Well, hello, hello. Welcome to FL Teams. It's
Daria and Ken, or should I say Barbie and Ken?
That's more appropriate. Good one. Well, I can
see that you are all prepared even better than
I am. Well, I don't know about that. You've got
the nice mural and the nice screensaver behind
you there wearing the shirt. All I've got is
a hat. I do have my lightning shirt on, as you
can see. But I've got the championship banner
hanging behind me. I've got my lightning clock
on the wall. If I could pan, I don't want to
do that. But I have a puck collection on the
wall of the year they won the Stanley Cup. Every
playoff round, I'm a big puck collector. I probably
have 50 of just lightning pucks. And a lot of
lightning stuff in the house. Never miss a game.
Used to be a season ticket holder for about 10
years. Enjoyed that immensely. And I still love
hockey. It's my favorite winter sport. So my
life is centered around, hey, what time is the
game on? Not going anywhere tonight. 7 o 'clock.
We got a lightning game. Better figure something
out. So, yeah, it's great. Are you excited about
the stadium series that's coming to the area?
I am. It's been a long time coming. I've lived
in this area for about 15 years. And Tampa, it
does not matter if it's baseball related, football
related, hockey related. They always get the
short end of the stick. And everybody just wants
to crap on Tampa. Like they're not worthy. They're
not a big market city. That's the national media's
perspective. That's my perception of what they
think about Tampa. They never talk about how
great the Lightning are doing. It's always, oh,
well, look at Boston. Well, look what Detroit's
doing. And I don't know whether you watch the
national broadcast at all on TNT, NHL Network.
That Paul Bissonette, he's a homer for Toronto,
and he couldn't give two craps what the Lightning
are doing. It's just that kind of, mentality
that drives me crazy. Tampa's been deserving
of this for a long time. And it's not like this
is their first rodeo. They've hosted Super Bowls
at the stadium, college football championship
games. The NCAA Frozen Four has been here a couple
of times. They've hosted the NCAA Women's Basketball
Tournament. All these marquee events. And they
love Tampa. Once they're here, it's just time.
And I'm glad that Tampa is now getting their
chance to shine in the spotlight, you know, come
February 1st. It's going to be a great event.
Yeah, and where are you going to watch it? At
home or are you going to go to the stadium? No,
I did not secure tickets, so I will be in my
favorite recliner with my feet propped up with
an adult beverage, maybe a sandwich. I'll probably
do something like I do for the Super Bowl. Let's
get some pizza. wings, put a nice spread in the
living room, turn the TV on. I got a big 70 -inch
TV on the wall, so I won't miss a thing. I won't
miss a thing. I will be tuned in from start to
finish. That is for sure. Do you like the choice
of the team that we got? Because some people
were like, oh, we wish to see the Panthers or
someone who is more appropriate. I do like Boston.
Now, I'll tell you, Boston would have been my
fourth or fifth choice. I would have had the
Florida Panthers as the first choice because
the ratings for that would have been through
the roof. Those teams hate each other. And if
you've watched the Lightning Panthers play at
all this season, it was a bloodbath. It's like
you went to a boxing match and a hockey game
broke out, you know, something like that. The
Panthers would have been my first choice. I think
Detroit. Would have been second. Pittsburgh,
I've always had a soft spot for the Pens since
Mario Lemieux played for the Penguins. I think
that would have been my third choice. And then
after that, you know, you can pretty much flip
a coin. But the Lightning have had some good
games with Boston, some intense games, a couple
of playoff series in the years back. So it makes
sense. from that perspective. And they played
the Bruins. You know, there's a lot of Boston
fans that come into the area for the games. I
remember when I had season tickets, there was
an awful lot of Boston fans that filled up that
arena. But I think from a Detroit standpoint,
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Montreal, Toronto,
there are so many snowbirds that come to this
area in the wintertime. and go see the Lightning
when their favorite teams are here. And you could
have capitalized maybe on a team like that, you
know, with ticket sales and merch sales and,
you know, full hotel rooms instead of, you know,
a team like Boston. Not that it's terrible, but
I think the economic impact would have been a
bit greater if they would have had, you know,
a Montreal or Toronto or one of those other Northeast
teams where there's a lot of snowbirds in the
area. I like your choice, but what about, let's
say, the Carolina Hurricanes? They always complain
that the team doesn't get enough media coverage.
