Businessman H. Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL expansion franchise. A few months later, in April 1993, he announced that the team would be called the Florida Panthers.
The Florida Panthers played their first game, a 4-4 tie against the Chicago Blackhawks on the road. Scott Mellanby scored the franchise’s first-ever goal. The team’s first win (and first shutout) came three days later on October 9 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-0, on the road.
The Florida Panthers ended the regular season with a record of 33-34-17, finishing 5th in the Atlantic Division. At the time, their 83 points was an NHL record for points by an expansion team.
Before the home opener for the 1995–1996 season, Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room at the Miami Arena with his hockey stick. He then scored two goals with that stick in a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames. Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed it the “rat trick.”
The Florida Panthers won the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, 4-1, against the Boston Bruins. They won Game 5 — and their first playoff series — in a dramatic come-from-behind fashion when Bill Lindsay scored the winning goal in the 4-3 victory, an iconic moment for the young franchise.
The Florida Panthers dispatched the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers before defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Eastern Conference Championship. Then the Panthers faced the Colorado Avalanche in the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Final series. They ultimately lost, 4-0.
John Vanbiesbrouck earned his 300th win as a goaltender, joining an elite club, during a 6-2 defeat of the New York Islanders. At the time he was only the 15th player to achieve this milestone and only the second American. It was also his 100th win as a Panther.
The Florida Panthers played their first regular season game in the National Car Rental Center, a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Center was the team’s first true home, after having shared the now-demolished Miami Arena with other teams. The name has changed several times and is now Amerant Bank Arena.
Pavel Bure led the league in goals with 59, earning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the second consecutive year (he had scored 58 goals the previous season). He was the first NHL player to win the trophy in consecutive seasons.
Pavel Bure scored his 400th NHL career goal in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on the road. He would go on to score a total of 437 goals (152 of which were for the Panthers) before retiring.
Roberto Luongo passed John Vanbiesbrouck to become the winningest goaltender in Florida Panthers history with his 107th win. He ultimately notched 230 wins for the franchise before retiring in 2019.
Olli Jokinen posted a new franchise record with six points (two goals and four assists) in a single game against the New York Islanders. The Panthers won at home, 8-5. On January 31, 2022, Mason Marchment tied Jokinen’s record with his own two-goal, four-assist effort in an 8-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road.
The Florida Panthers retired Bill Torrey’s no. 93, the first ever retired Panthers number.
Stephen Weiss played in his 614th game with the Panthers, breaking the record set by Radek Dvorak. Weiss’s record of 654 games played held until March 26, 2022, when it was broken by Jonathan Huberdeau.
The Florida Panthers ended the regular season with a 4-1 defeat of the Carolina Hurricanes at home, giving them a record of 38-26-18, which put them 1st in the Southeast Division. It was the first division title in franchise history.
The Florida Panthers advanced to the Conference Quarterfinal for the first time in 12 years. In Game 2, the Panthers won their first playoff game in 15 years against the New Jersey Devils. The Panthers eventually lost the series, 4-3, in second overtime during Game 7.
Jonathan Huberdeau was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy for NHL Rookie of the Year. Huberdeau was the first Panther to receive the award (Aaron Ekblad would later receive it in 2015).
New York businessman Vincent “Vinnie” Viola announced his purchase of the Florida Panthers, saying: “I had this intuition about the Panthers and I was starting to watch the team at the end of last year and I had this intuition about hockey. … I would never think I’d be in this privileged position six weeks ago.”
The Panthers acquired Roberto Luongo and Steven Anthony in exchange for Jacob Markstrom and Shawn Matthias in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo had previously played with the team from 2000 to 2006.
During a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals, the Panthers set an NHL record for longest shootout: 20 rounds (the previous record was held by the New York Rangers with 15 rounds). In Round 20, Roberto Luongo saved the goal attempted by Alex Ovechkin, then Nick Bjugstad scored the winning goal.
