MILWAUKEE (AP) — Long before he built the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship roster, Bill Zito was a teenager working as a Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse attendant during the franchise’s lone pennant-winning season.

The Panthers’ general manager and president of hockey operations returned to his roots and allowed the Brewers to get a glimpse at one of the most prestigious prizes in professional sports. As the Brewers arrived at American Family Field before Wednesday night’s game with the Los Angeles Dodgers, they found the Stanley Cup sitting on a table in their clubhouse.

“In the hockey world, that’s sort of a gesture of appreciation and respect and thanks,” Zito said. “I wanted to do that.”

Zito brought the Cup to the city where he grew up to show his appreciation for the years he worked with the Brewers back in the 1980s. He was a toddler when his family moved from Pennsylvania to the Milwaukee area. He stayed in Milwaukee through high school.

He also spent three summers as a clubhouse attendant with the Brewers. That included the 1982 season in which the Brewers made their only World Series appearance, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

“I was in the visiting locker room the first year and two years in the Brewers locker room,” Zito recalled.

Zito took over as the Panthers’ general manager in September 2020 and added the title of president of hockey operations in April. The Panthers won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history this year, beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.

The Brewers loved having Zito back and getting a look at the Cup.

Zito posed for pictures holding the Cup while flanked by longtime Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker and clubhouse manager Tony Migliaccio. During his stint as a Brewers clubhouse attendant, Zito had worked with Migliaccio.

Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick was particularly appreciative. Frelick, who grew up in Massachusetts, said he started playing hockey at the age of 6 and continued all the way through high school.

Although Frelick had said he’d seen the Stanley Cup before from afar, this was the first time he was able to get this close to it.

“It’s so cool,” Frelick said. “It’s even cooler that Mr. Zito brought it. He was once here as a bat boy. Now he’s obviously the GM over there in Florida, and you’ve seen what he’s done with their team.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

The simplest questions bring the best answers.

Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins coach: “I’ve talked about understanding the servitude, and I really got a sense in Year 3, you have a more supreme humility to the job, from my perspective, in terms of you get the job and everything — you’re always working around how everything’s orchestrated. You’re adjusting to the different needs of the job to the different people that you affect, but then you still have that, I don’t know, ambition or you’re a little naïve enough to think that you can do more on your own than I think you really capable of. I think I have a strong sense of truly how dependent I am on all of the people in the building for the building to move in one direction. I think the relationship aspect and how people bond I have a firmer appreciation for, and overall, it is very, very humbling just because at this point in my life, I almost can do nothing by myself. Almost nothing. I still can work a microwave, and I can fill my car tank up with gas, but outside of that, I need a lot of help for everything I do.”

Jason Taylor, Hall of Fame NFL player and University of Miami defensive coach: “Something I appreciate more about the game now — or appreciate about in a different way — is the journey, the process, and taking in the small moments of the process. I talked about this when I retired, how I was so singularly focused on something I was able to achieve when I played that I sometimes missed the positive, great moments of the journey. So, as I do this now as a coach, still taking the journey to be elite and the best I can be at this profession, it’s also going to do it with 85 players or 120 players that are on this grass as well. So, I’m enjoying their journey with them — and also my journey with them — in the moment. I have the ability now to appreciate small things, small victories, small improvements in practice. You know, praise them. We’re not going to celebrate them but we’ll praise them, we’ll appreciate them, and get ready for the next day.”

Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers captain: “What it takes to win. That’s something you can appreciate when you’ve been around a while and when you’ve lost and won. You work hard when you come in, because you want to do well. Then you learn something about the game, about the player you need to be. Every year it’s something. You have to learn about playing in the playoffs. That’s different, a more intense game. And then the emotions of playing through a big series. So, really, I think just what goes into winning is something you appreciate the longer you play.”

Braxton Berrios, Dolphins receiver: “Growing as a player and really taking advantage of every day. There’s really a lot to say about picking one thing a day or two if you really feel like it to really excel at and really try to get better at that one thing a day and take each day as its own opportunity. I think if you look at it that way in the five or five-and-a-half weeks of camp, you can really build something and build momentum on into the season.”