They don't. The Hurricanes do not get enough
coverage at all. I worked in the restaurant business
before I retired. And one of the areas I had
to go to for training was Raleigh, North Carolina.
We happened to go there in January. They received
maybe a quarter of an inch of snow, just a dusting.
They shut the city down. They shut the training
center down. And that night, the Hurricanes were
playing the Philadelphia Flyers. I went on over.
I walked up. I got a ticket, and I sat right
behind the bench. And the Hurricanes were a good
team then. I couldn't believe that there was
not more people there and there just wasn't more
enthusiasm for the franchise. That's been my
only experience with being in Carolina and seeing
a game. Of course, I've seen them numerous times
at the arena. I think one of the knocks on Carolina
is the style of hockey that they play. Sometimes
it's not the most entertaining style. It's boring.
Be honest. Yeah, boring. Yeah, absolutely. I'm
trying to be politically correct here. Okay,
I said it. But when the networks are looking
for a team to put up against the lightning, they're
wanting something that, okay. This is a wide
open team. They're wide open offensively. Very
good, solid goaltenders. The defense, you know,
is really good. We have a chance to see some
really good back and forth play. And Carolina
doesn't offer that. I will tell you that the
name of the game is winning. And Carolina has
done an awful lot of winning until they get to
the Eastern Conference Finals. And they have
to play, you know, the Florida Panthers or the
Lightning. The Lightning beat them a year when
they were... On their way to the Stanley Cup.
But that's my thing with Carolina. There's just
not a lot of jazz there. Not a lot of pizzazz.
Even though they're a very good team. Right now
we see so many decorations. The airport banners.
It's like all over the place. You probably don't
see it in your area. But how do you set the mood?
Do you feel that it's coming? The stadium series.
Yes. There's a sense of excitement. In a way,
it is like Christmas morning coming. The Super
Bowl is coming. There's that level of excitement.
For me, I look forward to the games, and this
is a big event. This is almost second, really,
behind the Stanley Cup final. You could make
a case that the All -Star game brings this same
kind of excitement to the area. When I was a
season ticket holder, they had the All -Star
game at, It was then Amelie Arena. And that was
a fabulous event that was put on. The skills
competition, all that stuff. So the outdoor series,
there's a lot of buzz generated nationally. It's
a marquee event. It's nationally televised. I
think it's the only game in that time slot on
the day or evening of the event. So from that
standpoint, yeah. Correct me if I'm wrong, but
I think your headwear is from the new collection,
right? It is. It is from the new collection.
A lot of people did not like the jerseys, the
hats, the colors or whatever. I love this hat.
I love the light blue. I love the TBL logoing.
I like the jersey. I don't think there's anything
wrong with it. So much. The originality only
goes for a certain point and then you start kind
of repeating yourself. Same color, same scheme.
I've seen some uniforms for special events that
were just god -awful. I don't know who designed
them. Like Nashville. They look like bumblebees
running around. They're all yellow, you know,
the pants and the jerseys. You know, when they
had the outdoor game up there. But it was. Yeah,
I like this. I bought a couple of t -shirts.
Bought some pucks. So I'm all in. Yeah, I like
the colors. And you got that up on your screen
there behind you. Yeah. If you don't mind, I'm
going to ask how much did you spend? Because
you said you got a few t -shirts, pucks. Yeah,
I spent. I think it was $80. Oh, it's not that
much. I got two pucks, two t -shirts, and I also
got the John Cooper special commemorative puck,
the 1 ,000 feet. I need it. I still don't have
it. Oh, my God. Thank you. Well, they only made
1 ,000 of them. That's all they're going to have.
