Whatever Game 1 of Lightning-Panthers was — certainly one of the more unexpected crossover events in NHL history, potentially the best game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, probably the most anyone has ever discussed any game between those teams — it came with one unavoidable, extremely answerable question.
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What if that was the first hockey game you’d ever watched? A returning MVP, an early disallowed goal, breakaways, scraps, dirty hits, four lead changes … “The NHL’s hottest new club is Lightning Panthers. It has everything.” This was the Jon Bois “why watch overtime playoff hockey” tweet, stretched over 60 minutes. If this game were a person, I’d marry it. I’d have married it on Sunday night.
So, naturally, this stuck with me, though the part about the Flames and Canucks — much like their game — is best ignored.
imagine your first hockey experience ever was lightning/panthers game 1 and you loved it so much you decided to turn on the next game only to realize it is a regular season game between the flames and the canucks
— playoff noah hockey stick emoji (@capsboybebop) May 17, 2021
Some people didn’t have to imagine it. Here are a few of them. Some of their answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Alex, 19, Tamarac, Fla.: First game watched, ever
About to sit down a turn on a hockey game for the first time in my life
— KZ Opalocka 🌴 (@06NotRigged) May 16, 2021
All right, so how did you stumble on that? You knew the Heat had their spot locked up, so you were like “I’m gonna watch this because it’s on?”
Pretty much. They were starting random G-Leaguers, so I was like, “Eh, know what, I heard the Panthers are playing their first playoff game in a while, so why not?” And I’ve never been into hockey. The Panthers’ arena is behind this mall in South Florida.
The only reason anyone ever goes out there is for the (Sawgrass Mills) mall. I don’t know anyone who’s ever been to the stadium. I’ve seen Panthers tickets on the ground in the mall parking lot.
So that was literally the first hockey game you’ve sat down and watched?
Dude. It was my first hockey game. Ever. I’m watching it, like, “… Is this how they are normally? Is it this exciting? I might have to get into this.” I heard (that I couldn’t have picked a better game). I don’t even know the rules. “OK, if they’re tied at the end of regulation, do they go to OT?” I didn’t know anything that was happening, but I was so, so into it.
Hockey is live as f*ck I been missing out
— KZ Opalocka 🌴 (@06NotRigged) May 17, 2021
Was there any single moment where you were like, “Oh yeah, I’m locked in?”
The first (Aleksander Barkov) goal, I was like, “OK, I know this dude. I know the Barkov guy. He scored. He’s, like … Jimmy Butler, I guess?” And then I saw on Twitter, every time they scored a goal, people were talking about rats? What the hell does a rat have to do with a panther? I got some history, I’ve been Wikipedia-ing. So I’ll watch some highlights of that (1996 Eastern Conference finals). That’s pretty cool, with the rats, but I didn’t have a clue what that meant. I was like, “OK, a Panther eats a rat for lunch, I guess?”
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I love this, because everyone has half a complex about hockey’s spot in the food chain, and they’re like “If someone could only see the game at its best, they’d be in.” I honestly feel bad for you, because that’s basically as good as a playoff game can get.
So (for the NBA) it’s like, 2016 Finals, Warriors-Cavs, LeBron’s comeback, all that — and this is the peak of hockey, I guess? I didn’t even realize there were that many Panthers fans. “Where do these people come from?” But I’m a fan now. I’m getting my Barkov jersey. I’m all the way in.
I just saw (Sam Bennett’s suspension). I don’t even know how good he is? Is he good?
It’s just not in my family. My dad, we watch sports together, my grandad was a basketball player growing up, so basketball has been the main thing in my family. And football, we always watch Dolphins games. But hockey just has never been a thing for me. Now, I’m turning everyone onto it. The game is gonna be on the big screen in the living room. I’m making everyone sit down and watch it, because that was exhilarating.
I’m hooked after that game. It’s always nice to have a hometown team to root for. I think I’m in. I’m going to see if I can get tickets. If there’s a Game 5, I think I’m there.
Lazaro Fernandez, 22, Miami: First game in attendance
First @FlaPanthers game ever let’s get the W!! Also hockey is pretty exciting def recommend pic.twitter.com/0v38rdXgWW
— Laz for Mayor (@papabless420420) May 17, 2021
I’m a huge Miami sports fan, so I’m at least familiar with all of our teams, but I’m not watching the Panthers every day or anything. We had a run three years ago or so that made me notice them. From there, what games I could watch, I watched, and it’s been ramping up since then.
To be honest, I didn’t realize (how crazy the game was) until I saw a couple tweets saying “The Fight For Florida is on fire.”
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It was the scoring, it was the intensity, it was the non-stop fights. I’ve seen enough hockey games to tell my girlfriend, “This doesn’t usually happen, where they’re fighting every couple minutes.” I know we had a couple games near the end of the regular season with the Lightning, and those were intense already. That definitely carried over to the series. So that for sure (made me say) “This might be the first round of the playoffs, but they’re playing with a lot of intensity and a lot on the line.”
(The environment) was amazing.I knew going into it that it was a playoff game, and it was going to be next-level stuff, but just the atmosphere was great. Everyone was really into the game. Whenever we scored a goal, it was deafening. And you could see the rally towels being waved. It was really, really fun — and it’s interesting now seeing any games, whether it’s baseball, football, baseball, after (COVID-19), getting back into the building and just being able to cheer on your team. Especially a good team? It’s pretty next-level.