Sam Bennett, Panthers center: “There are a couple things. I think number one is how demanding it is — how physically demanding are 10 years. It’s a lot of work to play at the level you need, and then the demands in the playoffs are at a different level. Number two is the bond you can make with your teammates after you’re going to battle, especially after a playoff run. It’s physically and emotionally draining and you really get to know each other. I mean, I spend more time with them than my family. The bond on good teams is something you appreciate.”

Tyler Herro, Miami Heat guard: “Just appreciating the highs and lows. I would never try to get too high, but I felt I would get low on myself. That was something I had to learn how to deal with. My first and second year I’d get low. I felt in my third year, as I got older, I could see the big picture more and was more at peace with the lows. I think in the NBA a lot of people react to what’s going on right now when in reality it’s a long season and it’s not always about right now. I appreciate the fans and media for being so focused on right now. Sometimes it allows me not to focus on it. I’m all about the big picture now.”

Cam Ward, University of Miami quarterback: “I appreciate studying the game now in something like learning coverages. I didn’t really know anything about coverages or start learning football until last year. A couple years ago I was just going out there, going through progressions and throwing to people. At (Washington State) last year, I got a lot better at knowing coverages, knowing the shape of the defense, rocking and rolling. So studying the game — the work that goes into studying — is something I appreciate now.”

Jazz Chisholm, New York Yankee and former Miami Marlin: “I’ve learned to appreciate and respect the guys that are really good and how they go about their business. The MVPs and guys like that, their skill level and their work level. Some of the guys that win MVP, their skill level might not be the best in the world, but they win MVP by working and learning. I just started learning baseball when I was in the big leagues. Baseball’s hard. I think of it like this, I talked to Mookie (Betts) last year and Mookie was like, ‘I don’t go 1,000 percent after ever play in the outfield. I’m not going to run into the wall and get hurt.’ I’d never thought of that. That’s smart. If you paly 162 games and just play average, you can get paid $20 million a year. Like, .280 and 25 (home runs) is $20 million a year. That’s just one thing I’ve learned.”

Lance Guidry, University of Miami defensive coordinator: “It’s the same game as when I was in high school or McNeese State or here. You’ve got to make sure you run things that fits your kids the best. I always say I don’t coach out of a playbook. I coach off experiences. It took a while to learn that, though. Last year we  knew who our best players were after we started getting injured and felt we had to get the best players on the field. So, that’s what we did and it panned out. We jumped from a four-down to a three-man front, put an extra (linebacker) and that’s what we felt get us the best chance against Clemson. We rode that for a while. But as a coach, high school or college or wherever doesn’t matter. You need to make sure your thinking starts with getting your best players are out there.”

And why shouldn’t its internationally cherished trophy be taken out for a quick dip in a salty ocean?

I confess I am baffled by the dentist-defying sport and even more baffled by how championship ice games wound up yards from sand so hot it glasses over in August.

So, I might have ignored the Florida Panthers beating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 to clinch the Stanley Cup. But then they made history by taking the Cup into the Atlantic for a spritz, and the scolds came out.

People sniffed disapproval and then sniffed harder when teammates filled the Cup with beer and tipped it over the edge of a two-story balcony. “Nearly drowned a man!” shrieked one person on X.

Others of us see the sacrifice involved: Despite metal heated by the Florida sun, despite the weight of a fully-beered Stanley, and no doubt weakened by a previous evening spent in thoughtful post-game locker-room contemplation, players hefted and helpfully aimed their prize in the general direction of thirsty patrons.

Nattering nabobs of non-mainstream media might call it assault by beverage.

I call it fan service.

True, you don’t see Nobel Laureates skipping their gold medallions across the lake or arthouse directors chucking their little crystal Palme d’Ors at passing fans. No one is using their Masters jacket as a putting green. And it’s pretty safe to assume the Tour de France’s “King of the Mountain” polka-dotted jersey is stuck in the back of a closet and unlikely to come out to party, if only because: men and polka dots.

Further, no one really knows how all this would sit with the excruciatingly dignified Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada, Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the 1st Royal Lancashire Militia and father to a hockey-loving daughter who pushed him to drop $50 on a seven-inch silver trophy.

My position? If the NHL didn’t want Kentucky Derby winner Go to Gin nibbling oats from the Stanley Cup, maybe they should have thought twice before putting a bowl on top.

No, really, they should not have put a bowl on top.

