I still remember the moment I became a Florida Panthers fan. December 15, 1993, some time in the morning as my 10-year old self was poring over the sports section in the newspaper and seeing the Panthers tied the Canadiens 3-3, thinking "Wow, that's impressive. They beat and tied the previous Stanley Cup champs this season. This team also has a cool logo. This is now my team." I remember that season we missed the playoffs by one measly point and it was the best season by an expansion franchise ever, a record that would stand for a long time until the Knights came along. I was bummed, but proud.
I remember being a bit of an outcast as a Panthers fan. I remember pretending to be a Panther while playing foot hockey and pond hockey and shinny. I remember drawing their logo all the time. Reading every scrap about them I could and catching every game I could.
I remember watching the 1996 playoffs, fighting with the six others in my family for control of the tv so I could watch the Panthers. I remember watching the rats and Barrasso hiding in his net. I remember watching some of the games on a little black and white TV we still had lying around, in my room, while they lost 8-1. I remember begging to stay up for game 4, being disappointed when Uwe Krupp scored on a long bomb. But I was proud.
I remember making fun of a kid wearing a Rangers jersey in round 1 of the 1997 playoffs after we beat them 3-0 in game 1. Damn I regret that still to this day and part of me thinks that cursed us for the next 20 years.
I remember trading Jovanovski for Bure and being absolutely crushed. I loved Jovanovski for putting Lindros in his place and being a rough and tumble dman who could also score. I knew Bure, I knew how good he was, but Jovanovski was our guy. I quickly also loved Bure as he became our guy and lit up the scoreboard.
I remember fighting with my family because I didn't want to go to Easter mass and wanted to watch the 2000 Panthers/Devils playoffs. I probably shouldn't have bothered since we got swept. But at least I got to watch my team in the playoffs. I didn't know it'd be over a decade before I saw another playoffs.
I remember watching Stephen Weiss drafted. I was so proud, I went to high school with him. I thought it was pretty cool. He seemed like a good dude.
I remember listening on the radio to the Panthers through the 2000s, just wanting these guys to succeed, but always failing. I remember Luongo's brilliance and wishing so bad for him to succeed. I remember his 57 save loss to the Wings, that was so painful. I remember, Bouwmeester, and Horton, and Roberts, and Nieuwendyk, and Kidd, and Vokoun, and Booth, and Novoseltsev, and the Sunshine Express, and Chris Wells, and on and on...
I remember the lost years with shitty ownership. I remember Yormark and his stupid red boots and the urinal cakes. I remember the computer boys. I remember the taxi. I remember just the embarrassment of being a Panthers fan.
I remember finally making it back to the playoffs in 2012. I remember Gudbranson being a warrior and thinking he'll be our captain (hah what an idiot). I remember being owned by Steve f***ing Bernier and Adam f***ing Henrique (!!!!).
I remember Luongo coming back and being so stoked. I remember finally seeing Luongo play for us in the playoffs. I remember Trocheck got tripped and f*** Tavares. Man I hate that guy. I remember watching one of Luongo's last games with my wife. She can't stand watching hockey on tv, but she loved it in person.
I remember the day we hired Quenneville. I know his family so that made it even better. I was so fired up. I remember his first season and that epic Tampa series. I remember the disappointment when he was let go, at him, at the situation, at being a Panthers fan. I remember Bruno leading us to a President's trophy and how we finally squeaked out a first round win against the Caps, and then "who cares its 3-0" and then disappointment again.
I remember the Tkachuk trade and staying up until 2am being so stoked and absolutely certain this would change our franchise for the better. I remember being 15 rows away from the blue line when Bennett drops a pass to Verhaeghe for the OT goal in game 3 of the 2023 Finals. I remember 9-3 and disappointment, but being proud.
I remember being up 3-0 against the Oilers and thinking we're Cup bound, finally, after 31 years. I remember losing 5-1 and never being so pissed before from watching a Panthers game.
There's been a lot of ups and downs. I still don't get why I'm a Panthers fan to be honest, but I don't think that's ever going to change, as much as I'd like it to sometimes. I'll still be here on Tuesday, win or lose. But man it would be so much better if it was with a win.
