from Aric Dilalla of the Miami Herald,

Attendance is up 33.5 percent from last season, and season ticket renewals are reportedly flowing in at four or five times last year’s rate.

Yet while Jagr continues to pour in goals, the Panthers might be getting just as much help from the men upstairs.

Vinnie Viola and Doug Cifu, who manage Virtu Financial in New York, bought the team in 2013 for what’s believed to be less than $200 million. In the years since, they have repeatedly proved the value of ownership in professional sports.

“When we got here, people were like, ‘What are these two crazy guys from Wall Street, from New York, (doing) coming down to Florida?’” Cifu said.

“People were suspicious. ‘Are they gonna move the team? Are they carpetbaggers? They’re New Yorkers. They’re Wall Street guys. They’re up to something.’ And we were very consistent from Day One saying we have no agenda other than to win in South Florida. That’s all we wanted to do, believe us.”

Perhaps against the odds, their plan seems to be working.

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