Panthers 'want to keep winning and keep selling out and keep winning awards'

EDMONTON -- Matthew Tkachuk had just arrived in South Florida. He was staying at a hotel and picking up dinner after the Calgary Flames traded him to the Florida Panthers on July 22, 2022, when someone asked him what he did for work.

“Well, I play hockey,” he said.

“Hockey? In Florida?” the person said. “You must [stink].”

Tkachuk laughed as he shared that anecdote Tuesday. The forward was sitting on a podium at Stanley Cup Final Media Day. Looming to his left was a huge photo of him hoisting the Stanley Cup last year.

Times have changed.

“I have more people come up to me now than in most cities, if not all,” he said. “Like, that’s how much hockey has grown. Hockey, it’s kind of turned into the No. 1 sport there, and it’s been so fun to be a part of.”

This is the golden age of hockey in South Florida. The Panthers have become a model NHL franchise on and off the ice.

This is their third straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, and they’re trying to repeat as champions. Following their 5-4 double-overtime victory against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 on Friday, the best-of-7 series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Business is booming. Accolades are coming. The Panthers will play outdoors for the first time when they host the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic, facing the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park in Miami on Jan. 2.

“What a time to be a Florida Panther,” said defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who has played for Florida since 2014-15. “It’s really cool, really exciting. How would I describe it? It’s everything you could have ever dreamed of as a kid.”

Still, the Panthers are unsatisfied.

“It’s definitely the best time in the history of the franchise,” Florida president Matt Caldwell said. “I think there’s no doubt about that. We’re humble about it, but we hope it’s not the peak. … We want to keep winning and keep selling out and keep winning awards.”

Florida has come so far.

After making the Cup Final in 1995-96, their third season as an expansion team, the Panthers missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs 18 times and lost in the opening round six times from 1996-97 through 2020-21.

They struggled to fill the stands.

But they won the Presidents’ Trophy as the League’s top regular-season team (58-18-6, 122 points) and a playoff series in 2021-22, and now they’ve become only the second team in the last 40 years to make the Cup Final in three consecutive seasons. The Tampa Bay Lightning also did it from 2020-22.

The Panthers sold out season tickets for the first time this season and have a waiting list. They averaged 19,059 fans during the regular season, fifth in the NHL, and are on a 32-game sellout streak, regular season and playoffs combined.

Caldwell said they have already renewed about 92 percent of their season tickets for next season, even though the offseason hasn’t started yet and they raised ticket prices by about 35 percent.

Florida used to give away tickets, devaluing them. The Panthers still had one of the lowest average ticket prices in the NHL this season, and they have chosen to keep it below the NHL average.

“On a percentage basis, we did a big increase, but we still were mindful of the loyal season-ticket base that’s been with us,” Caldwell said. “… The bottom line is, we’re pacing to sell out of season tickets well before next season. We’ll probably do it over this next month or so.”

TV ratings have more than doubled, and social media metrics have skyrocketed, an indication the Panthers are breaking through to casual fans.

They’ve built a state-of-the-art practice facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and recorded their highest youth hockey participation since USA Hockey began tracking it 11 years ago, and have extended their arena lease with Broward County. Florida plans to replace the arena's scoreboard and make other improvements.

“That’s a huge, huge deal for us, because we have a minimum nine years but then potentially 19 years of a great public-private partnership,” Caldwell said. “The county’s committing $25 million per year to the building for both [capital expenditures] and [operating expenses]. That gives us a lot of stability to do upgrades at the arena.”

Sports Business Journal named the Panthers “Sports Team of the Year” on May 21, choosing them over a group of nominees that included the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball and the Washington Commanders of the National Football League.

Captain Aleksander Barkov received two awards June 2: the Selke Trophy, voted the NHL’s best defensive forward for the third time, and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for his leadership and contribution to the community. Bill Zito is a finalist for General Manager of the Year, which has yet to be awarded.

“It’s amazing that we’re able to [go to the Cup Final for] the third year in a row, and all the hard work is paying off, for sure,” said Barkov, who has played for Florida since 2013-14. “Like, we’ve been playing really well and keep getting better every single year, and then obviously going to Finland [for the NHL Global Series] this year and Winter Classic next year, it means a lot to Florida Panthers and the community and to South Florida.”

The Winter Classic? In South Florida? And the Lightning are going to host the Boston Bruins in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 1 too?

“We didn’t even know if it was possible to have a game in Florida,” Caldwell said. “Now we have two of them next year. It’s going to be tremendous.”

No matter what happens in this series, the Panthers have big plans for the future.

“We still think there’s a lot more to accomplish,” Caldwell said. “It’s one of these things where I’m trying to be present and enjoy the moment, but at the same time, I don’t want to rest on our laurels, because we think we can be bigger and better.”