Florida Everblades - History

History

The team was founded in 1998, when current GM Craig Brush was inspired to bring a minor-league hockey team to Southwest Florida while reading a free copy of a National Geographic magazine that featured articles on the Florida Everglades. The team's name derives from the former Kentucky Thoroughblades AHL franchise.

The Everblades' logo features a gator-head design fused in the form of an ice skate. Barnstorm Creative Group, a Vancouver graphic design company designed the logo. Barnstorm was contacted by Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, who came up with the idea of choosing the Everblades colors as blue and green, in tribute to the Hartford Whalers team that Karmanos moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. The Everblades' inaugural home opener featured a pre-game ceremony in which a large alligator was brought onto the ice to pay tribute to the team's name and logo, as well as Florida's vast population of reptile species. The Everblades won their first Kelly Cup on May 23, 2012 against the Las Vegas Wranglers. Brandon MacLean scored the Championship-winning-goal in overtime during Game 5. Everblades goaltender, John Muse, was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

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