Grand opening of Baptist Health IcePlex held on March 20. The Florida Panthers front office was joined by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman today in a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Grand opening of their new Fort Lauderdale based practice facility to the public. The facility, named The Baptist Health Iceplex is a part of the revitalization of the historic FTL War Memorial and features two regulation-sized NHL rinks. This facility will also be open to the public on thursday March 21 for activities such as public skating, figure skating and youth and adult hockey programs among others. The Panthers have been using this as their practice facility since late December. It has got rave reviews, not just for the state-of-the-art facilities, but for the location as it is much more suitable a commute for the players. Back in December Panthers General Manager Bill Zito even said “It’s a good day to be a golf cart salesman” as players such as Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe are among those using golf carts to commute to practice. The Baptist Health IcePlex will open to the general public starting Thursday, March 21 from 1-8 PM with afternoon and evening programming each day for the remainder of March. The newly constructed 144,000 sq. ft facility feature includes 11 locker rooms, and a 7500 sq ft. Panthers team retail called Pantherland among other things. As well, it will have a full service restaurant called "The Federal" opening in late April and have a bar and outdoor patio included that overlooks Holiday park's pickleball courts and roller rinks. This will also to be a cool opportunity for youth hockey players and fans to cross paths with some of their NHL heroes. It is something worth checking out if you are a local South Florida hockey player or fan and will be great for the building the sport of hockey in Florida.
