At Least Several Dozen Fans Were In Attendance To Watch The Florida Panthers Go Up 5-0 Against Ottawa In The 1st Period
Nobody has played more hockey over the past few years than the Florida Panthers. They have played in the final game of the NHL season for each of the last 3 years. Lost in the Cup Final to Vegas in 2023. Won back-to-back Cups against Edmonton in '24 and '25. I'm not much of a math guy, but by my count that makes them the 3x defending Eastern Conference Champions. Do you have any idea how many fanbases would kill for the kind of sustained success? There are 49-year-old die hard Toronto fans out there who have never been able to watch their beloved Leafs play in a Cup Final.
Now obviously this year hasn't been great in Florida. 3 straight seasons of playing hockey until June will do that to you. They aren't technically eliminated from playoff contention just yet, but their season is over. They have 8 games left in the regular season, and guys like Reinhart, Barkov and Marchand are all done for the year.
So how do the fans show their support for the Cats after giving them 3 straight years of playing in the Final? All those fans that showed up to the Elbo Room to party with the Cup the past 2 summers?
By giving them an empty barn to finish out the season in. It looked like a Florida Everblades game in Amerant Bank Arena last night. No offense to the Everblades.
And I get it. It's Florida. The weather is beautiful, there are plenty of other things to do besides sit in giant freezer to watch a bunch of guys try to whack a rubber biscuit into a net while wearing knives strapped to their feet. I totally understand that folks in Florida would have better things to do with their time.
But the Florida Panthers aren't a bad hockey team. They are going to be right back in the mix again next year. But I don't want to hear about all these die hard fans going nuts in the playoffs for their P's. Because you weren't there when the dog shit 35-35-3 Panthers went up 5-0 in the 1st period against Ottawa in game 74 this year.
Oh and speaking of going up 5-0 against Ottawa....
I know Linus Ullmark has had his struggles this year. But holy shit, that has to be so demoralizing to be on Ottawa's bench watching this performance last night. You're in the middle of a ridiculously tight playoff push. Columbus loses last night, Detroit loses last night, Philadelphia loses last night. You have a perfect opportunity to get yourself into a playoff spot, and Linus Ullmark has a shit-eating grin in net after giving up his 5th goal in 15 minutes. Mental struggles or not, you can't have a guy like that on your team if that's how he performs in these spots. I'd be sick to my stomach if I were an Ottawa fan watching that. I'm sick to my stomach watching Cam York as a Flyers fan, and he's only marginally shitty.