Stanley Cup Playoff fever is spreading across South Florida
South Florida has fallen back in love with hockey during the Florida Panthers run to the Stanley Cup Final.
After qualifying for the playoffs as an eight-seed in the eastern conference, the Panthers pulled off upset after upset en route to becoming Eastern Conference Champions.
The crowds at FLA Live Arena have gotten bigger and louder as the team has marched on.
These fans have been starved for this kind of success, as Florida hadn’t reached a Stanley Cup Final in 27 years.
The team opened up FLA Live Arena for a Game 1 watch party, offering general admission tickets for $10 apiece.
Fans began filing into the building early and didn’t stop until game time.
The plan was for fans to sit anywhere they liked in the lower bowl but that was quickly scrapped when it became evident the lower bowl didn’t have enough seats to satisfy the hoard of Cats fans who wanted to enjoy the big game among fellow members of the Panthers faithful.
There was no official attendance announced but it was clearly over 10,000 based off the packed lower and upper levels.
Photos and videos of the amazing showing by Florida fans can be seen below.
Tickets for the Panthers' Game 2 watch party are still available.