Florida Panthers Foundation Hosts 2nd Annual Cats Classic

WESTON, Fla. -- The boys are back in town.

With the 2023-24 season on the horizon and training camp fast approaching, the Florida Panthers Foundation hosted its 2^nd Annual Cats Classic at The Club at Weston Hills on Monday.

Players and staff from the Panthers were joined by season ticket holders, sponsors, and partners for an 18-hole scramble to raise money for the Florida Panthers Foundation.

“The goal of the Florida Panthers Foundation is four-pronged: children's health and education, the endangered Florida Panthers, veteran issues and growing the game of youth hockey in South Florida,” said John Colombo, Vice President of the Florida Panthers Foundation. “What we do today, as among a lot of the other events that we host throughout the year, raise money that we can then in turn give back through our grant program as well as through programs that we run to increase visibility to support those efforts and support the South Florida community.”

No stranger to community engagement, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who donates money and raises awareness for Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital with each and every goal and assist that he piles up each season, was ready to hit the links with supporters for a good cause.

“We're fortunate to do the thing that we've been dreaming about and play hockey,” said Barkov. “We also like to give back to the community and I know Panthers have been doing an excellent job the past years in helping the community to grow, so we're happy to help.”

Heading into his second season with the Panthers, forward Nick Cousins was excited to be back with his teammates for the second Cats Classic.

“It's been awesome just to see everybody, a lot of familiar faces from last year,” said Cousins. “The energy's high, guys are excited and obviously a quick summer, but in the best way possible. It's nice to get out and see the boys, see their golf swings, see how they are, maybe throw some chirps too. I heard some guys aren't very good but all in all we're out here for a good cause.”

While the players enjoyed some end-of-offseason golf and relaxation before the start of training camp, the eagerness to get back on the ice after a historic postseason run certainly remains.

“I think you take all the experiences you went through, you learn from them, build off them,” said forward Sam Reinhart. “It's certainly motivating going that far and ultimately coming up short. You've got to channel that and come out with some positives and things you can build off of.”

Coming off a career-best season for goals (42) and points (73) -- and also scoring one of the biggest goals in franchise history in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Boston Bruins, forward Carter Verhaeghe is keeping the same hungry mindset going into this upcoming season.

“We want to keep the culture that we have and what got us so far,” said Verhaeghe. “I think there's always ways you can improve your game and when you stop trying to get better, it goes the other way, so I think that's pretty much the biggest thing.”

With training camp starting at the end of the week and the preseason starting Sept. 25 with a doubleheader against the Nashville Predators at the newly-named Amerant Bank Arena, the Cats are ready to keep their postseason momentum going.

“Coming into this year, we have lots of faces back, everybody's familiar with Paul’s (Panthers head coach Paul Maurice) style of play and should hit the ground running,” said Cousins.

To score some tickets for the doubleheader or any other game in 2023-24, click HERE.