Jesse Bélanger was behind the wheel of his truck, en route to the Saguenay, when he kindly delved into his memories of pucks and palm trees and Bermuda shorts.

We remember this former striker from Beauce because he was in the magical spring of 1993 for the CH, but we may remember him a little less as a pioneer of hockey in Florida. And yet, it’s true: Jesse Bélanger was part of the very first incarnation of the Florida Panthers, during the 1993-94 season.

He had even been the team’s second scorer!

“A gang of unprotected guys in the expansion draft,” he laughs at the end of the handset. But we had a not worse club like this. I remember that season, we missed the playoffs by one point…”

That’s right. In their first season in life, the Panthers had indeed missed the playoff table by only one point, and they had taken the opportunity to overtake a few clubs that were a little more talented in the standings, including the Quebec Nordiques.

A rather astonishing journey from an expansion club, which had not benefited from favorable rules at the time, unlike Vegas and Seattle more recently.

Also, the 1993 Panthers weren’t exactly luxurious.

“It was not possible to train at our match arena, the Miami Arena, so every morning, we had to go train further to Pompano, recalls Bélanger. Then we went to a hotel not too far from the arena while waiting for the game to start.

“Everything was different, and our arena was also different. It was in Miami, in a neighborhood that was said to be dangerous… When we had to get out of there after the games, there were police officers on every street corner who told us where to go. I would tell you that it was not my habit to linger in that part of town! »

But there weren’t all bad things about hockey in South Florida, especially when it came time to go to morning practices in the middle of January. “That was the big change… For a guy from Beauce, going to training in bermuda shorts and flip flops in the middle of winter was quite different! »

Despite this unsavory arena and neighborhood, despite the relative anonymity that plagued the club in its early days and even later too, 30 years later, the Florida Panthers are still there. With the difference that they are now skating in a more affluent neighborhood in Sunrise, and with the difference that they are finally winning to the point of taking part in the second final of their existence.

Jesse Bélanger is not so surprised.

“Even in our early years in the old arena in Miami, there were people coming to our games… We often saw people from Quebec; I remember, when the Canadian came to play against us, I recognized people from Beauce in the stands! So we always had a good audience.

“At the same time, I’ve watched Panthers games on TV for the past few seasons, and I’ve seen empty benches on the screen. But the club is still there. The Panthers invited us guys from the first season to the club’s 25th anniversary, and I can see that they are now playing in a nice arena…at least, compared to ours! »

Jesse Bélanger will therefore be a very attentive viewer when the Stanley Cup Finals begin in Vegas on Saturday night, between the Golden Knights and the Panthers. Firstly because he remains a Panthers fan after all these years, but also because he himself played hockey in the desert, having been a member of the Las Vegas Thunder of the defunct International League, in the late 1990s.

“We were playing in front of about 3,000 or 4,000 people in an old arena when I was there,” he recalls. I thought it was weird when the National League awarded an expansion club to Vegas a few years ago, I thought that wasn’t going to work out…but ultimately it seems to be going well! »