Notes: Florida Panthers Get Taste of College Football, New Ice in Sunrise

FORT LAUDERDALE — With the Florida Panthers not sending their veterans to Nashville for Sunday’s preseason doubleheader, a number of players got their first taste of big-time college football at Hard Rock Stadium for the primetime showdown between the Hurricanes and Gators.

They seemed to enjoy themselves.

A few hours after Matthew Tkachuk appeared on ESPN’s popular College GameDay in Coral Gables, he and a number of teammates went to Miami Gardens for a little tailgating and some football.

The Panthers were brought down onto the field before the game and honored by the Hurricanes for their Stanley Cup championship.

“It was super cool and something that I had wanted to do for a long time,” Anton Lundell said. “Finally was able to make it down there. It was awesome. It was my first college game, but it won’t be my last. I was surprised how big college football is down here. I mean, I knew it was big, but I really respect it really more. I’m happy we have something that cool down here and we love to support our teams in the area.’’

Unlike Lundell, Seth Jones grew up surrounded by college football both in Colorado and Texas.

He says he was more of an NFL fan — “Cowboys, unfortunately,’’ he quipped — than that of college.

Like his teammates, including Michigan grad Mackie Samoskevich, Jones was rocking a Miami shirt for Saturday’s game.

“That was awesome,” Jones said. “Great game, going on the field, it was raining out, and that was a pretty cool experience. It got a little scary at the end.’’

Added coach Paul Maurice: “I think it’s important that we share in the community. It’s not just the professional [teams] although I don’t know if college sports are amateur. They look like pros out there, and it’s serious business. But it’s important to be part of the community and that’s real, right?”

— When told Florida grad Jessica Blaylock wasn’t too happy after Saturday night’s game, Lundell smiled.

“But we loved it,’’ Lundell said after Blaylock did the gator chomp.

— Speaking of Tkachuk and the Hurricanes, ESPN announced that Saturday’s College GameDay show from Coral Gables got the second-highest ratings for a regular season game in history pulling in 4.4 million viewers at its peak.

Tkachuk was the first NHL player to ever be selected to be a celebrity guest picker on the popular GameDay — and his picks were pretty good.

Of his eight picks, including three against the spread, six were correct.

Tkachuk missed on Texas Tech beating host Utah, and Indiana rolling visiting Illinois.

— Mike Ryan Ruiz of the Dan Le Batard Show posted a photo of the Panthers in the parking lot Saturday night with everyone throwing up ‘The U’ — save for Samoskevich.

He was making the Michigan ‘M’ symbol.

Go Canes. Go Cats. pic.twitter.com/07LQZmvAkv

— Mike Ryan (Ruiz) 🙌🏽 (@MichaelRyanRuiz) September 20, 2025

— The Panthers unveiled their new center ice design, updating last year’s Stanley Cup tribute by switching up the colors.

Last season, the center ice logo — which is an artist’s rendition of the Panthers’ logo placed inside the top bowl of the Stanley Cup — was dominated by the team’s red and gold color scheme.

This year, it’s two shades of red for a little cleaner look.

The Florida Panthers unveiled their 2025-26 center ice logo — which depicts the team’s logo inside the Stanley Cup. The 2024-25 design is on the bottom. // Photos courtesy @FlaPanthers

— The Panthers will play their third exhibition game of the preseason tonight against the host Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.

Again, none of Florida’s regulars will play.

Many of the team’s veteran players held a scrimmage on Tuesday morning before the rest of the training camp roster practiced later in the afternoon.

Maurice will kick off on-ice training for the team’s regulars on Thursday, with a number of key players making their preseason debut on Monday night when Florida plays host to Carolina in Sunrise.

— Jones was asked about being prepared for Maurice’s tough starts to training camp and smiled.

He, of course, has been through John Tortorella’s notorious ‘torture skates’ during their time together in Columbus.

“I’m definitely excited,” Jones said. “I heard the first four days are … I’m kind of used to a tough camp, I had Torts back in the day when the [Players’ Association] wasn’t that involved in camp and we had two-a-days and stuff like that. But I’m excited to get back to that, be pushed here in the first few days of camp.”

— Jonah Gadjovich was one of the few regulars who did not skate Tuesday.

— Maurice said it is likely that when the Panthers open the season on Oct. 7 against the Blackhawks, the team’s playoff third line of Lundell, Luostarinen, and Brad Marchand will be intact.

That does not mean those three will stay together forever.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘plan,’ because that is the starting point,” Maurice said. “Two weeks later, we could be into something completely different.”

2024 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2025

FLORIDA PANTHERS

ON DECK

• Preseason Game No. 3: Today @ Carolina Hurricanes, 6 p.m. (Panthers+)
• Championship Ring Celebration: Oct. 6, FTL War Memorial
• Opening Night: Oct 7 vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 5 p.m.
• Complete Florida Panthers 2025-26 Schedule