‘We want to see our team succeed’: Fort Lauderdale Mayor exchanges ‘heated’ words regarding Stanley Cup Final

The Edmonton Oilers are on their way to Florida ahead of the first game of the Stanley Cup Final with one thing on their mind: raising that cup.

CTV Morning Live’s own Kent Morrison spoke with the mayor of Fort Lauderdale regarding the energy that the Stanley Cup Final will bring to Fort Lauderdale, the city beside Sunrise, Fla., where the Panthers play.

Kent: How many people in Fort Lauderdale are focused on hockey at this point?

Mayor Trantalis: Everyone’s focused on hockey here. We’re very excited about the team, hopefully winning the Stanley Cup this year. You see it, you feel it, you breathe it up here. People will be watching it either at the Amerant [Bank Arena], at the watch parties, at bars and restaurants, or even in their homes. We’re all excited about the first game this Saturday. It’s great. We love our Canadian neighbours. Certainly, Canadians are no strangers to south Florida. So it’s a great match and we’re really looking forward to it.

Kent: Can you lay it out for us because for Edmonton fans who aren’t necessarily familiar, the team plays in Sunrise, Fla., Miami is close, Fort Lauderdale is close. How does the territory set up for Panthers, the organization and their fans?

Mayor Trantalis: The organization is here in Fort Lauderdale. The practice rink is here in Fort Lauderdale. The Amerant [Bank Arena], which is the western part of the county, is where the competition takes place. It’s a large arena – it was originally designed to track development out there. But I think now the team is looking to migrate eastward and I think we’ll probably see changes in the next few years where perhaps a new arena will be built here or downtown. But hey, it’s all about Florida. It’s all about the success of our team. We all have a share in it and I think that the fan base expands beyond Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale. Some come from Miami, some come from West Palm Beach – we see a widespread interest throughout the state to see the success of our team here, the Panthers.

Kent: All right, now talking about successes of teams and fan bases: Are you aware about how strong the Oilers Nation is and how long this city and the fans of the Edmonton Oilers had been waiting for a Stanley Cup? It’s a big deal up here. Are you prepared for the fandom descending down south?

Mayor Trantalis: Are you prepared to take second place?

Kent: Mr. Mayor, now we’re really getting into it. No, I’m not prepared to take second place, quite frankly. Listen, I don’t want to, you know, start an international incident here, but this is going to get heated. Are you prepared for what Oilers fans can be and do?

Mayor Trantalis: Well, it’s already hot here so we’re ready for it… at the end of the game, at the end of the day, we’re all friends – we want to see our team succeed and we’re hopeful the Panthers are going to win. We’re looking forward to their success.

We appreciate being able to have this competition with the Edmonton Oilers. They’re a great team, they have great players and we know that they’re going to be very fierce competition. We’re not assuming anything but the community here is backing the Panthers. Attendance is a fever pitch. The excitement is there.

We welcome the Oilers and their fanbase to come to Fort Lauderdale and enjoy what we have here – our beautiful beaches, our sunny weather… it’s a little bit different from Edmonton. I think they’ll really enjoy their visit here even when they lose the first two games – but that’s okay. We’re going to be great hosts to everybody and I think that whoever travels down here is going to have a great experience.

Kent: If the Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup in Florida, I’m going to be looking for you in the background of the celebrations, okay?

Mayor Trantalis: I’ll be there.

Kent: You have a full invitation to join us on CTV Morning Live when we are celebrating the cup victory in Edmonton. Thanks so much for joining us – we appreciate the warm welcome from Florida.

Mayor Trantalis: Thank you.

The Edmonton Oilers will play the Florida Panthers on Saturday at 6 p.m.