With the Florida Panthers' 30th season coming up, I'd like to discuss the team's history and where I see they are going. The team was founded in 1992 by the great Wayne Huizenga. The team's first regular season game was played on October 6th, 1993, against the Chicago Blackhawks. The First goal of this young franchise was scored by none other than the great Scott Mellandy on a power play goal at 12.31 in the first period. The game would end in a 4-4 tie-in ot (over time). The Panthers finished the 1993-94 season with a 33-34-17 record, earning 83 points, an NHL record for points by an expansion team until the Vegas Golden Knights surpassed it in their first season. Florida finished the season in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and ninth in the Eastern Conference, just one point from a playoff position. Scott Mellanby would finish the season with 80 games played with 30 goals, 30 assists, and 60 points. Now let us talk about the rats that fans throw on the ice when the Panthers win a game. Let's jump to 1995 when the "Rat Trick" was born.

Before the Panthers' home opener, a rat entered the Panthers' dressing room, and Scott Mellanby killed the rat by hitting it with his stick, then went on to score. Two goals with the same stick giving birth to the "rat trick." let us jump to current times. The Panthers had an okay regular season, with a record of 42-32, and just barely made the playoff with a one-point advantage over the buffalo sabers and the Pittsburg Penguins. The Panthers had a Historic playoff run starting with come from behind series against the Boston Bruins; in 7 games, the Panthers were down 3-1 and made a fantastic comeback led by Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon. Montour. Now on to round two against the Toronto Maple Leafs. With Toronto beating the Tampa Bay Lighting, they were feeling good and made the mistake of chanting, "We want Florida" Well, we will just say they asked, and they received Florida went on and won the series in 5 games. That happens when you poke at the big cat and move on to round 3 against the Caroline Hurricanes. They are a favored team in the plays to go to the Stanley Cup. The cat would stun the Hurricanes with a 4-0 sweep in the series to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. We are Stanley Cup Bound. We had an enormous task, facing the powerhouse las vegas  Golden Knights. We would go down 2-0 pretty quickly, and most people were thinking, oh great, another 1996 season when the Panthers got swept in the Stanley Cup finals by the Colorado Avalanche. Still, with the relentless effort of this group, we pulled out a game three win in Overtime but then would go on to lose two straight and lose the cup, but there was history made for the Panthers. They had won their first Stanley Cup finals game in franchise history. Now let us talk about where is see this team in the future. The future of this team is very bright. With Mathew Tkachuk leading this team, I know another Stanley Cup appearance very soon, if not this coming season.