Despite downpour, Panthers fans revel in championship glory at Fort Lauderdale parade

Gabby Kiger has patiently waited for the Florida Panthers to clinch the NHL’s top honor since attending her first game at age 9.

Now, decades later, 34-year-old Kiger made sure she was among the thousands celebrating the Panthers’ Stanley Cup win on Sunday along A1A in Fort Lauderdale. She even coordinated an outfit for the occasion.

When the Panthers were up 3-0 in the finals, Kiger ordered a silver dress from Amazon. She wore it at the parade, with her body also covered in glitter. Kiger also had a silver mixing bowl on her head, which glistened with every move.

“The process was decades of planning and preparation and dreaming and fantasizing about this moment...” she said. “It just feels like everything we’ve ever wanted coming to fruition.”

READ MORE: Cats take over the beach: Panthers celebrate first Stanley Cup with historic parade

As a child, Kiger and her family made the two hour drive from Vero Beach to attend Panthers games in Broward. She now lives in Sunrise — and headed to the Amerant Bank Arena last Monday for Game 7.

READ MORE: ‘The Cup is here.’ Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup celebration was 30 years in the making

Bill Peters, 42, and more than 20 other members of the Lauderdale Yacht Club congregated in the crowded Hooters overlooking the parade. Some poked their head out the windows while others stood on chairs. They shouted in unison when Matthew Tkachuk appeared in the parade’s procession.

Peters, who attended almost every home game this season, witnessed the Panthers’ historic win in person. But for him, the Panthers clinching the Stanley Cup was more than a triumph.

Peters has been a Panthers fan since he moved to Broward in 2006. He said the victory is cause for celebration for all of South Florida, which hasn’t had a pro team win a title since the Miami Heat took home the NBA championship in 2013.

“Game 7 almost gave me a heart attack,” he quipped.

“Tkachuk going into the water?” Hill said. “That was the grand finale.”