Background on the Florida Hockey "Panthers" Alliance:

Tier 1 Hockey in Our State
Tier 1 Hockey in Florida has been an ongoing challenge for SAHOF and a few of the stronger Florida Organizations. This season, SAHOF has made the decision to adopt a new policy regarding tier 1 Hockey in our State. The main factors affecting both FJP and SFGW programs are: SAHOF desires Tier 1 Hockey be more geographically based, limited to only three teams at any one level. SAHOF has also mandated that any interested program apply in writing for approval for tier 1 status and cannot publically announce a tier 1 program or conduct tryouts until the SAHOF Tier 1 Committee has reviewed all applications for Tier 1 and has granted tier 1 status to a program. Currently only 2 programs in State have been granted Tier 1 status these are: Florida Alliance and Everblades AAA.

Purpose of the Alliance
For years the Florida Jr. Panthers (FJP) and the South Florida Golden Wolves (SFGW) have been two of the premium organizations in the state, consistently winning States and sending teams to Districts and Nationals at Tier I & II. Both organizations have also helped send nearly 80 Florida raised hockey players onto various NCAA, OHL, USHL, NAHL, EJHL, AJHL and Prep teams.

In the past 5 years we’ve seen the FJP and SFGW field Tier I teams and have had limited success being that neither organization has truly been deep enough to compete and win against the top Tier I talent in the country. In doing so, both organizations have had healthy competition between each other raising the bar in the state and doing an excellent job developing the upper level Tier II players and the lower level Tier I players. However, we have seen both programs lose some of the top level Tier I talent to teams up north due to different reasons.

One of the big reasons the top level Tier I players are leaving the state is that they don’t feel adequately challenged playing in an over diluted Tier I state. It is now time to take the next step. With the FJP and the SFGW joining forces, we enable the top talent from both organizations to play together and develop to a higher level.

Impact on Jr Panthers and Golden Wolves Programs
Both the Florida JR. Panthers and the South Florida Golden Wolves will continue to operate as independent organizations. Each program will remain as a Tier 2 organization and will only field Tier 2 level teams for 2008-09 season. Either program may field “minor” tournament teams to compete in selected Tier 1 events. These teams must consist of all first year players and may not be National Tier 1 bound but may operate as National Tier 2 bound teams (pending approval by State League and SAHOF). No Mite or Squirt team shall be classified as a tier 1 team as per SAHOF guidelines. Both organizations and arenas have agreed to not allow independent Tier 1 teams to operate in its program or facility.