Gabrielle Russon
A self-proclaimed nerd, Ryan Wood isn’t much of a sports fan. But he found himself closely following the Florida Panthers’ championship-winning run.
On Wood’s mind? It was all about the Legos.
The Legoland Florida master builder was on deadline to finish a Panthers hockey tribute made with more than 4,000 Lego bricks that’s now on display at the Winter Haven theme park.
“When they won that night, the next morning we were quickly able to polish everything off and have it out before guests came in our park at 10 that morning,” Wood said in an interview with Florida Politics.
The scene features hockey players in Panthers colors, cheerleaders and a “Go Panthers!” scoreboard. Included are some cheeky Easter eggs like the fake rats that fans are known for tossing onto the ice.
Legoland’s latest addition to its MiniLand USA is getting a buzz on social media.
“This is the BEST!!” the Panthers’ official account posted in response to pictures.
Across Florida are moments of celebration like this to honor the South Florida team clinching the Stanley Cup.
Democratic Sens. Lauren Book and Jason Pizzo urged Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare this Sunday Florida Panthers Day as the team holds a community celebration in Broward County.
Wood talked about the behind-the-scenes effort to pay homage to the Panthers. The Legoland team paused the other projects they were working on to build the hockey scene, which took 20 hours spread over several weeks.
Wood speaks matter-of-factly about the project that was relatively tame compared to the more elaborate giant pieces Legoland builders are sometimes working on.
“Our master builders have been doing this for so long that when they look at a person, they can see how they would build that person as a (Lego),” said Wood, a lifelong Lego fan who won his master builder job at Merlin Entertainments during a Lego competition. “And because we’re so well-stocked in the model shop, they can just grab the pieces they need right away to crank out.”
Super Bowl winners famously go to Disney World.
Wood mused: Maybe the Stanley Cup winners could come to Legoland?
