Florida Panthers cut cheerleaders

The Lady Panthers are no more.

A tweet from the Florida Panthers PR account Wednesday afternoon revealed that the team's cheerleading squad will not survive to celebrate a 10th anniversary season in 2014-15.

The #FlaPanthers thank the Lady Panthers for nine years of service to our team and community.
— Florida Panthers PR (@FlaPanthersPR) July 23, 2014

Moving forward our game presentation will feature a skating only team.
— Florida Panthers PR (@FlaPanthersPR) July 23, 2014

No word from the team as to why the decision was made, but given the penny-pinching cuts the organization has made this summer it's not hard to imagine this was conceived, at least in part, as a cost-saving measure rather than being motivated by any fan backlash to the group.

No doubt the move will be applauded by some, but I'm left with the thought that several women lost a job that they loved today. And that sucks.