This Kid Gets It: Little Florida Panthers Fan Loved How Much They "Punched Each Other A Lot"
This is what it's all about.
You wouldn't think of Florida to be a hot bed for hockey. It's the southernmost state in the continental US. It hardly ever dips below freezing in South Florida. The first ice rink with artificially frozen ice in the US was installed in 1879. Before then, you couldn't even dream about playing ice hockey in the state of Florida.
But after 3 straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2020-2022, and now 3 straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final for the Florida Panthers from 2023-2025? You're going to have an entire generation of hockey obsessed kids in Florida now.
And these aren't kids who are getting into the sport by watching teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils playing "Instagram hockey". These are kids who are all watching the Florida Panthers. A bunch of rats who play the greasiest brand of hockey known to man. A team that loves to score goals, but loves to punch other people in the face even more.
15-20 years from now when you start to see a boom of NHL (and PWHL) Draft prospects coming out of Florida who all play the game like a bunch of unhinged lunatics, we'll know exactly why.