George Richards, FHN Publisher
When asked why the Florida Panthers were moving training camp to the BB&T Center in Sunrise, new GM Bill Zito said the decision was “easier than you think.’’ It has a lot to do with the outdoor space.
On Sunday, the players will officially report for physicals with the first practice coming Monday morning in Sunrise.
Unlike past years, the Panthers will hold the entirety of their training camp at the BB&T Center instead of their training facility in Coral Springs.
Zito, hired as Florida’s new general manager on Sept. 1, says it just made more sense for the Panthers to hole up in one location rather than split things between the arena and training facility.
The BB&T Center, Zito explained, offered much more room for the Panthers to spread out not necessarily on the ice, but off of it.
“There’s not a lot going on over there right now and it was a lot of factors all weighed in,’’ Zito said on Saturday afternoon.
“But it was rather simple. Rather than have two facilities and go back and forth … there was really not a significant reason to utilize two when we could just use one. There was more space, it was easier to social distance. For example, little things like in our locker rooms.
“Some of the locker rooms I think only have three or four players in them.”
Zito said the Panthers will be able to spread players out among the multiple dressing rooms around the arena — it has two NHL locker rooms (home and away) as well as others which are used by basketball teams when they use the arena along with musical acts.
The team also has set up its weight room in the open air with some equipment stored underneath overhangs with other equipment being rolled out into the sunshine.
Zito added that team meals as well as coaches meetings would be held outdoors as much as the weather allows.
That is doable at the arena which has numerous patios and large loading areas. It would be harder to do what the team wants in Coral Springs.
And, due to COVID-19 this should go without saying, training camp will be closed to the public for the first time.
One negative: BB&T Center only has one sheet of ice. Coach Joel Quenneville and others had been known to use all three sheets at the IceDen during training camp.
As of a few weeks ago, one of the ice sheets at the IceDen was still being reconstructed, so it’s not known whether it could have been used in camp anyway.
“We are we’re distancing anybody and everybody as much as we can. Being as prudent as we can with our spacing. We are pursuing some pretty novel concepts,’’ Zito said.
“Our weight room will be outdoors, which is kind of neat. And I think the players will enjoy that.
“We are going to have meetings and meals outside, whenever and wherever possible. Coaches meetings will be outside, whenever possible. So we’re able to do a lot of things with that facility and that was really the main gist of it.
“A smaller camp eliminated the need for multiple sheets as much, you know you can make do with one. It’s a little bit easier with your players so a lot of the reasons wrapped into one. Health, safety, convenience and efficiency probably were the main factors.”
Zito laughed when it was mentioned that Winnipeg wouldn’t be able to have the outdoor setup the Panthers will employ — and Zito probably couldn’t have pulled something like this off in Columbus, either.
In sunny South Florida though, hockey players can get a tan while shooting pucks on artificial ice or lifting weights.
“It’s going to be pretty fun,’’ Zito said. “It’s going to be neat.”