When they sell them, they're done. So you better
go right now. Bye. Yeah. Get on the horn, girl,
and get down there and get your puck. But, yeah,
and free shipping. It was free shipping, so I
didn't pay anything for shipping, which is nice.
But yeah, got the three pucks total and the two
t -shirts. It was awesome. So you really like
it. How much are you willing to spend every year
on new collections? It depends on what it is.
Jerseys, not so much. If I do like a jersey,
I get it with no name on it. because players
come and go. And back in my younger days, I was
so tired of buying jerseys where the player was
here today, gone tomorrow. It's like, what am
I going to do with that jersey now? I guess I'll
wear it. But I buy a lot of T -shirts with the
different color schemes, the hats, the pucks.
That's probably it for the merchandise. I do
wear one. One jersey. And being a hockey aficionado,
I'm going to be really disappointed if you don't
recognize these names I'm going to throw out.
I was born and raised in Ohio. That's why I developed
my affinity for the Pittsburgh Penguins at a
young age. Back in those days, that was the closest
NHL team. Well, Cleveland got a team. It's a
long story, but they were the... I think the
California Golden Seals, and then they went to
Minnesota or something. North Stars. And then
they came to Cleveland for two years, two years
only. They were the Cleveland Barons. And I have
a regular Cleveland Barons jersey. They played
from 1976 to 1980. And if you remember the World
Hockey Association, that's where Wayne Gretzky
got his start with the Indianapolis Racers as
an 18 -year -old young man. The Cleveland Crusaders,
all purple jerseys. and a Crusader on the front.
They played in the WHA for four years, and I
have a Crusader's jersey. As far as retro jerseys
go and colors, those will always be one of my
two favorites because of the sentimental value
that they hold. You still have them, right? Oh,
yeah, absolutely. I'm not getting rid of those.
Nope. I may not be able to wear them, but they'll
look good hanging up on the wall. Do you get
them signed ever? No, no, I've never. Don't ruin
my jerseys. I paid for it. No, no, I've never
gotten a jersey signed. When I was a season ticket
holder, you can't wear the same jersey to every
game. You could, but I didn't want to. What is
their police that controls your fashion? Me.
I control my own fashion. So I had probably 10
different. 10 different Lightning jerseys. And
then once or twice a year, I would wear my Cleveland
Barons jersey. And I would get a lot of comments
on it just walking through the concourse. You
know, the older hockey fans would recognize it.
Same thing with the Crusaders. And the Florida
Gators have a hockey team. They don't play in
the NCAA. There's a couple different. for teams
that don't play at the Division I -A level. So
I got a Florida Gators hockey jersey with a big
gator on the front, and I used to wear that and
got a lot of comments on that. So I have a lot
of hockey jerseys. I have a Yamir Yager Pittsburgh
Penguins jersey, Mario Lemieux jersey, and, of
course, probably 10 to 15 Lightning jerseys,
all told. So were you ever a fan of the Columbus
Blue Jackets? I was. I'm glad you brought that
up. Now, I want to tell you, I'm dating myself,
but the Blue Jackets came in, I think it was
99, 2000, something like that. Might have been
their first season. I lived in a town called
Medina, Ohio. If you know anything about the
geography, Medina is a little bit west of Akron,
and Akron is about... Two hours north of Columbus.
That's where I was located geographically. They
blocked out the Columbus Blue Jackets games.
I could not get them because that was out of
the market. And I got the Pittsburgh Penguins
games all the time to watch. In Ohio. I couldn't
even watch for the first couple of years. And
then they changed things all around. But it was
the craziest thing. Absolutely mind -numbing
that here I want to root for a Columbus team
and I can't even watch the games. It's terrible.
But, yeah, I was a Blue Jacket fan. Rick Nash
was their first star player. And he's now in
the front office. He was the last time that...
I knew anything about that. But then they got
Fedorov. And they're another team that's really
struggled. They just can't seem to get a lot
of the right group of players together. They've
gone through coaches. They just fired their coach
a couple of weeks ago. They've gone through GMs.
