Lightning Crashes: Washington vs Tampa Bay

So about a MONTH ago, I went to a game in Tampa Bay. My friend Sandy and I put her kids in the van and headed down to the Sunshine State for some hockey. I’m always up for going to another barn. When that barn is in Florida, that is always a plus. Tampa Bay was taking on the Washington Capitals. I was excited about seeing some of their superstars as well. It’s been horrible going from seeing super stars several times a week with 41+ games to seeing super stars several times a SEASON.

The Tampa Bay Times Forum is amazing. It’s by the water and they have a large court yard where they have activities for fans before they go into the arena. They have merchandise out as well. Tampa Bay’s merchandise was the highest priced stuff I’ve seen yet. I ended up waiting and getting a Stamkos shirt from Walmart.



Warm ups


This lovely lady is quite smitten with Marty. Maybe she has 15 minutes and wants him to save her some money on car insurance.



You can see Hedman's large port wine birthmark here. I think it's kind of cool because it actually looks like a lightning bolt.



Captain Vinny



Victor Hedman



Stammer time! Stephan Stamkos, the goal leader in the NHL at the moment.



Swarm the Rollie.



Rollie making sure there are not pucks left.



Tampa Bay's building and fan experience is pretty cool. This is their pipe organ.



Druing the national anthem, they pass a giant flag around.



Can't argue with the cup!



And then there is this...REAL LIGHTNING! At the beginning of the game, when they score and for the 3 Stars of the Game, they fire up the Tesla coils and there is real lightning. Very cool!



On to the game

St. Louis peeks around Mike Green.

This disgusting prick. Tampa Bay Forum does NOT sell sunflower seeds. I guess this guy can't live without them because he brought his own. Then, he proceeded so spit the hulls all over the floor. Classy.

I'm not sure what Green did, but Ryan Malone went batshit crazy over him. He had crazy eyes and clearly wanted to remove his head from his body.

It's a team of St. Louis!



Um okay. Always good to see a Thrashers jersey, just a little unexpected.



Another cool thing in Tampa Bay, they have a zamboni that several fans get to ride!



Action in front of Garon.



That's one damn sexy face off!



Ryan Malone hanging out in front of the crease.



Tampa Bay has douche bags, too. I swear the mobile phone is a great invention of convenience and safety, but it's turned us into a society of douche bags.



Semin is known for diving, usually not in his team's crease.



Laich cruising around.



Tampa Bay don't play around with their version of Cotton Eye Joe.



They have a real fiddle player come down and play it!



The Bolts try and get another goal. Not to worry though, Tampa Bay wins!



How cool is this? On game night, Sun Trust bank shows Bolt support.

The Beginning of the End

I've struggled with this issue a lot, but I'm pulling the plug on this blog. I just don't have it in me any more. I thought I could just post about the few games a season I went to and maybe some big updates around the league, but I can't. It just doesn't bring me the joy it once did. This blog has brought me a lot of happiness. I've met a lot of good people and made some great friends. It thrills me to no end that people enjoyed this blog.

I have pictures from a Tampa Bay game I went to a month ago I will try to get around to. I'm going to the Winnipeg/Preds game on March 24. I will blog those. I will try and do a few last "best of" posts. Then I will make the final post. The blog will still be around, amazingly I get almost 100 hits a day, but will not be updated. It is with great sadness that I make this decision. Yet something else the Atlanta Spirit has robbed me of.

So, suggestions? What were favorite posts? What "best of" type posts would you like to see?