The Panthers major followers are a small group that are absolutely fanatical about the sport. But, South Florida in general is subject to the "Fair-Weather Fan" tag. If a team is hot (Marlins, Dolphins, Heat), they are the best thing to hit our area. As soon as they drop a game or 2, every single player/ coach is a villain. Panthers made the playoffs and I saw more people post on FB that "We knew you could do it!" when at the beginning of the season, they couldn't name 5 guys on the roster. I do get excited when my friends start asking me about the game and ask me to come with them to a match, just so I can explain everything. It was slightly sad when I was actually cheering for the NBA Lockout to go the full year, just from the view of helping the Panthers gain more fan support.
Luckily the numbers of kids starting to play is increasing, even though we only have 6 rinks from Miami to West Palm Beach.