For the Panthers’ youth programs, Chase Priskie’s debut ‘meant a lot to a lot of people’
There was an unmistakable buzz around the Florida Panthers IceDen on Thursday, a feeling of anticipation from the coaches, workers and players who had waited, in some cases, a decade for the moment Chase Priskie was ready to provide them.
It’s always one of the busiest days at the Panthers IceDen, which doubles as the Florida’s practice facility and the home of their youth academy, as teams practice to get ready for weekend tournaments. It was only about 10 years ago Priskie was one of those kids, born into a hockey-crazed family in a place not known for its ice, and it meant his debut Thursday was a legitimate event for the hockey community in South Florida.
“The kids at the IceDen are pretty fortunate there’s a good connectivity among our youth program and the NHL team, so they get to see a lot of NHL people and stuff of that nature. I don’t want to say they’re jaded, but they’ve seen it,” said Peter Worrell, a former Panther and the hockey director at the IceDen. “But to have one of their own — have a kid that grew up in South Florida put that jersey on, gone through the same struggles that these kids are going to go through — I think it meant a lot to a lot of people in the building.”
In a year full of monumental moments for Florida hockey, Priskie’s debut for the Panthers — the first ever born-and-raised South Floridian to play for the hometown team — was perhaps the biggest.
The first postseason meeting between Florida and the Tampa Bay Lightning was huge in the effort to appeal the casual sports fan — the birth of a rivalry nearly 30 years in the making. The Panthers’ game against the Arizona Coyotes last month — when three South Floridians, including Priskie, were on the ice for warmups — was another reminder of how far the sport has come in the state. Priskie was simply a kid from Pembroke Pines who really liked hockey and willed himself to become good enough at it to make it to the NHL.
On Thursday, it finally happened. When Priskie drove into FLA Live Arena for the Panthers’ morning skate, he had to stop for a moment and collect himself when he saw the marquee hyping up, “PEMBROKE PINES’ OWN CHASE PRISKIE TO MAKE NHL DEBUT.”
“I didn’t think it was real,” Priskie said Thursday. “I’m mostly just speechless. You dream about this day forever. You put in a lot of hard work and with a little bit of luck you’re able to achieve it.”
When he walked into the arena, Priskie thought about his late father, Jeff Priskie — who used to work at the arena — just as he does every time. Florida even eats its pregame meal in the Sin Bin, which is the specific part of the arena where his father worked when it was the Patron Club. Priskie estimated he was asked to get 60 or 70 tickets for friends and family, and even more were there on their own, including some Florida Jr. Panthers who dream of following in his footsteps.
“I try to be an inspiration,” Priskie said. “It’s a really cool feeling. Words don’t describe it.”
Whether he will be in the lineup again Saturday when Florida (9-0-1) hosts the Carolina Hurricanes (9-0-0) at 6 p.m. in Sunrise could depend on the health of fellow defenseman Radko Gudas, but Priskie was solid in his debut, taking one shot and blocking another in 10:10 of time on ice.
Plenty of those Jr. Panthers couldn’t make it down to the arena Thursday, though. Worrell and Co. ran practices through the evening in Coral Springs, trying to help kids chase the same dream Priskie did a decade ago.
Worrell coached Priskie for two years and Priskie began as the last defenseman on the roster when he was in eighth grade. By the end of his freshman year, he was the top defenseman at North Broward Prep and scored a game-winning, overtime goal to win the state championship before leaving for South Kent School in Connecticut.
His story is the story of how the sport can grow in an atypical hockey town. Coyotes defensemen Jakob Chychrun and Shayne Gostisbehere, for example, both come from families of hockey players. Priskie’s roots are no different than the hundreds of other wannabe NHL players toiling away in South Florida.
“Chase is the vast majority of guys who make it to the NHL, guys who claw and scratch, find their own path,” Worrell said. “He wanted this to happen and he was willing to do whatever it took.”
Injury updates
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, and forwards Joe Thornton and Sam Bennett all remain “day-to-day,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said, while Gudas returned to practice Friday and could play Saturday.
Thornton, Bennett and Gudas all missed Florida’s 5-4, overtime win against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, and Bobrovsky left the game at the end of the first period with an upper-body injury. Bennett is also dealing with an upper-body injury, while Thornton’s and Gudas’ injuries are undisclosed.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 2:45 PM.
