Panthers Return to the Ice After NHL Lockout Season

Hockey is back in Sunrise after a year without an NHL season.

The Panthers opened the 2005-06 season in October, returning professional hockey to west Broward after the league lost the entire 2004-05 season to the lockout. The return is more than a schedule note. For fans, arena workers, nearby businesses and students used to seeing game-night traffic around Sawgrass Mills, it means the local winter sports routine has been restored.

The Panthers came back quickly. Season records show Florida opening on Oct. 5, 2005, with a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Thrashers, then following with another 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning two nights later. That early start gave the BankAtlantic Center immediate energy under its new name, just weeks after the former Office Depot Center entered a new naming-rights period.

The lockout changed the league around them. The NHL returned with new rules, shootouts and a salary-cap system that made the sport feel different from the one fans last saw in 2004. For casual students, the details may matter less than the simple fact that the games are back. Jerseys can come out again. Highlights can return to local sports reports. The arena can light up for hockey instead of sitting through another empty season.

For Piper students, the return arrives during junior year. That timing matters because high school memories are built from repeated routines: the traffic before a home game, the radio ads for tickets, the sight of Panthers gear in the mall, the classmate who went to a game the night before and came in tired the next morning.

The Panthers were not guaranteed to dominate the standings, but their return gave Broward something it had missed. The NHL map once again included Sunrise, and the building near Sawgrass Mills had its winter identity back.

After a year of silence, the local hockey calendar is moving again.