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Stadium:
BankAtlantic Center
The BankAtlantic Center is an indoor arena located in Sunrise, a suburb west of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The arena is accessible off of the Sawgrass Expressway at the Oakland Park Boulevard exit. The arena is home to the Florida Panthers of the NHL and formerly the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA and the Florida Bobcats of the AFL 1998-2001 along with the only season of the Florida ThunderCats. The arena has also hosted the 2003 NHL All-Star Game and the 2005-2006 ABA All-Star game. The arena was completed in 1998 at a cost of $212 million, almost entirely publicly financed. The building seats 19,250 for ice hockey, 20,737 for basketball, between 15,207 and 21,371 for end-stage concerts, and 22,457 for center-stage concerts, boxing and wrestling such as Bash at the Beach '99, Armageddon '99 and Armageddon 2002. The arena features 70 suites and 2,300 club seats.

Seating Chart:
BankAtlantic Center Seating Chart

Team History:
Blockbuster Video magnate H. Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for his native Miami in 1992. The team played at the Miami Arena, and its first major stars were New York Rangers goaltender castoff John Vanbiesbrouck, rookie Rob Niedermayer, and Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals. They had one of the most successful first seasons of any expansion team, finishing one point below .500 and narrowly missing out on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. After missing another close brush with the playoffs in 1995, coach Roger Neilson was fired and replaced by Doug MacLean. They then acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks on the trade deadline in 1996 and they looked towards the playoffs for the first time.

Season Preview:
No other team in the NHL carries more questions and more possibilities than the Panthers do. One thing is certain in a sea of uncertainty: Success or failure, it all stops with Jacques Martin. The quiet (some would say stupefyingly boring) Martin emerged the winner in an ugly power play in South Florida that saw longtime friend and associate Mike Keenan depart (the official line is that he left of his own volition; the truth is that he was forced to resign) a few days before the team's rookie camp opened. With his reputation hanging in the balance, Martin will have to make do without franchise netminder Roberto Luongo and will have to keep order in a dressing room that includes combative Todd Bertuzzi and veteran Gary Roberts who wanted out, in part because he was at odds with Martin last season. By the time the season is over, the Panthers might make the old battling Yankees look like a Kumbaya club.

Official Site:
http://panthers.nhl.com/