Miami's NHL franchise. Owned by Wayne Huizenga, but he'll happily sell it to you. They went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996, but were beaten by the Colorado Avalanche.

The NHL instituted a rule (68(c)) against fans thowing things onto the ice because of the Florida fans throwing plastic rats onto the ice after Panther goals. (Panthers' player Scott Mellanby had killed a rat in the players' dressing room, and then scored two goals with the same stick.)

The Florida Panthers play in a arena called National Car Rental Center. Yes, National Car Rental paid big bucks to get a stadium named after them. The stadium has its own heli-pad, several open balconies to the outside world (the beautiful *cough* *cough* City of Sunrise, FL) which become quite crowded with beer-drinkers after each period. It is a new stadium and is very eloquent.

The Panthers have had a marginal team ever since they met the Colorado Avalanche in the finals. Scott Mellanby and Pavel Bure are two of their better talents.

The team was created as an NHL expansion team in 1994 and moved into their new arena after the 1996 season. The team's mascot is the Endangered Florida Panther. Unfortunately, the Panthers are fighting a losing battle against urban sprawl. Less than 50 of these awesome animals exist.