ORLANDO, Fla. (CBS12) — Evan Rodrigues knows the Florida Panthers have something special on their hands.

The Panthers are at the center of the NHL universe as the defending Stanley Cup champions. They’ve advanced to the past three Stanley Cup Finals and posted the most points during the 2021-22 NHL season. It’s a remarkable accomplishment for a warm-weather region that historically was not known as a hockey town. Considering the recent success of the franchise, it is now known as a hockey town.

“They’re passionate, just like anywhere else in the country,” says Rodrigues in a one-on-one interview. “It’s really funny. I got two younger boys who are both playing hockey, and been around all the local rinks around here. The difference from my first year to even this past month is insane. The the amount of kids that are playing in the rinks are always packed, especially youth hockey.”

The Ontario-born Rodrigues has a deep history of playing in hockey-obsessed areas. The 32-year-old signed with the Panthers in the summer of 2023 after spending the first portion of his career with teams such as the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. He also spent his collegiate years at Boston University.

He has first-hand seen the growth of the Panthers fan base not only since joining the team in 2023, but since his NHL debut in 2015.

“The amount of learn to plays and learn to skates and all that stuff, they’re all getting wait-listed or full,” says Rodrigues. “They can’t find enough ice for youth hockey. “That’s what you want. You want to grow the game. I think it’s exploding. It’s going to be a hockey hotbed, per se. You have a lot of people from the Northeast who are huge hockey fans that are moving down here and it’s going to become a big hockey market.”

Rodrigues details how historically, a lot of hockey athletes who grew up in Florida would have to leave to go up north to Minnesota or Boston to continue to develop. He doesn’t believe that’ll be the case anymore with the South Florida hockey market exploding in popularity.

“A lot of kids who would grow up in Florida would have to leave at 13 or 14 years old, and move to Minnesota, Boston, places like that, to continue to try to develop,'” says Rodrigues. “I don’t think you’re going to have that anymore. I think you’re going to have a lot of people coming down here, staying down here, and I think with the next generation of hockey players, I think you’re gonna see quite a few come from the state of Florida.”

The veteran winger recently celebrated his day with the Stanley Cup by taking his family — his wife and three kids — to Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orlando. During the previous year, Rodrigues celebrated the cup in Boston and had a big party. This time around, it was more of a “tight-knit” group.

“I think that was our biggest thing is we just wanted to have a day that would stick in people’s minds,” says Rodrigues. “I thought we accomplished that. It made for our minds, a pretty, pretty perfect day.”