New York Ranger Sylvain Lefebvre baptized his daughter in it — the first of several players to put the Stanley Cup to such use. Detroit Red Winger Tomas Holmstrom baptized his niece in it, then used it to serve potato dumplings. What’s fair for the goose, etc., so when fellow Winger Kris Draper posed his diaperless infant in it, the baby “baptized” the cup. “I still drank out of it that night, so no worries,” he said. No, Kris, no worries whatsoever.

Carolina Hurricanes Erik Cole served his children Applejacks from the Cup. New York islander Barry Trottier slept with it. New Jersey Devils Martin Brodeur ate popcorn out of it.

Detroit Red Wing Captain Steve Yzerman showered with it.

The Rangers burned the Madison Square Garden mortgage in it, leading to the Curse of 1940, leading to the Rangers waiting 54 years for another win.

Buddy the Labrador retriever snacked from the Cup (Anaheim Duck Sean O’Donnell); so did Hombre the German Shepherd (New York Islander Clark Gillies). “He’s a good dog,” explained Gillies.

Fellow Islander John Tonelli rented a stretch limo and took it to play golf. Vegas Golden Knight Phil Kessel took it to a golf course to use as a hot dog stand.

And yet.

When images of an ESPN producer jovially lifting the Stanley Cup while on set hit the internet in 2007, Canadians howled (albeit in that very Canadian-polite and nicely accented way) that the Cup was being disrespected.

This is the same Canada with the same Edmonton Oilers with the same Mark Messier who in 1987 celebrated their NHL championship by taking Lord Stanley’s finest to a strip club stage.

Indeed, in the early 1900s, it was one of Canada’s Montreal Wanderers, a bowling alley operator, who used the chalice to hold gum and cigars. In 1906, Wanderers left it at a photographer’s studio. The photographer’s mother planted geraniums in it. In 1962, an entire treeful of Toronto Maple Leafs mistook the yard-high, three-tiered, 34-pound, shiny silver and nickel alloy trophy for a stick of brown wood and tossed it on a bonfire.

And that, friends, is why we can’t let the Canadians have our nice things.

Pat Beall is a columnist and editorial writer for the Sun Sentinel. Contact her at pbeall1@gmail.com.

“I really loved the idea of joining this team and this energy and this group,” he said. “I love that about Paul and I love that about how he treats his teams.”

Schmidt signed a one-year contract with the Panthers after spending the last three seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. He logged 65 points and a plus-minus rating of plus-21 while with the Jets. He spent part of his first year with Winnipeg under Maurice before the now-Panthers coach stepped away from the team in December 2021.

“I had a chance now to come back full circle again,” Schmidt said. “That style and that type of accountability he holds his team to. … That’s what I was looking for in free agency.”

The 11-year veteran had a solid 2023-24 season with the Jets, scoring 14 points and maintaining a plus-10 rating as Winnipeg finished with the second-best points total in the Western Conference. He and the team would sputter out in the playoffs, losing in five games to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round. Schmidt had just one point and dropped to a minus-5 rating in the series.

Schmidt hasn’t been to a conference final since his 2019-20 season with the Vegas Golden Knights. He said he hopes to reach those levels and more with a Florida team that has the second-best odds to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

“You don’t realize you have it until it’s gone, and this team has it,” he said. “I told the guys when I talked to them, ‘Just give me a taste, a taste of what you guys are having now. I just want to be a part of that.’ ”

Schmidt will have an opportunity to fill in a big defensive role with Florida both in even-strength, penalty kill and power-play situations. The Panthers lost key defensive players in Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Josh Mahura and more.

Despite being primed for an important role with the team, Schmidt said he’s ready to compete at training camp and will take on whatever role the team gives him.

“There’s a lot of defensemen going to camp … you’re gonna have to grind out a spot again,” he said. “No matter how many games you’ve played and how many playoff teams you’ve been a part of, good teams you’ve been a part of. It doesn’t mean much until you get there.”

With offseason and preseason activities around the corner, Schmidt is motivated to cement himself as a part of Florida’s defensive core.

“It’s an excellent core group with a great [defensive] core and just say, ‘Hey, I can help contribute … on a team that just won the cup,’ ” he said. “That’s a very enticing feeling. … This group has the pieces, now it’s time for me to jump on board and get ready to go.”

Nosek looks to continue filling that role for the Florida Panthers. He signed a one-year contract with the team July 1 and is expected to take on the fourth-line center role after Kevin Stenlund left for Utah in free agency.

