Wayne Huizenga Passes Away

     Original Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers H. Wayne Huizenga passed away on Friday at the age of 80. His last public appearance was on January 19 when the Panthers retired the number 37 jersey in his honor and raised a banner prior to their game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
     Huizenga made Miami a major sports city by bringing Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League to the region. South Florida was awarded a MLB franchise in June 1991. The team played their first regular season game in April 1993 against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Joe Robbie Stadium.
     The club became the fastest to win a World Series as they captured the title in just their fifth season which was in 1997. He sold the team to John Henry in 1999.
     The Panthers came as a general surprise as the National Hockey League awarded Huizenga an expansion franchise at The Breakers in Palm Beach on December 10, 1992. The team played their first regular season game at Chicago Stadium against the Blackhawks and faced the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first home game at Miami Arena in October 1993. The club set a NHL record with the most points by a first-year NHL franchise with 83 points in 1993-94. The team won the Eastern Conference title in 1995-96 as they beat the Penguins in seven games. They fell to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Finals.
     Florida moved to a new arena in Sunrise to begin the 1998-99 season. Huizenga sold his majority share of the Panthers in 2002 to Alan Cohen and became a silent minority owner for several years.
     Huizenga was also the owner of the Miami Dolphins. He had a minority stake in the team in 1990 when the family of Joe Robbie was the majority owner. Huizenga eventually became the lone owner of the Dolphins in 1993 when he bought the remaining shares of the club from the Robbie family. The Fins did reach the AFC Championship game in 1992 with Dan Marino as quarterback and lost to the Buffalo Bills.
     The Dolphins under Huizenga had Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wandstedt and Nick Saban as head coaches. He sold 50 percent of the team to Stephen Ross in 2008 and another 45 percent to him in 2009.