Another reason to brag for Florida Panther fans! Sunrise a Top-10 hockey city

Mark H. Bickel, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read
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If the Florida Panthers advancing to the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals isn't enough good news for hockey fans in the Sunshine State, now there is this:

Research conducted by the personal finance website WalletHub to determine the "Best Cities for Hockey Fans" ranked Sunrise, home of the Panthers, No. 9 out of 20 NHL cities.

Tampa, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning, is No. 7. The team ranked No. 1? The Boston Bruins.

To determine the best places for hockey spectators, WalletHub compared 75 U.S. cities based on two divisional categories, professional and college hockey, across 21 key metrics. The data set ranges from the performance level of the city’s teams to minimum season ticket prices to stadium capacity.

Here is one of the data highlights from the study specifically tied to the Florida Panthers:

Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) comes in for a shot against Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns (8) during the second period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) comes in for a shot against Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns (8) during the second period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Sunrise has the lowest average ticket price for an NHL game, $41.79, which is 3.1 times lower than in Seattle, the city with the highest at $130.85.

How much are Florida Panthers tickets for the Stanley Cup Final?

The first home game for the Panthers will be Thursday, June 8. The first two games will be played in Las Vegas, which enters the series with home ice advantage. June 10 is the second guaranteed home game for the Panthers. After that they would get one more home game (June 16), if necessary.

As of June 1, ticket prices on StubHub range from $475 to more than $500 for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Sunrise with the warning "this event is selling fast."

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Top-10 Best Cities for Hockey Fans

  • Boston

  • Pittsburgh

  • Detroit

  • New York

  • St. Louis

  • Denver

  • Tampa

  • Newark, N.J.

  • Sunrise

  • Raleigh, N.C.

It's been a pretty good spring for Florida sports teams thanks to the Panthers and the Miami Heat.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida panthers rank among top 10 hockey cities in US

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