6 days ago
Finals Fever: Fans at home support Panthers in Stanley Cup Finals opening game
Dana Ross danced in line with her friends at the Amerant Bank Arena concession stand, wearing a custom 'Ross' Florida Panthers jersey autographed by players in Sharpie across the large '44' on her back.
She's been a fan of the Panthers for 31 years, she said, and her family were original season ticket holders back when the team first played in Miami in 1993.
'Ever since I was a little girl, I loved going to the games,' she told the Miami Herald before the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals' opening game between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. 'I cried like a baby last year when we won. So, anything now is just a bonus!'
The story among many of the Panthers' long term fans, wearing sombreros lined with stuffed rats and Stanley Cup silver chains, is the same. They lined up in 'Barkov' and 'Ekblad' jerseys outside of the arena before 7 p.m., eagerly waiting to enter despite the fact that the first game of the playoffs would take place over 2,500 miles away in Edmonton, Alberta.
Before puck drop, they cheered as each of the starting Panthers flashed on the jumbo-tron. Screams erupted for goalie Sergei Barbovsky, while the boos were deafening for Oilers star Connor McDavid.
After the first period with the Panthers up 2-1, the energy on the concourse skyrocketed. A DJ played hit pop and rock songs in the 21+ Jameson Bar, the line for a Mister Softee sundae in a Barkov helmet stretched for three sections, and 'go, cats!' echoed all the way into the bathrooms.
'This is my first time at a watch party, my first time in this kind of atmosphere,' lifetime fan Mike Whitt told the Miami Herald. 'It's so much fun watching the game this way, such a great time. With playoff tickets being so expensive, this is a great way to do it. Now I definitely want to come again.'
