Although South Florida is known for the hot temperature, the gorgeous beaches, water sports, wild nightlife and the Latin flavor, things are a little cooler over at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. This is the home of the Florida Panthers, the National Hockey League team that plays in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. Early in 1990, H. Wayne Huizenga bought the Panthers franchise and began to build a team that would soon have one of the best rookie seasons for an expansion team and the best first year of any NHL team. The team was led by players John Vanbiesbrouck, Rob Niedermayer and Scott Mellanby and head coach Roger Neilson. While they finished just outside the playoffs, fans and the franchise were excited about the promise the team showed. The Panthers missed the playoffs again in the 1994-95 season and Neilson was fired soon after. Doug MacLean was hired to replace Neilson and there was an improvement almost immediately.

The year of the rat would come in 1995-96 along with a lot of success. The story of how the rats came as a symbol for the Panthers is that during the home opener of the season, Mellanby hit and killed a rat in the locker room and then went on to score two goals during the game, coined as “a rat trick.” Fans caught a whiff of the story and started throwing plastic rats on the ice when the Panthers scored a goal for the remainder of the season. The team played extremely well through the season and received their first ever playoff berth. They triumphed over the Boston Bruins in five games and went on to defeat the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six games. Moving on to the third round shocked fans and critics, as they had only been a team for three years. They would bring home their first Conference Championship after knocking out the Pittsburgh Penguins in a nail-biting seven games. The Stanley Cup Finals lied ahead and while South Florida fans were starting to get prepared for a shiny new trophy in their city, the Colorado Avalanche had other plans and dethroned the Cats in a disappointing four-game sweep.

Their Stanley Cup run was followed by a promising 1996-97 season beginning the year with a 17-game winning streak, but the team and their dreams of winning the Cup were shut down in the first round of the playoffs. They would see another streak in 1997-98, but this time would be for a 15-game losing streak leaving the beloved Miami team low in the polls and with a franchise-worst record of 24-43-15. During the season MacLean was fired and replaced with General Manager Bryan Murray. They would continue to have losing seasons until 1999-00 when they reached the playoffs once again. This time they saw defeat in the first round against the soon-to-be- Cup Champion New Jersey Devils. They went on to have disappointing seasons year after year. The team would eventually acquire defenceman Jay Bouwmeester who would provide some assistance to the weak team. The 2000s have proved to be very difficult, as The Florida Panthers have not made the playoffs at all this decade, the longest streak in the NHL. With the turn of a decade, the Florida Panthers are hoping they have a turn of luck and begin climbing back up to the top and into the Stanley Cup Championship Finals! So plan your trip to South Florida now so you can see the Cats fight on the ice and make history.