Florida Panthers team and ticket info

Welcome to sunny South Florida! The land of palm trees, white sandy beaches, summertime fun, and ice hockey. Ice hockey?!? You bet! It seem odd to go straight from the beach to the cool confines of the BankAtlantic Center to see the Florida Panthers take on some frozen team from the Great White North in a game of professional ice hockey, but there's nothing finer! You get the best of both worlds with Florida Panthers tickets: all the bone-chilling, icy fun of hockey, with none of the snow-shoveling and road salting to worry about. Just don't forget the suntan lotion!

The Star
With the trade for power forward Todd Bertuzzi in the offseason, the Panthers look to shore up their lackluster offensive showing last season. They also look to make themselves a little more notorious, as Bertuzzi is perhaps best known for his brutal fight with Steve Moore, which left Moore with three broken neck vertabrae. Bertuzzi was suspended for 20 games before he was allowed to play hockey again. He's looking to make a new start with the Panthers, and put the whole ugly incident behind him.

The Coach
Coach Jacques Martin finally won out in his feud with General Manager Mike Keenan, when Keenan was forced to resign. It was an ugly situation, but ultimately will prove to be the best thing for the team, which was struggling to function under the weight of its constantly fighting management. Martin is taking over as GM this season, and believes that a tight defense will be the Florida Panthers ticket to success. He's currently the only person in the NHL to hold the title of head coach and general manager.

The Team
Look for the Panthers to continue to focus on what they were successful at last year: defense. But with a little more offensive production, they just might reach the playoffs. It's certainly not a long shot for sunny South Florida to relive its glory days of 1996, when the Panthers treated their fans to Stanley Cup Finals tickets. With Ed Belfour and Alex Auld minding the net, the offense won't have to do all that much, since no one is going to score on the Panthers this year. This team has the potential to take it all the way, so get off that beach, and get into the BankAtlantic Center with Florida Panthers tickets!