“Tomas is an experienced veteran forward who plays a strong two-way game,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “We are looking forward to him joining our club for the upcoming campaign.”

The veteran forward has made a name for himself as a depth scorer and solid penalty killer in nearly a decade of NHL service.

“My rule for the last couple years as a fourth-line center were be good on the PK, kill some penalties and do the little things right,” he said. “Find a way to help a team win a game. That’s why I chose to sign with the Panthers. … I wanna win, and I’d do anything to help them win a game.”

Nosek played his first full season in the NHL with the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017-18 season. He scored 15 points in 67 regular-season games and six more in the playoffs on the way to Vegas’ first Stanley Cup Final appearance. He scored three goals in the series loss against the Washington Capitals.

The 31-year-old hopes to get another shot at the Cup with the Panthers.

“We went all the way to the final, and since then I’ve been chasing that final game,” he said. “Every year you want to win, and especially when you get older you want to win even more.”

Nosek is plenty familiar with the Panthers’ style of play. He took on Florida in the 2023 NHL playoffs as a member of the Boston Bruins in a feisty seven-game series.

“That season was history, [Boston] never lost two games in a row,” Nosek said. “And then in the playoffs, [Florida] beat us three games in a row. So it was a special team.”

Although that series was highly combative and sparked a recent rivalry between the two teams, Nosek said there’s no hard feelings.

“I don’t think I’m the first or last person that got into some kind of discussion between the benches,” he said. “It’s a part of hockey. … I don’t think there will be a problem.”

Perhaps the biggest concern with Nosek’s signing is his health. He missed half of the 2023-24 season with the New Jersey Devils due to a right-foot injury. Still, the season prior in Boston was his best yet with a career-high 18 points. If he can return to full health and form as a Panther, he’ll prove to be a great asset for a team on the hunt for another Stanley Cup.

“Last season was not good from an injury standpoint,” he said. “Now I feel healthy, and it’s been good so far and a great summer so far. It’s been a long summer now too, but I’m looking forward to jump on the ice again.”

Eight days after signing Swedish center Jesper Boqvist, the Panthers signed his younger brother, Adam Boqvist, to a one-year, one-way deal on Tuesday. The contract is reportedly worth $775,000.

The younger Boqvist, a 23-year-old defenseman, has played 209 games in the NHL over the last five seasons. He spent two seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and three seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In five seasons, Boqvist has 23 goals and 62 assists.

Last season, Boqvist had 10 points in 35 games with the Blue Jackets.

The 6-foot, 189-pound Boqvist earned a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship and was named the best defenseman of that tournament.

Boqvist has also played in Swedish leagues, the OHL and the AHL. Adam and Jesper Boqvist last played together for the Swedish team Brynäs IF in 2017-18.

The open scrimmage will be from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale.

Florida’s roster of prospects is made up of 22 forwards, 11 defensemen and six goaltenders. It features selections from the Panthers’ last five NHL drafts and additional invitees ranging from ages 18-25. The prospects are getting their first taste of practice in a NHL facility coming from the NCAA, junior leagues and Florida’s minor-league organizations.

Gracyn Sawchyn, the Panthers’ most recent first-round draft selection in 2023, will attend camp after spending last season in the Western Hockey League. Joining him is forward Jack Devine, a two-time NCAA Champion who just finished his senior season at the University of Denver. Kai Schwindt rounds out the top end of the roster after scoring 23 points in 33 games this season in the Ontario Hockey League.

Maybe the most notable aspect of the roster is who’s excluded: 21-year-old forward Mackie Samsokevich. He’s expected to play his first full season with Florida this year after the Panthers’ look to fill gaps in their lower lines. Bypassing development camp could be a sign of confidence from the team.

Development camp doesn’t indicate who will make Florida’s roster in the fall, but could earn young players an invite to training camp with the full team. It will also serve as a chance for hockey-hungry fans to see potential future Panthers on the ice.

Panthers general manager Bill Zito announced Wednesday that the team has extended the contract of center Anton Lundell. The six-year deal reportedly is worth $30 million, according to several media outlets, and keeps Lundell in South Florida through the 2029-30 season.

Lundell, who is just 22 years old, recorded 13 goals and 22 assists while manning the Panthers’ third line last season. He logged just under half his regular season points in the playoffs with 17 points in 24 games.

