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"Lauderdale has become a kind of mecca for hockey": Analyst praises Panthers for growing hockey fandom in Florida
NHL analyst John Shannon discussed the growing hockey fandom in Florida during an appearance on Donnie and Dhali on Friday. The Florida Panthers are currently leading the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals.
When asked about the last five Eastern Conference champions all coming from Florida, Shannon explained how the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have found great success.
The Panthers won the Eastern Conference last season and now have a chance to win their first ever Stanley Cup. Prior to that, the Lightning won the East three consecutive times.
According to Shannon:
"I think the the issue is that you have to understand where in the sporting sphere does hockey fit in in Florida. Everything's behind football we all know that, you know the the Miami Heat who play downtown in Miami as opposed to Fort Lauderdale are still probably more popular.”
However, Florida has done tremendous outreach over the last couple of years to grow their fanbase, particularly in the Fort Lauderdale area.
"Fort Lauderdale has become a kind of mecca for hockey in that area. And this is a place that the players actually can drive their golf carts to practice, their golf carts, not their cars, their golf carts to practice," Shannon stated.
He credits the Panthers' brand new practice facility:
“But the Panthers are converting a lot of people, particularly north of the city of Miami with what they have done, they have done tremendous Outreach in the last couple of years, their brand new practice facility which is at a an old refurbished arena or building downtown.”
Overall, Shannon believes Florida has done an excellent job in recent years convincing fans on Florida's east coast that hockey is a great sport.
John Shannon on Panthers exploiting Oilers' mistakes
John Shannon pointed out how Florida has been very complete in their play throughout the series so far, not making many mistakes of their own while taking advantage when the Oilers slip up.
“They've been complete is what I would say and they haven't made very many mistakes and when they do make mistakes, they're able to have a rely on Sergei Bobrovsky to make the save." Shannon said.
"And when the other team makes mistakes, they capitalize on them, pure and simple it's one team just in my opinion overwhelming the other at key times.”
To keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive, the Oilers need a win Game 4 at home on Saturday night.
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