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Florida Panthers, with help from NHL, push to grow hockey in Latino communities
The spark in Leo Jungerman’s eyes when he watched his first hockey game was different.
He’d tried other sports like soccer and tennis, his father Alex said. But a hockey game featuring the Toronto Marlies — the Toronto Maple Leafs’ minor league team — is where an 8-year-old Leo’s love truly began for the sport.
“When we were watching the game, I spent a big chunk of the time looking at him,” Alex Jungerman said, “and it was kind of fascinating. So when he expressed interest in trying the game, I jumped right in.”
Alex, who had moved his family from Brazil to Florida that year in 2015, started looking for youth hockey programs for Leo, who knew nothing about hockey and couldn’t even skate.
That’s when he came across the Florida Panthers Learn to Play initiative — a program designed to introduce boys and girls to hockey while reducing barriers to entry for the sport. It’s part of the Panthers’ overall effort to grow the game in untapped communities, particularly the rapidly growing Hispanic market.
Almost 30% of Floridians are Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, higher than the national average of about 19%. There are more than 500,000 Hispanic residents in Broward County, Florida, where the Panthers’ Amerant Bank Arena is located. That number increases to more than 1.7 million in neighboring Miami-Dade, Florida’s most populous county.
“The demographic makeup in Florida certainly expresses an interest that it’s extremely important to connect to the Latino community,” said Rob Knesaurek, the NHL’s senior vice president of community development and industry growth. “They’re deeply rooted in sports. Why wouldn’t they pick our sport?”
Knesaurek added the NHL is more intentional in popularizing the sport in Latino communities, where the league hasn’t been traditionally proactive. That started with league-wide efforts to connect with Hispanic fans as well as those in underserved communities, and it trickles down to grassroots initiatives by individual teams.
The NHL and NHL Player’s Association’s industry growth fund has spent more than $180 million over the past decade on programs that bring hockey to communities across North America. It focuses largely on combating the barriers of access and cost.
Through the fund, many clubs can offer a fixed, affordable amount for equipment and lessons — some offer them for free — and coaches who speak both Spanish and English.
Alex Jungerman estimated he spent around $300 for the Panthers’ Learn to Play program. Leo got full equipment, including skates and six lessons, to start his hockey journey.
Instructors could translate hockey lingo to the Jungermans. Leo said the Panthers made him feel welcomed, especially in moments when learning hockey felt scary.
“There were several times I wanted to quit, especially because of the skating,” Leo said, “like you’re balancing your whole body weight on two little edges. It’s hard to learn.”
He stuck with it. Now at 16, he’s on Florida’s Junior Panthers travel hockey team.
“Leo’s just a perfect example of a family that could have easily walked away from this if they didn’t feel welcomed or part of this,” said John Colombo, the Panthers’ vice president of community relations. “And I think that’s important. I think too often hockey culture gets that reputation of being very exclusive.”
Overall, the NHL said over $4 million in industry growth fund grants have been given to support the Panthers’ initiatives to grow the game.
The team’s floorball PE program has reached over 300,000 students across 450 schools in Florida — introducing kids to the sport and the Panthers’ brand with the goal of creating lifelong fans.
The Panthers during the season hold a “¡Vamos Gatos!” night, which celebrates South Florida’s Hispanic and Latino community. They’ve hosted the LATAM Cup — a three-day tournament featuring Latin American and Caribbean countries — since its inception in 2018. And they’ve also expanded into the entertainment arena, inviting more Hispanic and Latino artists to perform at Amerant Bank Arena. The arena hosted the Latin Billboard Music Awards in 2020 and Latin American Music Awards in 2021.
“(We) are not looking for the next NHLer,” Knesaurek said. “What we are looking for is to build good, healthy, vibrant communities through good citizens.”
The Panthers recent success on the ice has certainly helped with their popularity. Florida has a 3-1 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, which the Panthers are competing in for the second straight year.
“The popularity of the sport and how the team has progressed over the last three or four years, I think you’re going to see an uptick,” said Bryan Smolinski, a former NHL player and regional director with the league’s industry growth fund.
Hispanic and Latino participation in Florida’s Learn to Play program increased 15% from 2023 to 2024.
