George Richards, FHN Publisher
If the Florida Panthers wanted to channel their brethren from that magical run to the Stanley Cup — affectionately known as the ‘Year of the Rat’ — they do not have far to look.
The guy who disposed of the dead rodent before creating a makeshift memorial to the deceased underneath the tape rack at Miami Arena can usually be found scurrying around their locker room.
Yes, the 2023 Florida Panthers have a direct link to that 1996 team in the form of Scott Tinkler, equipment man extraordinaire.
“This is just incredible, being part of this group,’’ Tinkler told FHN on Wednesday morning at FLA Live Arena as he took a break from helping load a panel truck headed to the airport.
“It has just been an amazing experience so far. To be part of history was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I am glad we’re finally starting to move away from that. We’re creating a new history. It is nice to be synonymous with that moment in time, but that was the past and this is the future. We’re working on something special here.”
Tinkler may not be the best known member of the 1996 Panthers although if you have seen the picture of the team celebrating on the ice at Mellon Arena after winning the Eastern Conference title with a thrilling Game 7 win, well, he is hard to miss.
That is him directly in front of the Prince of Wales Trophy intertwined with John Vanbiesbrouck.
Tinkler, like many who were part of the best team in franchise history, still root for the Panthers. He would even if he wasn’t part of this, same goes for broadcasters and key ‘96 playoff pieces Billy Lindsay and Ed Jovanovski.
For years, the Panthers have celebrated the accomplishments of that team — and for years, those who were part of it say they would just rather the current team win and allow their accomplishments just remain part of team history.
Let the Panthers win big, they say, keep growing the game in South Florida.
A run like this Florida team is on right now — the Panthers open up their first game in their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since 1996 tonight in Raleigh — is exactly what they all have been hoping for.
“I think this is cool, it has been a long time since South Florida embraced us and we are seeing that right now,” said Ray Sheppard, a playoff hero for the Panthers pictured below wearing No. 26.
“I kind of like not being a player for this and just being a fan because this has been fun to watch. This team has been playing playoff hockey for months and just keep fighting and fighting. I look forward to watching the games. Why are there three or four days in between games? Let’s get ‘er going! That is a testament to what they have built for themselves.”
Doug MacLean was the first-year coach of those Panthers, leading them to the playoffs in just their third year of existence.
He had been an assistant coach in Detroit under Bryan Murray — who hired him to replace Roger Neilson in 1995 after Florida barely missed the playoffs in its first two seasons.
MacLean became the fiery face of those Panthers that year and the team enraptured South Florida on an improbable run to the Cup Final.
First they beat Boston on the strength of Billy Lindsay’s flying goal in Game 5; then they disposed of Philadelphia as Ed Jovanovski played the role of wrecking ball.
In the conference finals, Florida rallied from a 3-2 series win to beat Lemieux, Jagr and Barrasso under a blizzard of rubber rats. The fun ended in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche and Patrick Roy.
“I don’t go a week,” MacLean said, “without hearing about the rats, the Stanley Cup run. John Vanbiesbrouck, Dave Lowry, Ray Sheppard. I am in Florida for seven months out of the year and it is still what people want to talk about.”
Reached at his summer home on Prince Edward Island on Thursday, MacLean wanted to talk more about this version of the Panthers than to reflect on his Panthers of 1996.
He calls this upcoming series against Carolina a toss-up and says he is enjoying this playoff run from afar.
“The Panthers play hard man, just coming back in the Boston series was frigging amazing,” MacLean said. “Just amazing. It is funny how things go when you get on a roll and start playing with a little confidence.
“I remember watching them during the regular season and they were horrible at times. They were nine points out, having problems in goal and it was a disaster coming off the Presidents’ Trophy. Then they came alive. Great to see.”
The 1996 Panthers, those who played then often say, will never have their accomplishments taken away.
Those who scoff and wonder why a team that did not win the Stanley Cup get so much love are either not old enough to remember what they did or were not living in South Florida at the time.
This team captivated a region for a magical two-month ride that continues to resonate today. Remember, there were threats of the franchise relocating to Nashville before that season.
During those playoffs, Broward County agreed to build the team a new arena out on the edge of the Everglades in Sunrise across the street from a still-new Sawgrass Mills mall.
“The buzz was real,” Jovanovski said a few years ago. “We put hockey on the map down here. We were rock stars.”
And, as MacLean and Sheppard say, this team can give the franchise the same injection of life as they did back when the thought of playing ice hockey in the tropics was still foreign to most.
“This franchise really needed another run to get back on the map,” MacLean said. “This is helping big time. It has been a tough grind. Even against Boston, they’re down 3-1 and we go to dinner in Delray to watch the game. There are 10 TVs on the wall and the Panthers scored and there wasn’t a sound in the building.
“People thought down 3-1 it was over. Then, all of a sudden, you win a game and people are loving you. That’s what this is all about. Get on a roll and people go crazy.”
As for the rubber rat, most know the story by now: Before the 1995-96 opener, a rodent ran across the small locker room at Miami Arena. Scott Mellanby grabbed his stick and one-timed it up against the cheap drywall put up to create a space for the hockey team.
The rat was dead, leaving a blob of blood behind. Mellanby then went out and scored twice with Vanbiesbrouck telling reporters that, if you count the rodent, Mellanby had a ‘Rat Trick’ against the Flames.
Well, folks loved the story leading some players to come up to Tinkler and ask what he did with the rat.
“They asked if I kept it,’’ Tinkler said. “No! It’s a huge dead rat! I picked it up with a stick and threw it away. Some of the guys wanted to take it to a taxidermist or something.’’
A few days later, Tinkler was walking through Aventura Mall and saw a pop-up Halloween stand. They had an ugly rubber rat posed standing on its hindlegs with bared teeth.
Tinkler bought it, brought it to the arena and placed it next to where a memorial to the dead rat was written in Sharpie on the drywall.
Pretty soon, every time the Panthers scored a goal, fans were chucking rubber rats onto the ice.
It became as big a story as having a pro hockey team in Miami.
“I would really love to see them get over the hump, get back on the horse,” MacLean said. “This could really make it for the Panthers right now. If it is wild down there right now, imagine if it gets to the next step?
“But you know what is amazing to me? It shocks me the number of original fans this team still has. There are still fans from that run going to the games in Sunrise. They are as loyal as they could be and they love this team. It is amazing when you really think about it.”
Sheppard remains in South Florida as a successful junior coach now with the Florida Alliance and North Broward Prep.
He knows what the kids are talking about when it comes to hockey and right now, they’re all talking about the Panthers.
“They are excited about it because these are the guys they look up to,” Sheppard said. “The kids I coach are loving this. It is fun for me to see the Panthers and Heat playing so well. This is awesome.”