Florida Panthers Shuttling Players, Staff, Families and Even Pets Out of Hurricane Irma's Path
The Panthers are shuttling 80 people—including players, staff and families—out of Hurricane Irma's path, reports the Miami Herald's George Richards. There will also reportedly be some four-legged passengers.
The team has chartered a plane that will depart from Fort Lauderdale and land near the team's facilities in Springfield, Mass. The Panther's home arena, the BB&T Center, will serve as a staging area for emergency equipment to deal with the Category 5 hurricane.
We have the facilities in Springfield and could start camp there if we had to,” team CEO Matthew Caldwell told the Herald.
“We hope this is just a couple days up in Massachusetts and a flight home. But we don’t know what’s going to happen, don’t know what we will sustain.
“We have a good mix of players going up there and they’ll have great facilities in Boston. Hopefully everything works out here and we can fly them back in a few days.”
Panthers center Vincent Trocheck tweeted his appreciation for the team's gesture.
Training camp is scheduled to begin in the next week or so.