Breaking: Fans mock Panthers for embarrassing new low in attendance on Friday night!

This is unacceptable. How much longer is this going to go on? Fans have had enough!

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Breaking: Fans mock Panthers for embarrassing new low in attendance on Friday night!
Twitter

It was a special night in Florida on Friday, as the Panthers celebrated Hockey Fights Cancer prior to the game against the Buffalo Sabres. For the ceremonial puck drop, young cancer patient Sonia Rodriguez stood proudly at centre ice on the last day of treatments in her great fight against cancer. Both teams' captains Aleksander Barkov and Jack Eichel give their sticks to Rodriguez after she drops ceremonial first puck, and she raised them both up in the air as she walked off.


What a great sight it was, and so hopeful for other cancer patients out there. 

What wasn't hopeful or inspiring was the very little amount of people who got to witness the beautiful moment. There are so many empty seats in the BB&T Centre that it hurts your eyes to watch the game. 

It did not take long for fans to take over social media and mock the Panthers for this embarrassing new low in attendance. And it feels like it gets worse from game to game... 


To make things worse for the Panthers and their few fans, the Sabres opened the scoring as Jeff Skinner remains on fire! 


This is not a good look for the Panthers and the NHL. How much longer is this going to go on? 

This is nothing new for the Panthers. The hard luck sun belt franchise has struggled for over two decades now to attract a regular crowd. Meanwhile, just up the road in Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Lightning have established strong roots in the region and do very well in the box office. Most fans and analysts attribute this mostly to the Lightning’s winning culture, however. The Lightning organization has won a Stanley Cup championship in its history and is a perennial playoff contender. Meanwhile, the Panthers have historically languished in the NHL’s basement, earning a playoff spot just five times in their 25 year history.

We can understand why fans aren't motivated to leave the beach for a cold arena to see their local team lose... 

Fans have had enough! 

UPDATE: This might cheer local fans. The Panthers have tied the game 1-1 on a power-play opportunity with a goal from Jared McCaan. 

Source: Twitter