As the Florida Panthers continue their fierce on-ice duel on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers to keep the Stanley Cup in South Florida, the team’s fans will be on the prowl — with claws out — at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. And their rallying efforts will begin early. Before the game, there’s the ritual gathering, as tailgaters stake out their territory in the vastness of the arena’s asphalt lot, seeking hard-to-come-by shady spaces. This means pulling in as soon as the parking attendants power up their ticket scanners. (During Stanley Cup Final games, that’s three hours before puck drop.) They are here to represent — despite the steamier-than-a-Finnish-sauna experience of spring in South Florida — while they grill, and play music and the usual pregame party staples. Once the arena doors open, down at ice level, you’ll find a different set of fans. They are the ones creatively inspired to show their allegiance to the team in an artful way — with markers and poster board. They bring signs to display against the glass, standing elbow to elbow with other fired-up fans during the team’s 20-minute, pregame warm-up. Some signs request pucks from players, while others riff on Brad Marchand’s love for Dairy Queen Blizzards or Sam Bennett’s affinity for Cap’n Crunch cereal. After the team’s 6-1 blowout victory during Game 3 on Monday night, it’s clear their efforts are working. But now it’s on to Game 4. So who are these die-hards who brave South Florida’s unrelenting heat and humidity (and the occasional downpour) for their car-side celebrations? And what’s up with those warm-up warriors who stand rinkside for an hour holding up their posters in hopes that their favorite players will take a gander at them? We met some of them on their turf before Game 3 on Monday night, when they passionately cheered the Cats on and enjoyed more than a few feisty fisticuffs among the players along the way. Here’s what we found motivates them to go above and beyond to boost the Florida Panthers not only during the playoffs but also throughout the rollercoaster of the regular season.
Tailgater tales
It’s easy to find Plantation resident Blair Byrnes and his friends tailgating next to the main walkway leading up to the arena. Just follow the booming beats blasting from his van’s rooftop speakers, pumping out tunes to hype up the crowd. Byrnes has plenty of other accoutrements making this a memorable experience. On a Blackstone griddle, “we’ve got sliders and some hot dogs going,” he said. “We also have a grill.” Then there’s the plastic axe throwing, cornhole, Sauce Toss (a backyard-style hockey game), plus their own version of a Shot-Ski, a hockey stick with three shot glasses glued to it so friends can drink together. “You get to hang out with friends and get it going,” Byrnes said. “It’s good quality time.” Within this group, Nicholas Gonzalez surprised everyone with a different way to cool off: a handheld CO2 cannon. “It shoots cold fog out,” the Fort Lauderdale resident explained, after jumping down from a truck bed to blast his 9-year-old son, Logan (a very willing participant), with it. After last year’s Stanley Cup Final Game 7, the friends offered Oilers fans a quick way to shed those superstition beards they had been growing during the playoffs. “We offered free beard trims to Oilers fans,” Byrnes said. Will they do it again if the Panthers win their second consecutive Stanley Cup at home? “We’ll see what happens this year,” he said. Across the parking lot, longtime season ticket-holders Charlie Beres, of Palm Beach Gardens, and the husband-and-wife duo of Valerie and TJ Mathieu, of Lake Worth, have a less-elaborate setup in the shade. Most games, you’ll find them drinking cold beverages while watching Beres’ 10-year-old son, also named Charlie, playing street hockey. Valerie Mathieu is president and founder of the nonprofit
Chariots On Ice , which offers free clinics to learn the adaptive sport of sled hockey in South Florida. And TJ Mathieu and Charlie Beres play pick-up hockey games together in a men’s league at Palm Beach Skate Zone in Lake Worth. They’re not related, but they have become family through their love of hockey, they said. “It’s the unity of being Panthers fans. You meet great people,” said Valerie Mathieu. “It builds culture and you get to share the excitement. You get it out of your system.” The friends said they like the optimistic atmosphere of tailgating. “Plus, it gives the team a boost,” she said.
Warm-up warriors
An hour before the teams took to the ice for pregame warm-ups, Boynton Beach resident Tara Young secured her spot in the corner next to the Florida Panthers penalty box. Friend Chris Sammon, of Davie, stood alongside her for support. Young taped two posters to the glass and placed a clear resealable bag with Finnish chocolates underneath them. “It’s my Mikkola shrine!” she proudly proclaimed, referring to Niko Mikkola, the 6-foot-6 Finnish defenseman known as The Condor. As a superfan, being allowed to come down to the ice during warm-up is something Young cherishes. “It’s an awesome experience,” she said about being eye to eye with players, with only a glass wall of separation. What makes Mikkola her favorite Panthers player? “He’s the only one when he hits someone against the glass, it ripples down the rail,” she said. “It feels like the temperature rises 15 degrees, and all of the women are fanning themselves.” On Monday, she had a custom-made Finnish flag with Mikkola’s face in the middle and another homemade poster in Finnish that, she said, translates to an offer to trade Finnish bakery items or chocolates for a puck. Has it worked in the past? “Oh yeah!” Young said. “We just throw them over the glass to him.” While Mikkola didn’t take her up on the deal during Game 3, she remains undeterred. Young was hoping her new custom flag featuring Mikkola hoisting the Stanley Cup above his head arrived in time for Game 4 on Thursday night. Across the ice, Trinity De La Sierra, Stephanie Mazzei and Molly Glassman — self-proclaimed “Panthers Soul Sisters” who met by gathering at pregame warm-up sessions — staked their claim to the zone right next to the Panthers bench, where the team files out from the locker room. De La Sierra, of Miami, is also a Mikkola fan and said she has been gifted about 10 pucks over the glass from him. Her sign, drawn in markers by her father, featured a condor (an homage to Mikkola’s nickname) and a request: “PUCK PLZz.” “I just like the way he plays,” she said about fanning out over Mikkola. “And he’s really nice.” Mazzei travels to the games all the way from Homestead with her father. Her poster had a red-and-blue message for her favorite player, Dmitry Kulikov: “Kuli Activate Beast Mode.” “I’m his No. 1 fan,” she said about the Panthers’ Russian defenseman. She has managed to collect 11 pucks and a stick from him at games. What does “beast mode” mean to her? “It’s about releasing your energy,” she said. For her part, Glassman holds up a red heart cutout outlined in blue with the Panthers shield in the middle. It’s a simple design with a deeper meaning for her: “They need our support, and we have to show them that we love them.” Her favorite player: Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Why does she root for him? “Well, No. 1, he’s Bob!” she said. With chants of “Bob-by” echoing throughout the arena after every heart-stopping save on Monday night, she’s not the only one in his fan club.
