Florida Panthers facts for kids

Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers
Conference	Eastern
Division	Atlantic
Founded	1993
History	Florida Panthers; 1993–present
Home arena	BB&T Center
City	Sunrise, Florida
Colors	Red, blue, flat gold;
Media	FS Florida; WQAM Sports Radio (560 AM)
Owner(s)	Sunrise Sports and Entertainment; (Vincent Viola, chairman)
General manager	Dale Tallon
Head coach	Joel Quenneville
Captain	Aleksander Barkov
Minor league affiliates	Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
Stanley Cups	0
Conference championships	1 (1995–96)
Presidents' Trophies	0
Division championships	2 (2011–12, 2015–16)

The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team initially played their home games at Miami Arena, before moving to the BB&T Center in 1998. Located in Sunrise, Florida, the Panthers are the southernmost team in the NHL. The team's local broadcasting rights have been held by Fox Sports Florida (formerly SportsChannel Florida) since 1996.

The Panthers began playing in the 1993–94 NHL season. The team has made one appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, in 1996, the only season in which the Panthers have ever won a playoff series, eventually losing the Finals to the Colorado Avalanche. Since then, the Panthers have only qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs four times, never advancing past the first round, since 1996.

The club is affiliated with one minor league team, the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League.

Images for kids

Wayne Huizenga was awarded a franchise from the NHL on December 10, 1992.
The Panthers drafted Jay Bouwmeester third overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
The Panthers acquired Brian Campbell during the 2011 off-season. Campbell played with the Panthers from 2011 to 2016.
Recording 249 assists as a Panther, Stephen Weiss is the franchise's all-time assists leader.