Miami is home to the Florida Panthers www.tamarafilm.com , a professional ice hockey team. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Their home rink is at Bank Atlantic Center.

On the 10th of December 1992, the Florida Panthers team was born by an expansion draft. H. Wayne Huizenga, the infamous Blockbuster Video magnate, owned the team after having lobbied for a Miami based ice hockey team for several years. The name of the team was chosen as homage to the Florida Panther Cheap Football Jerseys , a species endemic to southern Florida. The team's colors are gold, red, black and blue.

The Panthers began their history positively, having the most successful first season of any expansion team. Despite the success Cheap Baseball Jerseys , they missed out on the final playoff spot by just one point. The team and coaching staff all gave credit for their excellent first season to the trap-defence technique of play. In a game as rough and tumble as ice hockey, this conservative style was criticized by the rest of the league with some even saying it was ruining the flow of the game.

On the night of the home opening game of the Florida Panthers third season, the team was in their locker room during an intermission. A rat scampered across the floor and Scott Mellanby took the opportunity to 'one-time' it against the wall, killing the rat. Later that night Cheap Basketball Jerseys , he scored two goals which his teammate, John Vanbiesbrouck teased him as being a 'rat trick'. The story got out to the public and two nights later, fans began throwing rubber rats on the ice whenever a Florida goal was scored. During the regular season, the rubber rats numbered in the teens Cheap Hockey Jerseys , however during the playoffs, the numbers shot up to 2000.

The 19951996 NHL season is, to date, the most successful season the Panthers have had in their history. They reached the 1996 playoff season as the fourth seed and went on the win the first round against Boston in five games. Their second round against the Philadelphia Flyers was successful Cheap Soccer Jerseys , as was the third round against the second seed team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Stanley Cup Final series was a big accomplishment for such a new team. Their opponents were the hefty Colorado Avalanche, who swept them in four games.