PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Optimism is high that the Panthers, Stanley Cup Champions, will make a push for back-to-back titles.
When you think Florida, you think sunshine, palm trees and football.
However, now that the Florida Panthers have been crowned Stanley Cup Champions, the team has helped grow the game of hockey in Florida.
WPTV Reporter Kendall Hyde spoke to Bill Lindsay, who helped lead the team to its first Stanley Cup appearance in 1996, about what makes these Florida Panthers of the past two years so special.
"The commitment was there," Lindsay said.
It's been a 31-year commitment of reaching for the Stanley Cup.
"It's been a long time coming," Lindsay said. "We've been waiting for this. We got off to a good start in the 90's and got to the Stanley Cup Finals, but that was way back then."
These days, you may know Bill Lindsay as the radio commentator for the Florida Panthers. But die-hard fans remember him for his game-winner in the 1996 playoffs against the Boston Bruins.
"I'm very excited for what we did and how we started this down here in South Florida," Lindsay said. "We did a tremendous job."
In the team's 30-year existence, they made the playoffs nine times.
"The struggle had been a part of it," Lindsay said. "You had those down years you had the failures. You got to fail, and you got to live with it and got to suck it up. You got to hear it from other fan bases."
In 2023 the Panthers' luck would turn. The team would make it to the Stanley Cup but lose 4-1 to the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
With that sour taste in their mouths from the year before, the Panthers would come back in 2024 and beat the Edmonton Oilers for the franchise's first Stanley Cup Championship.
"To get that trophy is elusive, they have done it, and they will forever have a trophy down here in South Florida," said Lindsay.
WPTV’s Kendall Hyde asked Lindsay, winning one Stanley Cup is hard enough, but now the Panthers look to win back-to-back. Do you think they can pull it off?
"Try to do it. Try to re-rack it and do it one more time," Lindsay said "It's hard, but their window is still open, and the core is still together."