Aaron Ekblad won the Calder Memorial Trophy for NHL Rookie of the Year. He became only the second Panther to ever receive the award (the first was Jonathan Huberdeau in 2013), and the first Panthers defenseman to do so.
Jaromir Jagr recorded his 742nd career goal, passing Brett Hull to take what was then the no. 3 position on the NHL’s all-time goals list during a 3-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets.
Jaromir Jagr scored one point (an assist) in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins at home, making him the second-highest points-scorer in NHL history with 1888 points. He would finish his career with 1921 points, second only to Wayne Gretzky.
The Florida Panthers retired no. 37 in honor of H. Wayne Huizenga, the team’s founder and first owner. Huizenga was born in 1937 and 37 was his favorite number. Mr. Huizenga passed away not long after on March 22, 2018.
Roberto Luongo became the third goaltender in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game mark, joining Hall of Fame goalies Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy. The Panthers won over the Boston Bruins at home, 3-2.
With a 4-3 overtime victory against the Colorado Avalanche on the road, Roberto Luongo recorded his 485th win. The win pushed Luongo past Hockey Hall of Famer and former Panther Ed Belfour for what was then third place on the NHL’s all-time goaltender wins list.
Roberto Luongo announced his retirement to fans in a letter on the Florida Panther’s website. After 19 seasons in the NHL, Luongo ranked third all-time for wins (489), and second in most games played by a goalie (1,044). The fan favorite announced that he planned to be “just another retiree in South Florida.”
The new goalie in South Florida quickly proved his worth by securing his 500th career game. At the time, Sergei Bobrovsky was just the 75th netminder in NHL history to reach the milestone.
Roberto Luongo became the first player in franchise history to have his number retired. The team saluted their longtime goaltender by raising his no. 1 to the rafters for good.
Along with other major sports leagues, the NHL paused the 2019-2020 regular season in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NHL resumed play in August, allowing 24 teams to compete for the Stanley Cup.
The Panthers made the 2019-2020 playoffs, which were held in August after the NHL paused the regular season at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida faced the New York Islanders in the Qualifying Round, ultimately losing the series 3-1.
Keith Yandle played in his 885th straight NHL game, moving past Steve Larmer for third place on the NHL’s all-time consecutive games played list. Yandle eventually topped the list for a time as he became the first player in NHL history to skate in 989 straight games.
The Panthers promoted assistant coach Andrew Brunette to the role of interim head coach. During the 2021-2022 season, Brunette led Florida to a 51-18-6 record, a first-place finish in the Atlantic Division and a historic playoff series win.
From March 29 to April 23, 2022, the Panthers won 13 straight games for the first time in franchise history. Sergei Bobrovsky won eight games with a shutout during the streak.
With their shutout win over the Ottawa Senators, the Panthers cliched the franchise’s first Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular season record in the NHL. The Panthers finished the season with 58 wins and 122 points, each franchise records.
The Panthers defeated the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round, 4-2, for their first playoff series victory since 1996.
Matthew Tkachuk became the second Panthers player to win All-Star Game MVP and he did it in front of the home crowd at Amerant Bank Arena.
Aleksander Barkov passed former teammate Jonathan Huberdeau’s total of 613 points to claim the top spot in team history.
The Panthers were the last team to qualify for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs but they made the most of their shot. The Cats battled back from a 3-1 series deficit to dispatch the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the First Round on Carter Verhaeghe’s overtime game-winner in Game 7. After beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Second Round, the Panthers claimed their second Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions when they swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals. Florida advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in franchise history, ultimately falling to the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-1.
The Panthers won the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history with a thrilling 4-3 series victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Florida cruised to a 3-0 series lead, then stumbled with three straight losses to force a Game 7. In the deciding contest, Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring early and Sam Reinhart added another goal in the second period. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky held strong the rest of game, leading the Panthers to a 2-1 victory and the Stanley Cup championship. Veteran defenseman Aaron Ekblad summed his journey with the Cats: “I’m so happy to have been through it all with this franchise.”
