Congratulations to the Lightning!
Hey, I may have had Dallas Stars season tickets for 7 years or so (and will continue to do so), but I am sitting here watching the Tampa Bay Lightning skate the Cup on ABC, and it still gives me goose bumps. It is the greatest trophy in sports, the hardest championship to win, and the greatest celebration when it has been won.
Extra special congratulations to Brad Lukowich and Darryl Sydor (both former Stars) who get to put their name on the Cup (again, in the case of Sydor).
I’m jealous of the fans of Tampa Bay, who got to see their heroes win the Cup at home. I’ve never been so lucky. Dallas won it on the road in ‘99, and then I saw New Jersey win it live the following year, in Dallas. The strange thing is, I will be in Tampa tomorrow… missed trying to drop a LOT of money to get into the arena to watch this spectacle by one night.
Tampa is a young team, and has the potential to be good for a very long time. Let’s just hope their is some hockey next year for them to potentially dominate. I don’t think much of Gary Bettman, and if it is his watch that sees a very long work stoppage, I hope it is the end of his tenure. (Wow, I look back on that, and I think, “If this is a blog, shouldn’t I be cussing or something?” Maybe I’ll work up to that.)
I’d also like to congratulate the Calgary Flames, they had a terrific run that no one expected them to make, and they handled the whole playoffs and the final game like winners.
I promise, I’ll try to come up with something controversial, that I can cuss about, later.
Well, I am in Tampa now, and WOW are these folks excited! It’s good to see people getting excited about hockey. The parade is tomorrow, and they are planning to completely shut the area around the arena down for the celebration. Every radio station is running liners, they already have the t-shirts for sale in the airport (less than 24 hours after they skated the cup around their home ice). It’s cool. Hopefully the Stars will be able to do it again soon.