And Columbus is a pretty good sports town. They
come out to support the Blue Jackets. Unfortunately,
they haven't. Had a lot to cheer about. The one
year they made, the two years I think they made
the playoffs, if I recall, they played against
Detroit. And that's when Detroit was, you know,
rolling and just mowing everybody down in their
way on the way to the cup or a deep playoff run.
And it was four and done. You know, thanks for
coming, guys. We'll see you next year. 4 -0 sweep
or 4 -1, something like that. But did you get
the time when Sergei Bobrovsky played there?
He came. The first goalie that they had was Ron
Tugnut, who came over from the Penguins. He was
the first goalie that I remember. I remember
Bobrovsky coming in, but I can't remember if
I was still there. I don't think I was still
in Ohio then. He came there after I moved south.
Okay. So you don't feel attached because that
was my question. You know, Florida Panthers,
Tampa. Okay. Well, here's the thing. If the Lightning
are playing Columbus, I'm rooting for the Lightning.
If the Lightning are playing Pittsburgh, I'm
rooting for the Lightning. I'm Lightning first
and foremost. I want to tell you, I heard a long
time ago, there's too many people. that move
to this area and they can't cut the cord. You
don't live in Philly. Like Buffalo. Yeah. Yeah,
Buffalo. Don't root for the Sabres. Root for
the Lightning. You can still root for Buffalo
when they're not playing the Lightning. I did
the same thing with football. I was a Cleveland
Browns fan. And if you know anything about football,
the Browns have been absolutely god. Awful. Since
they came back in 2002. Just a dumpster fire
almost every year. But when I came to Tampa,
I switched my allegiances to the Buccaneers.
I still root for the Browns. I want them to do
well. But I'm Tampa through and through. Nice.
Let's go back to the stadium series. Do you know
anything about the prices? I don't know. The
prices per se, the last I saw, there was still
a few tickets left. They're expecting a sellout.
I had heard, I didn't verify this, but I had
heard capacity was going to be close to 70 ,000.
And if it is 70, that's about 7 ,000 more than
they put in there for football. So if you want
a ticket, you better grab it fast. I have it.
Oh, you do? Well, good for you. You're one of
the smart ones. You didn't wait until the last
minute. We actually got a special rate through
youth hockey. And I think it was like $90 because,
yeah, something like that. And the last time
I checked, they still had, yeah, some tickets.
And it was like at least $250. So it's in $200,
like upper level. It's expensive, but, I mean,
it's once in a lifetime. It is. The other thing,
too, with the outdoor game. it really doesn't
serve much of a purpose for you to be real close,
because the benches and the ice is going to be
in the middle of the field, and you're not going
to be able to see that much better than you would
if you were in the second deck, per se. The screen
is fabulous. I don't know whether you've ever
been to... Yes! But that big screen, you'll be
able to see just fine. Yeah, listen to Ken. He's
absolutely right. Because I got the same issue
when, do you know anything about soccer? I'm
not sure. We're probably going to learn more
about each other. So national team was here a
few months ago. And I was there too. And we actually
got, not because I wanted to, but we got tickets.
It's like they were almost behind the benches.
And you couldn't see anything. I mean, it's nice
to see players' expressions and everything. I
want to see the game. So you need to see it up.
Yeah, no, you're exactly right. And when I had
tickets, I always sat in the second level. I
sat in the upper level at Raymond James Stadium
for the Bucs. I sat in the upper level for the
Lightning Games. And the view was always, always
great. Never had a problem seeing anything. You
could see every single nook and cranny of the
ice. If you're sitting close and you're watching
a hockey game. Puck goes into the corner, you're
not going to be able to see what's inspiring.
You've got to look up at the screen and you can't
see it unless you're getting it on video somehow.
So I always like the not real close, but not
real far away either. It's kind of the mid portion.
