‘It’s like being at the game.’ Panthers fans pack Stanley Cup watch party
Two lines curled away from Fort Lauderdale’s War Memorial on Tuesday night — one glittered with Rainbow Kitten Surprise concertgoers streaming into the auditorium, the other draped in red Panthers jerseys and playoff excitement, bound for the Stanley Cup Game 6 watch party at the Baptist Health IcePlex next door.
The skating complex reached its 3,500-person capacity well before puck drop, with a wait list line that stretched deep into the parking lot. Fans outside passed the time trading predictions, taking photos and chanting “Go Cats!” from the curb.
For 44-year-old Jen Rubin and her two daughters, Emma, 12, and Kate, 6, the scene is anything but new. They have come to every Panthers playoff watch party since the complex began hosting them last season.
“It’s incredible — it’s like being at the game,” said Rubin, who has supported the team since its founding in 1993. “You get to watch it close up, the fans are great, there’s ice. And everybody cheers and screams and has a good time.”
The Baptist Health IcePlex, located just beside the War Memorial Auditorium, hosts official watch parties for every Panthers playoff game. Upstairs, fans pack into The Federal restaurant and bar, where panoramic views and massive screens make it feel like a luxury suite. Downstairs, up to 400 fans skate on the facility’s full-size NHL rink as the game plays overhead.
The real draw for diehards? It’s also where the Panthers train — the same ice where Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov fine-tune their playoff chemistry.
“It’s amazing to skate here,” said 11-year-old Gerylle Joseph, lacing up his skates Tuesday night. “I feel like Brad Marchand!”
Joseph said he comes to almost every skate watch party, and that watching the Panthers take the ice while he and his middle school friends do the same is “awesome.”
Tuesday night, the rink also doubled as extra seating for the Game 6 battle versus the Edmonton Oilers, with LED-lit benches set up on the ice and illuminated Panthers logos glowing along the exterior walls.
Tuesday’s crowd was the latest chapter in a remarkable three-year run for the Panthers, who have transformed from perennial underdogs into playoff regulars, making three straight Stanley Cup appearances and now sitting just one win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup for back-to-back years.
As Florida tacked on its third goal of the night late in the second period, the music inside Baptist Health was blaring and fans were dancing in their jerseys up on their chairs.
“The energy of everyone here is unmatched,” said longtime fan Steph Bigelow, who sported Panthers temporary tattoos on both cheeks. “I’m ready to watch them dunk the cup in the ocean again — they don’t have to fly it all the way back to Edmonton.”
In the waning moments of the Panthers’ 5-1 victory, the crowd had swelled into a chorus of chants: “We want the cup!”
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 10:49 PM.