Fans believe routines will drive Panthers toward Stanley Cup
SUNRISE - Florida Panthers fans did their part to nudge their team closer to a Stanley Cup championship.
They showed up to Game 3 of the NHL's Eastern Conference Finals at FLA Arena with cowbells ringing. Pumped up fans felt victory before the puck dropped.
Every time Victoria and Jason Randolph tag their vintage fire truck with team logos and bring it to the arena with hoses that serve beer, wine, lemonade, and water great vibes flow.
"They started winning immediately," Victoria Randolph said. "So we call it the lucky truck. Now, we have to be here before every single game."
But the real score for superstitious fan Mark Love and his wife Kim, Panthers season-ticket holders for 25 years, is an oatmeal raisin cookie sometimes sold inside FLA Arena.
"My first year as a Panther fan we went 21-1-1 in the games I went to because I had an oatmeal raisin cookie before the game," Mark Love said. "They stopped having oatmeal raisin cookie (and they) didn't make the playoff until they brought the cookies back."
In between, he and Kim's Panthers' pride never wavered. Each year that the couple played their children in mock Stanley Cup rollerblade hockey games, Mark and Kimm wore Florida Panthers sweaters. They even won one "championship."
With their beloved squad so close to winning, the couple savors every second of every game and every oatmeal raisin cookie they buy.
"If you're a sports fan you know that some things matter even though they shouldn't," Love said. "I mean sometimes you gotta change your shirt midway through. Sometimes you gotta wear the same thing every game. Just gotta go with what's working."