The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a truly magnificent time of the year. Sprinkle over the fact that last year no fans were in attendance, and hockey fans are especially grateful to be allowed back in arenas to experience the greatest sports playoffs around.
(Sorry Canada, we miss seeing you fans in the arenas down here in the US.)
Fathers and sons that enjoy the beautiful game sometimes make for the absolutely most memorable moments ever. Flash back to the Washington Capitals Stanley Cup win and you’ll see one of those moments happening live. Tears. Raw unfiltered emotion between a father and son sharing what is surely an unforgettable moment.
Thanks to the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise, a moment like that was sullied and taken away from a father and son at game six against the Florida Panthers. To set the scene, a father and son were approached at their seats and told they had two choices. Remove their Panthers jerseys, or leave their $400 seats. That’s right. Leave the seats because the boohoo Lightning franchise didn’t want Panthers jerseys to be seen on camera. Oh, you can’t really see the crowd during play? There are tarps draped over the first 15 to 20 rows? Oh, that’s wild. So what else is the explanation Tampa? There isn’t one.
It’s mind blowing to see a Panthers jersey at a Tampa Bay game, I know. Wait. You mean Tampa Bay and the FLORIDA Panthers are interstate rivals? Which means fans from both franchises just might be in attendance for all games? Phew, that’s absolutely mind boggling eh?
If you needed a reason to dislike Tampa Bay outside of their obvious finessing of the salary cap, enjoy this story. For a league that has struggled with being all inclusive, albeit they are working towards changing that, telling someone they don’t belong because of the team they are choosing to support seems a bit oxymoronic right Lil Gary?
The Morning Skate 