The same day, Cats fans took to the comment section to express their displeasure, setting off a barrage of homophobic comments on the post telling the team to focus on winning the Stanley Cup, rather than making statements supporting Pride.
"Let's focus on our Cup 🐆❤️🔥 , not on this disgust 👊 ! Vamos Gatos !" one user wrote.
"Everyone's dropping this woke agenda. Let's stop," another chimed in.
"Stand up to this nonsense. We're a hockey organization," another commenter wrote.
One user even made it the governor's business, tagging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the comments. "Dear Governor @rondesantis @flgovrondesantis, we Floridians are tired of being a Woke State in sports!!" they wrote.
This isn't the first time the Panthers have received hateful messages over the team's support for the LGBTQ+ community. In January, after the Panthers revealed bright yellow jerseys for its annual Pride Night, fans (er, haters?) took to social media to throw their shade, one even going as far as calling the jerseys an "Abomination against God" and commanding the team to "repent."
While many comments on Sunday's post criticized the Panthers, plenty of others supported them, explicitly criticizing fans for their vitriol.
"Comment section sucks, wow! Happy Pride month everyone 🏳️🌈 & let's go Cats 🐾 🏒 🐀," one user wrote.
"Nobody tell the comments section the Panthers have been holding pride nights since 2013," another wrote.
"Geez I thought the comments would be better than the average NFL comment section. Happy pride, go Cats🏳️🌈🐀," one commenter said.
Amid the backlash, one fan put team spirit above all: "I'll kiss a dude if it leads to the Cats winning another Stanley Cup," he declared, proving love for the Panthers comes in all forms.
The Panthers are gearing up for their first Stanley Cup Finals game against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, June 4. Fans are no doubt hoping for a bitter repeat of last year's finals, in which the Panthers defeated the Oilers in seven games and won their first Stanley Cup.
