That's fine.
They have the right to call out any struggling franchise as the noose around the NHL's neck and demand to have them moved to a location that would "better serve" the league as a whole.
The reality is, as NHL Gary Bettman stated to the Toronto Globe and Mail, "Nobody's moving, and speculation to the contrary not only is wrong, it's unfair to the team and their fans who are being speculated about. Our franchises have never been healthier. Our league, in terms of its economic footing, has never been healthier."
Bettman is an easy punching bag, and I'd by lying if I said he wasn't worthy of that designation most of the time. But he has a job to protect the league and any speculation that would bring harm to his owners.
In this case, that is exactly what is going on.
While the Panthers have been losing money for many years, it simply is a matter of winning. Just ask Chicago in the mid-2000s how many fans were in the seats for home games.
That changed in an instant when Dale Tallon started assembling a Stanley Cup Champion team. Now each game is sold out. Why is that?
WINNING.
After four Tallon drafts the Panthers are now in position to win, and they will. It may not be this year, but in 2-3 years the Cats will be a perennial playoff team. They have nowhere to go but up, and the LARGE fan base in South Florida knows it.
They are watching.
It is coming.
Quebec City and every other city mentioned in relocation/expansion rumors can be as hopeful as they want. But owner Vinny Viola and Vice Chairman Doug Cifu are determined to not only keep them in South Florida, but make them champions.
"As we close in on the one-year anniversary of our ownership of the Florida Panthers, we want to reiterate our commitment to Broward County, South Florida and our Panthers fans and business partners,'' Cifu and Viola wrote. "As we said at the press conference when we bought the team, we view ourselves as stewards of the team for the community and our plan is to build an organization that makes South Florida proud and to win the Stanley Cup in South Florida. Despite media speculation to the contrary, we have no plans or intentions to move this franchise.''
We won't know the verdict on the Panthers trying to renegotiate their arena lease with Broward county until October. There is no question this is a vital piece of NHL sustainability in South Florida...IF...the team continues to flounder like they have over the last dozen years.
Call me crazy. Those days are over.
When teams make the playoffs, economic stability follows. The Panthers are now in position to make that a consistent occurrence, whether Quebec City wants that to be a reality or not.
Regardless, Viola bought this team, in this region, for a reason. He's not trying to make waves and controversy. He wants a winner. He knows there is one in the making as when the Barkovs, Bjugstads, Huberdeaus, Trochecks, Ekblads, Kulikovs, Gudbransons, etc, mature. When the winning comes, the fans will follow. For better or worse, it is the South Florida way. But it is coming.
Dan Spiegel
Florida Panthers Media
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