Well, preseason hockey is back - and we're just under a fortnight away from the return of regular-season hockey - so the light at the end of the offseason tunnel is getting brighter and brighter.

Speaking of the home opener…

DEALS DEALS DEALS

What's better than opening-night hockey? Easy - opening-night hockey with a free t-shirt!

 Tweet from @FlaPanthers: Don���t miss out on Opening Night! (or this special T-shirt) >> https://t.co/9prwZDiRhY pic.twitter.com/EtTfN6xX3W

For just $25, you can grab a special-edition t-shirt along with a ticket to opening night (Thursday, Oct. 13), when the Panthers will unveil the 2015-16 Atlantic Division Championship banner. And, of course, just two nights later, the team is giving out Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads. So come on out, watch some great hockey and add some memorabilia to your collection!

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers announced today the City of Fort Lauderdale will host a Florida Panthers Pep Rally on Monday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. at Huizenga Plaza, located at the corner of Andrews Avenue and Las Olas Boulevard in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The Pep Rally, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 4 p.m. with interactive games such as a bounce house, slap shot cage, video game trucks and corn hole boards. The ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. with guest speakers and a full team appearance. 

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, President of Hockey Operations Dale Tallon, Executive Chairman Peter Luukko, and Head Coach Gerard Gallant will all be guest speakers during the ceremony. All Panthers broadcasters, coaches and players will be in attendance as well. 

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers announced today that the club will continue the Guest Chef program for a second season in an effort to bring the flavors of the tri-county area and their superstar chefs to games. The program was created last season in conjunction with Ft. Lauderdale's Culinary Convenience for local South Florida chefs in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami Dade counties to showcase their talents in selected premium clubs at the BB&T Center.
 
Chef Orlando Morales of Centerplate will work with the restaurant chefs on preparing some of the restaurants signature dishes to feature in the BB&T Center's premium clubs. 
 
The program will kick off the new season with Executive Chef Santiago Gomez of Cantina La Veinte in Miami on opening night on Thursday, Oct. 13 against the New Jersey Devils at 7:30 p.m.
 
The selected premium clubs at the BB&T Center will showcase various renowned culinary delights throughout the season from each chef's restaurant. Unlimited wine, beer, sodas and bottled water are offered as part of each club's package. 

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers rallied late, but fell to the Nashville Predators 2-1 to split the club's preseason doubleheader on Tuesday at the BB&T Center.

Earlier in the day, the Panthers scored four goals in the third period to beat the Predators 4-1 in the opener. Dryden Hunt, Greg McKegg, Jonathan Ang and Jonathan Marchessault all scored for Florida, while James Reimer stopped all 12 shots he faced before being relieved by backup Sam Brittain midway through the second period.

"Preseason is just all about trying to get ready, trying to get the cobwebs out, trying to stay ready and stay good," Reimer said. "I thought it was a good game for that. I thought I was able to get on my angles and start doing what I need to do to be successful."

In the second game, the Predators took an early 2-0 lead over the Panthers thanks to pair of goals on the power play. Mikko Salomaki opened the scoring for Nashville after deflecting a shot from the point past goaltender Roberto Luongo to make it 1-0 at 6:51 of the first period. Soon after, Pontus Aberg added to Nashville's lead, scoring the team's second power-play goal of the period to make it 2-0 at 12:27.

Luongo made 9 saves on 11 shots in his preseason debut.

"I felt pretty good," said Luongo. "Timing wise and read wise I'm not exactly where I want to be, but that wasn't the purpose of tonight. I think it was a matter of getting back into some game action and making sure that everything is working properly still. As far as that's concerned, it was a good night."

Paul Thompson scored Florida's lone goal of the game, batting a puck out of the air and past goaltender Jusse Saros to cut Nashville's lead to 2-1 at 17:57 of the second period. 

The Panthers continue their preseason on Thursday against the Lightning in Tampa Bay.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - As the Florida Panthers prepare to begin their seven-game preseason, head coach Gerard Gallant wants each and every one of the 50-plus players attending this year's training camp to know that there are jobs to be won in the coming weeks.

"There's spots available," Gallant said after Sunday's practice at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs. "You look at some of our players, and there's people fighting for jobs. That's what you want every year, nobody gets a free shot at a job. Guys come here and work hard and earn jobs. There are probably 10 guys in line for three or four jobs."

Now, before you begin to shuffle lines in your head, Gallant went out of his way to also make it clear that, although his lineup for the upcoming season isn't set in stone, the club's top-two forward lines from last season "aren't going anywhere."

So where does that leave the rest of the lineup?

Well, if the first and second lines are to remain intact, the first big question marks can then be found to the left and right of third-line center Nick Bjugstad, who lost both of his linemates from last year's playoffs - Jiri Hudler and Teddy Purcell - to free agency.

"I'm not too stressed out," Bjugstad said with a chuckle. "I think everyone is trying to find linemates. It's not too set in stone, you know, who's sitting where and what position guys are. The first two lines look great to me, but I'm saying that everyone is trying to find out who can play with each other. We'll see what happens."

Good morning and welcome to "Cats & Coffee," a weekly segment presented by Community Coffee in which we get you caffeinated with an exciting look at the week ahead for the Florida Panthers.

The Florida Panthers will make their return to the BB&T Center this week, kicking off their seven-game preseason schedule with an exciting doubleheader against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

"It's more about guys trying to prove themselves and getting their feet wet," center Nick Bjugstad said of the preseason. "It's a lot of guys first time with the organization. Throwing on that jersey will be fun, especially with the new logo. It'll be a lot of fun to play again."

The back-to-back contests will be played at 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively, with any ticket purchased to either of the games also granting access to the other. If you are interested in attending, please click here. 

"A lot of guys will be playing in those games," head coach Gerard Gallant said. "Kids deserve those chances. They like to play in exhibitions games. It'll be fun."

Following the doubleheader, the Panthers will head across the state to visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Amalie Arena. Then, after a brief stint back in Sunrise, the team will head to London, Ontario, for a special game against the Dallas Stars on Sunday, Oct. 2 at Budweiser Gardens, home of the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights.

"We are very excited to showcase Panthers hockey outside of South Florida to a great hockey town like London," Panthers Executive Chairman Peter Luukko said. "Budweiser Gardens is a first class facility and an excellent venue for fans to watch two exciting, 2015-16 division-winning teams, Florida and Dallas face off. It is sure to be a terrific event for both the players and the city of London."

Budweiser Gardens has previously hosted a number NHL teams through the years for preseason games, with the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs most recently playing an exhibition contest there on Sept. 22, 2014.

Tickets can be purchased at BudweiserGardens.com or by phone at 1-866-455-2849.

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers are ready for their close up.

In a day filled with medical tests, photo shoots and endless interviews, the only thing shining brighter than the flash of the cameras was the smiles etched onto each player's face as they made their way through the Media Day gauntlet at the BB&T Center on Thursday.

"We're ready to get going," center Nick Bjugstad said. "I'm honestly getting sick of playing shinny hockey. I'm ready to get going and play some real hockey, get training camp going. We'll have a hard working training camp and then be ready to go."

After racking up a franchise-record 103 points and winning the Atlantic Division last season, the Panthers suddenly find themselves in uncharted waters as they attempt to follow-up last year's historic performance with an even better showing in 2016-17. No longer one of the league's best-kept secrets, Florida is no longer viewed as a team on the rise, but rather one that has already arrived and ready to compete for a Stanley Cup.

The Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon at the Panthers IceDen, capping off a perfect rookie tournament showing in which they outscored their opponents by a combined score of 14-8.