There’s no doubt (that I’m hooked). I will be following the Panthers. Regardless, too — I’m a Dolphins fan. I couldn’t care less about the quality of the team. But after yesterday, after seeing it live and the intensity they played with? Yeah, that’s my team right there. I got a hat and everything. I want to get myself a hockey jersey, but I’ve got to warm myself up to spending, like, $200. But I know who I’m going for: Barkov.
I was curious about (hockey). I said, “This is something that isn’t popular with Hispanic people. Let me look into it. Let me see what’s up with it.” And it is a very white sport — but that curiosity was what led me to it. It’s not something that’s commonplace in my culture, so I wanted to reach out and say, “What’s up with this? What’s this?” And I love it. Hockey is a great frickin’ sport. I told my dad that I went to a game, and now he wants to go to a game. And his friend wants to go to a game. And we’re not white! (laughs)
I’m telling you, if you have more games like that, you’re not gonna be a No. 5 sport for long. It was on fire, back and forth. It was incredible. So if they have more games like that — maybe it doesn’t happen, but wow.
It reminded me of the shot Ray Allen hit in 2013. That sh*t marked me forever. I remember leaving my house and going outside because I was so pissed, and coming back because I couldn’t give up on my team. And then he nails the shot.
Same thing with hockey. There’s no doubt that I’m going to follow the Panthers every single game this playoff, then go to a couple games next year.
@dewontheleaves, 24, Miami: First playoff game on TV
god i dont wanna lose to tampa dude
— 1. e4 player (@dewontheleaves) May 17, 2021
Everything about it was great. The players were so chippy, it was so aggressive, it was so tense. You could feel that Florida rivalry. I knew nothing about Tampa Bay, and by the end of it, I was like “I really want to crush these guys.”
Over the course of the season, I kept tuning in, watching my feed and SportsCenter and everything, and they just kept outperforming expectations. Everyone was like, “The Panthers are legit this year. The Panthers are a team to watch.” And I knew nothing about hockey, and then suddenly, I have a bunch of friends on Twitter that I’m DMing, like, “Hey, what does offside mean? Can you tell me some of these rules?” And over the course of the season, I became a big fan. I love our guys. I think Barkov has been fantastic this season. He made a fan out of me this season, and that game yesterday, ooh, everything about it. I was DMing my friend like, “Is it always like this? Are they always this intense? Because sign me up for seven games of this, man!”
I got my whole family (involved), who’d never watched hockey either. We’re a basketball household. And by the end of it, we were all cheering for our Panthers. We were heartbroken at the end there.
gee this aged well
— 1. e4 player (@dewontheleaves) May 17, 2021
I’ll tell you this, as a hardcore basketball fan and a casual fan of football and a lot of the other big Miami sports, I think hockey for a long time just hasn’t had a huge presence in our city. And this season has done a lot to get Florida viewers engaged and watching. This is our most successful season in a while, and we’ve been in the media spotlight more than we were in years past. It felt like they did a great job of getting local fans to pay attention to their teams — because I’ll be honest with you, prior to this season I could maybe name one guy on the roster.
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They’ve made more of an effort on their social media pages. I noticed that a lot of the big hockey teams keep the engagement going with that constant presence on social media, and I thought the Panthers were kind of lacking in that until this season. So they’ve stepped up in that regard. It definitely made a fan out of me. If I can get a ticket to one of these games, shoot, you know I’ll be there.
Some of those confrontations on the ice — on the Panthers subreddit, the top comment was “(Radko Gudas) is playing like a true Florida Man.” And I’m texting my friend, like, “Damn, are they always this aggressive out there?” That was definitely the moment for me. “Wow, this is worth watching.”
I’d try to tune into a couple games in the past, and it never really did it for me. But the energy level, and having names to the faces of all those guys that were putting it all out there really made it for me. I watched a Penguins game last year with a friend of mine, but I didn’t recognize anyone. I didn’t have a stake in any of the teams. Now that I know who these guys are, there’s more storylines to follow and more things to get invested in.
Trust me, I’ve bought in. They truly made a fan out of me. When I saw your message this morning, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, I wonder if a bunch of people had the same reaction that I did.”
I’m invested now. I’ve got to see who wins the Stanley Cup now. I’m hoping it’s us, but I’m down for good games either way.
Colin Ortega, 21, Miami: First game watched, ever
I am. As a south Florida native this is my first hockey game I’ve seen on TV and I am ALL IN on this action
— Kaboom (@bricknaysh) May 17, 2021
I’m a big basketball fan. A big Heat fan. So last night, they clinched their spots in the playoffs, and I was like “Eh, I don’t need to watch them today.” And I heard a lot of people talking about the Florida Panthers making the playoffs. So I was like, why not? The Panthers are good this year, apparently. And that game was awesome. It was electric.
I just really liked that it was non-stop action. It’s back and forth. They do not stop. I’m definitely still a little confused about penalties and all that stuff, but that didn’t deter me at all. I was just like, “OK, whatever, that happened” and kept watching. I went into it with an open mind, like “Oh, this is pretty fun. This is cool.”
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A big thing, especially here for South Florida fans, they go all-in when our teams are good — and they show no interest when they’re not.
I had somebody tweet at me from Tampa, saying “This happened to us in 2015, and now we’re huge Lightning fans.” Maybe that’s what happens to me.
(Photo: Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI via Getty Images)
