The Stanley Cup Final will feature the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, which means the Panthers will win their first-ever title in their third trip in franchise history, or the Oilers will raise the Cup for the first time since 1990, and bring the trophy back to Canada for the first time in 31 years.
Those will be the headlines most will focus on, but there’s an interesting fact that perhaps caught a few people off-guard as the matchup came together over the weekend.
This will be the 5th-straight Stanley Cup Final that features a team from the state of Florida.
The Tampa Bay Lightning won three-straight Eastern Conference titles from 2020-22, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, and the Panthers are making a second-straight appearance after taking the conference title again.
A sport like hockey doesn’t make you think Tampa Bay or Sunrise (that’s where the Panthers are located). But the recent success of the Lightning and Panthers, founded in 1992 and 1993 respectively, is forcing traditional hockey fans in colder climates to take notice.
Sure, there may have been more Rangers jerseys in the stands at Amerant Bank Arena during the Eastern Conference Finals than most home fans would like, but for a market like south Florida, which has been mocked for a lack of enthusiasm from its sports fans, the Panthers recent success is bringing fans back, and possibly creating new ones, and playoff hockey is the best kind of hockey to see in-person, and can hook anyone.
You could look north to Tampa, which has gone from a place for snowbirds to catch their favorite team from the north, to a market that has a strong fanbase due to their recent championships.
The NHL might be quietly rooting for Connor McDavid and the Oilers to win, but the Stanley Cup going to a Florida-based franchise for the third time in five years could be seen as the league’s move to bring hockey to southern states 30 years ago truly paying off.
Even if it’s at the expense of the more traditional hockey markets: especially those in Canada.
Sean Gallagher 
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