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On this day 33 years ago, the NHL Board of Directors met at The Breakers hotel in Palm Beach and made a surprise announcement: The league would expand to Miami and Anaheim, and the Florida Panthers were born.
No one expected the NHL to make such an announcement, and it came the day after over 12,000 came t0 Miami Arena to watch the New York Rangers beat the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning 6-5.
Wayne Huizenga, who brought Major League Baseball to South Florida and owned part of the Dolphins, joined forces with the Walt Disney Company to bring two new teams to the NHL.
Both the Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim would play their first seasons less than a year after being awarded expansion teams.
The cost: $50 million per team.
The NHL will likely charge $2 billion — with a ‘B’ — in its next round of expansion.
Going back to 1993, and Joining forces with Huizenga and his Blockbuster Video empire as well as the Walt Disney Co. was too much for the NHL to turn down.
“What happened to make it quick is that two big companies expressed an interest,’’ said former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall, who was chairman of the owners Board of Governors and had worked closely both with Huizena and .
“I’m a good salesman, and when someone expresses an interest, I’m not letting them off the hook if I can help it, especially a situation of this magnitude.”
Although South Florida’s new hockey team did not have a name when granted the expansion team, they would be named the Florida Panthers a few months later.
Huizenga had to buy the naming rights from a Tampa-area businessman who secured them hoping Huizenga would name his expansion baseball team the Panthers.
He went with the Florida Marlins, instead.
And, yes, the Panthers were almost called the Block Busters.
The Panthers played their first regular season game on Oct. 6, 1993 at Chicago Arena, forcing a 4-4 tie against Ed Belfour and the Blackhawks.
The first NHL game played at Miami Arena for the Panthers came on Oct. 12, 1993 when the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Florida 2-1.
John Vanbiesbrouck, who was in goal for the Rangers when they beat the Lightning in Miami, was Florida’s first goalie and helped lead them to the Stanley Cup Final in just their third season.
The Panthers left Miami Arena after five seasons and played in their new home in Sunrise for the first time in 1998.
On Jan. 2, the Panthers will play their first game in Miami since moving north when they play host to the Rangers at LoanDepot Park at the 2026 NHL Winter Classic.
Panthers GameDay at Mammoth: How to Watch, Lines, Goalies, Odds
NHL Road to the Winter Classic Starts Tonight on TNT
Florida Panthers Go West Riding Wave of Momentum
I’m all in on celebrating when Wayne got the team, but can we have annual celebrations for three other key dates. First, the day Viola bought the team. Second, when Yormark left (some of us already celebrate this day). And third, the day Zito was hired.
Hear, hear. ‘Bye-bye, Yuckmark Day’ should be Federally recognized.
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Copyright © 2020 George Richards and National Hockey Now.
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