Panthers troll Leafs fans by selling "we want Florida" T-shirt

May 13 2023, 2:25 pm

The Florida Panthers seem to be having a little bit of fun at the expense of Toronto Maple Leafs fans after defeating Toronto in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Within the hour of knocking the Leafs out of the second round of the postseason, the Panthers’ official team store debuted a “We Want Florida” t-shirt.

The shirt refers to the now-infamous chant uttered by a segment of Toronto fans partying in Maple Leaf Square outside of Scotiabank Arena following the Leafs’ Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning to clinch the first round of the playoffs.

The shirts are available for $25 USD, though the shipping costs start at an additional $22.39 to come to Canada.

And it appears that “We Want Florida” has been weaponized by the Panthers faithful as a bit of a rally cry.

After the Panthers won the Game 3 contest 3-2 in overtime over Toronto last week to take a 3-0 series lead, fans in both the concourses and stands of the arena broke out in a “We want Florida!” chant.

The story does need a bit of context though — the Panthers weren’t the only team Toronto fans wanted.

Toronto fans were caught on camera chanting “We want Florida” after they eliminated the Lightning, but there was also a sizeable contingent of fans at Maple Leaf Square also chanting “We want Boston!”

With the Panthers and Bruins still set to play in a Game 7 matchup on April 30, those chanting “We want Florida” and “We want Boston” seemed to simply be preparing for all possible options.

Regardless, it doesn’t matter much now what Leafs fans chanted — the Panthers are set to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, while Toronto are set to well, start planning their summer getaways.

History is written by the winners, and Toronto’s left stuck the target of jokes and a few clever tricks by the Panthers’ marketing department.

Adam LaskarisAdam Laskaris

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