WILTON MANORS, FLA. (WSVN) – Every year, new names are etched into the Stanley Cup, and now, some fans are showing their Panther pride on their bodies in their own special, permanent way.
Fans are celebrating the team’s historic back-to-back Cups, wasting no time to commemorate the history-making repeat victories and getting the massive achievement permanently tattooed.
C.J. Ugarte, an experienced South Florida tattoo artist, has been creating Panthers tattoos since last year’s Cup victory, and got right back to work at Electric Street Tattoo in Wilton Manors following the Cats’ victory Tuesday night.
Ugarte said he has a unique “embroidery-style” to his work, a craft he’s been perfecting since he began in 2008, that makes his tattoos appear as if they were stitched.
The unique style exploded in popularity after last year’s massive win for the Panthers.
“Since we won the Stanley Cup last year, it’s been a full, long year of me just doing Panther tattoos, embroidery-style and other styles, mostly embroidery, and I already have a bunch lined up next week, and I’m looking forward to doing another year of Panther tattoos. Let’s go Cats!” said Ugarte.
J.C. Crespo was one of those fans who came to Ugarte for a championship tattoo in 2024. A year later, he came back to Ugarte to get a vital update.
J.C. and his son, Jason, have been fans of the Panthers since the start, and he made a promise to get the tattoo if they ever won the Cup.
“Since the beginning, since ’93, me and my oldest son used to drive down to the Miami Arena. We had season tickets down there,” he said. “So I’ve been a lifelong Panther fan. I mean, I’ve been through the 30 years of misery. If you’re a Panther fan, you know what we’ve been through.”
An expert at the art, Ugarte updated J.C.’s tattoo, featuring the Stanley Cup and a rat wearing a Panthers jersey. The cup got an updated engraving on the cup to include 2025 underneath 2024.
After getting his tattoo updated, it was Jason’s turn to get his updated. He said he’s following through on a big bet.
“I have season tickets and, at the beginning of the season last year, we made a bet with each other, when the Panthers win the Stanley Cup, we’d come and get tattoos,” he said.
Jason’s tattoo, featuring the Stanley Cup in front of the sun and a cross made with a hockey stick and a palm tree, is also getting the engraving on the trophy updated to include 2025.
Ugarte credited the Panthers’ 2024 championship for bringing more customers, even being overwhelmed the moment after the franchise won its first-ever championship.
“Last year, a little bit before the final game, I had a few Panther fans scheduled to get their embroidery tattoo and, as soon as we won, they all pushed their appointments up as soon as possible, and it just kind of spiraled out of hand and, I mean, everyone was knocking on the door, trying to get a Panthers tattoo,” said Ugarte.
Ugarte said, so far, 2025 has been no different. Just two days since the Panthers clinched the Cup, he’s done more than 20 tattoos, all with different styles.
Ugarte said he’s offering fans who got a tattoo done by him last year the chance to get it updated for 2025 at his shop for free.
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