WFLX anchor Mike Trim joined fans on a 100-mile, one-way trip to Amerant Bank Arena with one goal: cheer on the Panthers to a win.<\/p>\n
The group of six fans, including Maria Charles and Camilo Medina, meet up before their long rides from Port St. Lucie to Sunrise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a strong following here in St. Lucie County,\u201d Medina told Trim.<\/p>\n
When we talked to these super fans on Thursday, Oct. 15, the Panthers were facing off against the Vancouver Canucks.<\/p>\n
Leaving Port St. Lucie just before 3:30 p.m., the group hoped to beat rush-hour traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the length of the drive doesn\u2019t bother you at all?\u201d Trim asked Medina.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot at all, no,\u201d Medina replied.<\/p>\n
The group is not only bonded by the love for the Panthers but also their prior military service. Nearly all in the road-tripping group are veterans.<\/p>\n
Trim joined Charles for most of the drive.<\/p>\n
As they departed to make the drive south, Trim asked Charles, \u201cWe\u2019re leaving Port St. Lucie now. 100 miles. Do you get in the zone while you\u2019re driving? Do you listen to music? What\u2019s the drive like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI listen to music, and when it starts getting a little boring, that\u2019s when I put on the Latin music,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n
Charles, a Panthers season ticket holder, explained her route.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take the Florida Turnpike, drive all the way down until I hit Sawgrass Expressway and take Sawgrass Expressway to Oakland Park, which is the off-ramp for going to the arena,\u201d Charles told Trim.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you keep a running tab of how many miles you\u2019ve driven to Florida Panthers games?\u201d Trim asked Charles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can honestly say, 20 to 25,000 miles since 2023,\u201d Charles replied.<\/p>\n
In two separate vehicles, the Port St. Lucie fans arrived at Amerant Bank Arena about an hour before the puck dropped to start the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe usually go straight in, order something to eat, and kind of hang out for a while,\u201d Medina told Trim.<\/p>\n
Charles has an arena routine she\u2019s had for many seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to go get my coffee and donuts,\u201d Charles told Trim as they headed up the escalator to their section.<\/p>\n
Medina and the rest of the Port St. Lucie crew sat in Section 305 and brought their fanhood to an exciting finish.<\/p>\n
In the third period, Brady Tkachuk scored two goals to tie the game 2-2.<\/p>\n
Then in overtime, Tkachuk scored his third goal, a game-winner, completing his hat trick for the night.<\/p>\n
Charles summed it up after the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Panthers won in overtime. Now it\u2019s time for that nice long drive back home. I had a nice large cup of coffee and a guava turnover, so I\u2019m all set and super charged for the drive. Let\u2019s go, Panthers. Awesome game,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WFLX anchor Mike Trim joined fans on a 100-mile, one-way trip to Amerant Bank Arena with one goal:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-434223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}