Who on the Island is the most loyal, and loudest, fan of the back-to-back Stanley Cup winning Florida Panthers?

The answer might surprise some.

For longtime Key Biscayne resident Manny Cambó, hockey wasn’t an obvious passion, it was a discovery, an awakening. Raised in a Cuban-American household where sports meant football and basketball, Cambó says the first time he stepped into an ice hockey game, everything changed.

“It was a 1982 Washington Capitals game … I went to one game and realized there’s a whole world out there,” said Cambó, a former University of Maryland student and Belen Jesuit quarterback.

Cambó had long been in love with football but after that night, something shifted.

“It’s the most incredible sport (to watch) live,” he said.

When asked about his favorite Panthers hockey game, Cambó, who was raised on Key Biscayne by Cuban immigrant parents Roberto and Teresita Cambó, did not hesitate.

“It was a game against the Boston Bruins,” he recalled. “Aleksander Barkov scored a goal with 1.43 left in the game and we went on to win in overtime. At that point I said ‘Oh my God this is it’ again. I sensed it … I knew that they were coming for glory.”

The next day, Cambó called the Panthers sales team. He got tickets for the remainder of the season and his multi-year season ticket holding streak began.

Hockey, for Cambó, is unmatched.

“It’s the most exciting and difficult sport I’ve seen in my life,” he said. “The flow of basketball, the violence of a contact sport like football or rugby, and the speed.”

Cambó tried it once himself, sort of.

“I got on skates once, they were rollerblades, and we played with a ball at the CVS parking lot (it wasn’t CVS back then,” he said. “I realized I can never do this again, I’m gonna end up on my back.”

Cambó is now a regular at the Amerant Arena and is easily spotted.

“I kind of stand out cause everyone’s with a baseball cap and I wear that infamous fedora every time,” he said. “I come out on these national broadcasts unbeknownst to me until I start receiving pictures of people’s televisions.’”

Though the Panthers have drawn a mostly Broward crowd, Cambó notes a growing Hispanic presence. “You hear more ‘¡Vamos Gatos!’ in the arena now,” said Cambó, whose favorite player is Carter Verhaeghe. “That campaign’s working.”

Cambó’s son Mathew, an attorney, invited him to his first Panthers game, and since then it’s become a family affair. He’s even started to go with his daughter, Una, who began as a Miami Heat fan when he held season tickets for the team. Raised on Dolphins season tickets in the ‘70s, Manny now shares the legacy with his kids.

“Being a season ticket holder, you’re like a family member of the team,” he said. “You’re really into the nuances, the gossiping, the stuff that goes on between the players.”

Others on the island have become Panthers fans because of Manny

One of them is Gabriel Marin, manager at The Golden Hog.

“I used to accompany Manny to the games early on and got hooked,” Marin said as he proudly showed a picture of his 6-month-old daughter Paloma Rose wearing a Florida Panthers jersey.

For Cambó, hockey is more than a sport, it’s about identity, catharsis and connection.

“When I was a kid, I went to Miami International just to see the Dolphins come back from a game,” he said. “Now, at 60, I get to feel that again. Coming from Cuban immigrant parents, it’s mind-boggling happiness that only sport can bring you.”

So his message for those unfamiliar with hockey?

“If you really want to enjoy yourself, go to a Panthers game,” he said. “If you wanna pay the extra money, be in the lower bowl so you can really hear the plexiglass shake.”

To listen to the entire interview with Manny Cambó, click here.