Leo Jungerman was featured on the team’s first Learn to Play poster from 2015. The Jungermans have that poster displayed at the entrance of their home as a reminder of how far he’s come.
“We make sure that everyone that comes to the house for the first time, we stop them from in front of the poster. We explain the story,” Alex Jungerman said. “We are really proud.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was punched in the face after pulling over a van on Interstate 95 in Brevard County near the Indian River County line, according to FHP.
Traffic cameras showed a large law enforcement presence along I-95 near the 166-mile marker on Monday morning.
According to an FHP report, a trooper was conducting traffic enforcement in the southbound lane when he spotted a white 2007 Ford Transit van weaving in the center lane and nearly clipping a semi-tractor-trailer. When the trooper pulled the van over, all seven occupants bailed out of the passenger side and fled west into the nearby woods on foot.
The trooper made contact with one of the men — later identified as Luis Angel Gomez Lopez, 18, of Orlando — who also tried to run toward the woods, the report states.
After Gomez Lopez ignored repeated verbal commands to stop, the trooper deployed his department-issued Taser, striking Gomez Lopez in the back. Gomez Lopez kept resisting, and the trooper deployed a second Taser cycle. During the struggle, both Gomez Lopez and the trooper tumbled down an embankment, the report states.
While the trooper was trying to handcuff Gomez Lopez, Gomez Lopez struck the trooper with a closed fist on the right side of his face, the report states. The trooper was then able to gain control and place Gomez Lopez in handcuffs. A Brevard County deputy helped secure Gomez Lopez in the patrol unit.
Multiple agencies responded to help search for the six men who got away, including the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission K-9 unit, the BCSO Aviation Unit “STAR,” and the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office drone unit. All six suspects were not located, according to the report.
Gomez Lopez was evaluated on scene by Brevard County Fire Rescue, then transported to the hospital for medical clearance before being booked into Brevard County Jail.
He faces a felony charge of battery on a law enforcement officer and a misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer without violence, the report shows.
Anyone with information on the six suspects on the run is urged to call the Florida Highway Patrol.
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
Florida
South Florida officers sue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, claiming details in ‘The Rip’ are too real
Entertainment
“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case.
MIAMI (AP) — Two South Florida police officers claim Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s recent action thriller “The Rip” used too many real-life details in its fictionalized narrative, causing harm to the officers’ personal and professional reputations, according to a defamation lawsuit.
Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, sergeants in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court earlier this month against Artists Equity, a film production company owned by Affleck and Damon. Court filings don’t say how much the officers are suing for, but the civil complaint says they’re seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees, as well as a public retraction and correction.
“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case, where police found over $21 million linked to a suspected marijuana trafficker in a Miami Lakes home.
An attorney for Artists Equity declined to comment when reached Monday by The Associated Press. But in a March 19 response to the plaintiffs’ demand letter, Leita Walker, an attorney for Artists Equity, wrote that the film does not purport to tell the true story of that incident or portray real people, which had been stated by a disclaimer in the film’s credits.
Although Smith and Santana aren’t named in the film, the lawsuit claims that Santana was serving as the lead detective assigned to the real case, and Smith was the sergeant who supervised the investigative team. The film’s inclusion of real details about the case gives the impression that the characters are based on the plaintiffs, the suit said.
And this, the lawsuit claims, has given friends, family members and colleagues the impression that the plaintiffs committed the criminal acts that appear in the film, which include (SPOILER ALERT) conspiring to steal seized drug money, murdering a supervising officer, communicating with cartel members, committing arson in a residential neighborhood, endangering the lives of civilians, repeatedly violating core law-enforcement protocols and executing a federal agent rather than making an arrest.
Walker wrote in March that the plaintiffs haven’t even identified which particular character is supposed to be based on Smith or Santana, so even if “The Rip” was actually about a real-life narcotics team, there’s no way to connect any of the characters to the plaintiffs.
“The Rip,” directed by Joe Carnahan, debuted in January on Netflix. It’s currently rated 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
You’re watching the NBC6 South Florida News streaming channel, which plays local South Florida news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can find the “NBC6 South Florida News” streaming channel on your phone or computer, and on Peacock, Samsung, Roku, Xumo or on our app, so you can watch our local news on your schedule.
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