“Anton has matured into a dependable multirole center for our club, who seized his opportunity from his first day in North America,” Zito said in a statement. “His commitment to improvement and cerebral approach to the game earned him the profound respect of his teammates and coaches, and we are excited to see him continue to grow and succeed with the Panthers.”

Lundell is the third player to re-sign with Florida this offseason, joining defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and winger Sam Reinhart, who led the team in goals last season. Lundell is one of five Panthers to be under contract through 2029-30. He joins Reinhart, team captain Aleksander Barkov, winger Carter Verhaeghe and defenseman Gustav Forsling.

Drafted 12th overall by the Panthers in 2020, Lundell has quickly cemented himself as a part of the team’s core and will have plenty of time to grow under Florida’s prolific offensive group.

Other free agent news

Florida announced the signing of defenseman Nate Schmidt Wednesday afternoon. He penned a one-year deal worth a reported $800 thousand.

Schmidt, 32, notched 14 points for the Winnipeg Jets last season and appeared in 62 games.

“Nate is a veteran puck-moving defenseman who we expect to seamlessly integrate with our style of play,” Zito said. “We are excited to welcome him to our club in 2024-25.”

Schmidt was signed as the Panthers look to replace defensive production from Brandon Montour, who left for Seattle on Monday for a seven-year contract.

It wasn’t all gains for Florida in free agency Wednesday. The Panthers are parting ways with right wing Vladimir Tarasenko after he signed a 2-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings worth $9.5 million.

Tarasenko arrived in Florida in a trade with the Ottawa Senators in March. He scored five goals and assisted on four more during the Panthers’ postseason run with a plus-minus rating of +4. Florida now must find a replacement for Tarasenko’s consistent production on the third line.

When the Tampa Bay Lightning made moves at the NHL draft to clear salary cap space, general manager Julien BriseBois hoped a variety of factors would entice players to sign as free agents.

One, of course, was the organization’s penchant for winning and the talent already on the roster. Another, he pointed out, was the “favorable taxation situation.”

It has become difficult to deny the impact of favorable tax situations around the league in recent years. Four of the past five Stanley Cup champions are based in places with no state income tax, and that benefit continues to draw free agents who know they will take home more money there than elsewhere around North America.

“There is a distinct advantage for those teams that are in states with no tax — always,” said Alan Pogroszewski, who has studied and worked with players on tax matters for more than a decade. “There will always be an advantage.”

It is not necessarily the deciding factor for a player, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. The $69 million contract Sam Reinhart got to re-sign with the reigning champion Florida Panthers is worth more there than it would have been had he signed for the same terms in many other markets.

Averaging out Reinhart’s salary to $8.625 million annually, he owes $3.15 million in taxes in Florida. He would pay $1.1 million more in California, $1.5 million more in New York and $1.4 million more in Toronto, according to a calculator provided publicly by Cardinal Point Athlete Advisors.

Over the length of the contract that could save him up to $12 million.

“That’s part of the reality,” San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. “I think it is an advantage for those teams: They can obviously pay guys a little bit less, and guys are happy to go there. So not to their fault or anything, those teams take advantage of the situation as they should.”

And they do. Nashville, Florida, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Vegas and Seattle — the six teams in the 32-team NHL in states with no income tax — combined to spend nearly a quarter of the $1 billion-plus in salaries committed Monday when free agency opened.

Winger Jake Guentzel, who played his first seven-plus seasons with Pittsburgh before being traded to Carolina in March, just signed a seven-year deal worth $63 million with the Lightning. Their winning culture was part of the draw, along with the lack of winter weather, but tax experts will point out that he’s coming out ahead financially, too.

“I guess that’s always a good thing if you can make more money,” Guentzel said. “There’s just the positives about Tampa, and there just seems to be so many of them: living the lifestyle, the atmosphere in the rink is unbelievable and if that’s part of it, too, that’s great. There’s just a lot of things behind the scenes that you’re really excited for.”

Pogroszewski, the founder, president and CEO of AFP Consulting LLC, which specializes in the tax preparation and consulting for pro athletes, said he and his colleagues have debated for years how much of a factor financial matters such as these should play in free agent decisions.

Pogroszewski said the New York Rangers or Islanders would need to offer a contract exceeding $88 million to net the same amount as Reinhart’s $69 million contract with the Panthers.

