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The Florida Panthers and their bizarre “Spacey in Space” sweatshirt given to the team’s best player each night has been taken to another level. Actor Kevin Spacey, who has been aware of the Panthers’ player of the game award since they started handing it out, has become the team’s unofficial mascot this season. The Academy Award winner is enjoying his part in all of it, too.

He enjoyed it enough to actually make it down for a game after teasing a potential visit with videos posted to Twitter for just over a month. Saturday night, the movie star was in Sunrise to watch the Panthers take on the Detroit Red Wings.

The Panthers also handed out “Spacey Face” masks to the fans in attendance Saturday night. While the team never officially announced that Spacey would be there, word had gotten around through the local papers and social media that the actor would be in town and he was.

So in the middle of the tight game at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Spacey had his own mask in front of his face before pulling it away to reveal himself.

Celebrities are used to attention, but this is probably the first time a sold-out stadium cheered wildly and gave Spacey a standing ovation. So of course Spacey soaked it in, starting with a wry smile before standing up and raising his arms victoriously.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, Spacey wasn’t exactly the good luck charm they were hoping he’d be. They ended up giving up four unanswered goals over the last two periods to drop a 5-3 decision to the Red Wings.

He did meet up with the team after the game though and clearly enjoyed the whole experience:

Thank you @flapanthers and all the fans for such a wonderful welcome tonight

A photo posted by Kevin Spacey (@kevinspacey) onMar 19, 2016 at 7:11pm PDT

The team did also set a regular-season attendance record Saturday night with Spacey in Space in Sunrise:

The Panthers should expect to see large crowds in the building a little more regularly very soon. They’re currently in first place in the Atlantic and a virtual lock to make the playoffs for just the second time since 1999-2000.

Attendance has actually been on the rise all year in South Florida. Having a good hockey team helps, but having one that includes a living legend like Jaromir Jagr, a big-name goalie in Roberto Luongo and a host of young players that bring a lot of excitement to the ice like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad and Vincent Trocheck is even better. They're taking full advantage of what this group is bringing to the table on the business side, too.

The Panthers were dead last in the league last year with an average of 11,265 spectators per game. This year, they’re drawing an average of 15,198. That’s a 35 percent increase, which is a stunning year-to-year turnaround no matter the sport.

Even without Spacey, this has been a pretty incredible year for the Panthers and it only seems to get more interesting and fun by the day. Now we’ll have to see if this club can make any noise in the playoffs and take things to another level.

Kevin Spacey took the Panthers' Spacey in Space phenomenon to another level. (USATSI)
Kevin Spacey took the Panthers' Spacey in Space phenomenon to another level. (USATSI)