Stanley Cup victory shows Panthers' growth as a franchise

The Florida Panthers are now a "prestige franchise in the NHL" after winning the Stanley Cup over the Oilers last night, according to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.com. They are now Stanley Cup champions, not a “punch line.” The club is no longer “being mocked for meager attendance” nor is it “wallowing in mediocrity, on and off the ice.” It is “wholly appropriate that Florida won the Stanley Cup against a Canadian team” -- a nation that thought of the Panthers as “either relocation bait or a team situated in a warmer climate in which to watch their own teams at significantly lower ticket costs.” Wyshynski noted Florida's attendance woes were a “league-wide punch line,” and the franchise “did nothing to discourage it.” In 2006, the Panthers were averaging over 4,100 free tickets “handed out for each home game.” Owner Vinny Viola, who purchased the team in 2013, is “one of a handful of majority owners during the team's turbulent history.” When Viola took over, the “real work began to repair the Panthers' reputation” -- starting with the way they ticketed games. Along with the team's attendance struggles “came constant relocation speculation.” The chatter “got so loud” that Viola and Vice Chair Doug Cifu wrote a letter to fans in 2014 to assure them the Panthers weren't relocating. This is the moment for which Viola, Panthers President & CEO Matt Caldwell and the team's ownership group “have been aiming.” This is the moment toward which GM Bill Zito “has been building.” The Panthers winning the Stanley Cup is the “culmination of their work to change the perception, vibe, personnel and success of this team.” Cup in hand, the Panthers “are now faced with an equally challenging task: sustaining success” (ESPN.com, 6/24).