He points out there are things players can do to even the playing field — retirement compensation arrangements in Canada being one of them and establishing residency in a no- or low-tax state is another. Grier said players and agents are all aware of tax differences by state, acknowledging “that definitely figures into everything.”

Veteran defenseman Chris Tanev’s situation featured a different variable. After finishing last season with the Dallas Stars, moving there and becoming a U.S. resident would have triggered Canada’s departure tax on capital gains, while remaining a resident of Ontario would have mitigated the tax advantage of working in Texas.

“That plays a role into it,” said Tanev, who played his first 14 years in Canada with Vancouver and Calgary and is now heading to Toronto after half a season with Dallas. “And family reasons. Just coming to a good team is obviously a big part of that. I didn’t want to leave Dallas and go to a team that wasn’t trying to win, and that was a huge reason why this happened.”

Some good teams do not have big-time tax benefits, such as the Oilers who went to the Cup final and pushed the Panthers to a Game 7. The Canadian dollar also plays a major role in league finances, with player salaries paid in U.S currency.

The vast majority of the league simply has to deal with paying players while considering state or provincial tax implications.

“If you can get New York state to go tax-free, I’m in,” Buffalo’s Kevyn Adams joked, before explaining his philosophy. “You try to focus your attention on building an organization the right way, where people recognize that and say, ‘That’s the culture, that’s the place that I want to play.’ … If there’s players that flat out just don’t want to be in cold weather or don’t want to be in a state that has higher taxes, then they are probably not for us anyway.”

___

AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed to this report.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

There will be over-the-air channels in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers markets, where viewers can watch the Panthers for most of their regular-season games and their first-round games in the NHL playoffs.

In Miami/Fort Lauderdale, all locally produced games will air on WSFL-TV, channel 39.

In West Palm Beach, all locally produced games will air on WHDT-TV, channel 9.

In Fort Myers, Scripps Sports will announce the broadcast channel in advance of next season.

Also part of the deal: games on basic cable and satellite, as well as offerings on a new team-branded, direct-to-consumer streaming app. The app will be ready in October for the start of the 2024-25 season, the Panthers said.

“We want to ensure that we’re addressing the heightened demand for our team and our sport, and we want to accelerate that growth,” Mark Zarthar, the Panthers’ chief strategy officer, said Tuesday. “And so, what is the next big step for us is making the viewership of our games much more accessible? With Scripps as an over-the-air provider, they will help us reach over 2.6 million households.”

The move, which already has received NHL approval, comes at perhaps the perfect time for the Panthers.

Attendance has soared in each of the last two seasons, with more than 1 million tickets sold at home games this season for the first time, including playoffs. The team says it is seeing more than a 70% increase in youth hockey numbers over the past decade. And an estimated 400,000 people braved torrential rain and lightning for the team’s victory parade and celebration on Sunday, so interest in the team — still basking in winning the Cup for the first time — likely has never been even close to this high.

Florida will become the third NHL team to partner with Scripps, joining Vegas and Utah.

“We found a partner that not only can provide us with a tremendous amount of reach and accessibility, but they’ve proven that they can do it because it works in Vegas,” Zarthar said. “We feel very confident and comfortable with them, and I give a lot of credit to the NHL, to Diamond Sports Group and to Scripps Sports for making this all work out in the way that we feel very confident moving into next season.”

The Panthers had been working on options for the past several months, and the move in May by Comcast — a major cable provider in the South Florida market — to black out 15 regional sports networks offered by Bally Sports made it seem even more obvious that a change likely was coming soon.

Diamond Sports Group, which distributes the networks under the Bally name, is working to emerge from bankruptcy, further complicating the issue that many Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL teams are facing about game broadcasts going forward.

Many of the plans for how the Panthers broadcasts will look, such as graphic elements, are still being finalized. The team intends to keep its broadcast team intact, an important piece for the Panthers because some of those personalities have been with the club for most, if not all, of the franchise’s 30-year existence.

There are also plans, at some point, to add a Spanish-language broadcast option for Panthers games, which would open even more doors in South Florida given the enormous Latino population. And, without revealing specifics, the Panthers said they are satisfied with what the move will mean in terms of new revenue streams created by getting the games in front of more people.

“We look forward to an unprecedented amount of support and attention on hockey in Florida as we move forward,” Panthers President Matthew Caldwell said.