And you're able to see great. I talked to a few
fans about the prices and the event. Let's hear
that. How much did you pay for your jersey? this
one here uh over 200 289 or something it's so
expensive i know i know i know i only get one
jersey a year so this is it right here okay good
point thanks how much would you pay for a ticket
i don't know i can't guess i really have no idea
okay how much do you wanna spend No more than
$100. I mean, I'm a college student. I still
live, but I want to go. Oh, gosh. Anywhere between
$50 and $300. We got the financial part. What
about the technicality? So you still have to
build the ice. You still have to make sure that
it's ice, not snow. And I think it's going to
be more effective here in Tampa. Well, the ice
is going to be two and a half inches thick, and
that's an inch thicker than what they normally
lay in an NHL arena. I think they were anticipating
it was going to be a lot warmer and maybe a little
more humidity than we're actually going to have.
That's just a safeguard. With two and a half
inch thick ice, you're not going to really worry
about ice melting or... the rain melting some
of the ice or anything like that. So that's the
thing that really stuck out to me from a technical
standpoint is they're making that adjustment
to make sure that the players are safe and the
ice stays in good form. I feel really bad for
Victor Hedman. Walking around, he is promoting
the event, but he's not going to take a part
in it. He's not going to be on the ice. I know.
Well, the good thing for Victor Hedman is he
would probably put this second behind the Olympics
and playing for his country, Sweden, in the Olympics.
Not that it's not a big event, not that you don't
want to do it, but with your health and a situation
like that, you're thinking, okay, if I can be
back for the Olympics, that's my goal because
I'm not going to make the stadium series. I'm
sure he'll be there and they'll introduce him.
You know, he'll kind of take part in it, you
know, that way. But, yeah, you feel bad for him.
Ryan McDonough, he practiced, I think, today
or yesterday. Yesterday, yeah, for sure. He practiced,
so there's a good chance he may play in one of
the four games that the Lightning have before
the stadium series. on his way back, way back
into the lineup. But yeah, I'm, I'm thrilled
with what the Lightning are doing. You know,
McDonough and, and Hedman. And my worry is what's
going to happen when these guys get back. This
young group of guys have played so well together.
They've meshed so well. Cooper has pushed all
the right buttons. Everybody's just buying in
to what their role needs to be in order to. have
a winning game and a winning team. And, you know,
you put Hedman back in there and then McDonough's
coming back. Lilleberg's going to be coming back.
What do we do with all these guys? Because you
would hate to mess up the chemistry. The other
way to look at it, I guess, is these guys have
one to two years experience. They're young pros.
They're doing very well. Experience always trumps
potential. And when you get into late March and
April and everything's a little more tight because
you have to win a game to maintain a spot in
your playoff standings, and then you go into
the playoffs and it's a totally different kind
of intensity than what you experience during
the regular season, young guys may not be quite
ready for that because the playoffs are just
so different, you know, from the regular season.
Very, very pleased. I did not expect this, to
be honest. Especially considering the start of
the season, it was hard to watch. Very difficult
to watch. And Vazzy, give him credit. After one
month of the season, he was close to being in
the bottom third of NHL goaltending stats. He
is second now in goals against Edwards. Second
in wins. He's really worked hard to get. get
get back to that level but that's another reason
that they have gotten a point in every game they've
played over the last 14 15 games who impressed
you the most this season like from the newer
guys i think we really missed um so much power
so much power like last two seasons especially
in playoffs when we needed more physicality especially
against the florida panthers yeah right now they
look like amazing guys darren radish on the blue
line, has been the guy that has impressed me
the most. He does everything. And he's improved
his game so much from last season. I remember
last season, the feeling was, oh, we got radish
in there. Gee whiz, here we go. I wonder how
this is going to turn out. But now, he's playing
well enough to be an all -star. Now, he's not
going to be an all -star, but his play... is
at that level. And I just think it's great. He's
the guy that has stuck out to me the most. I
think Johansson, backing Fazi, has really improved
his game. This is the best season that he's had
so far of his time in Tampa. Last year, I think
his goals against average was 3 .4, 3 .3, maybe
a little higher than that. But this year, I mean,
Johansson's in goal. Okay. Last year it was,
oh, Johansson's in goal. Oh, crap. It might be
a long night. Yeah, it might be a long night,
but he's done very well. From a veteran standpoint,
Hagel has played really, really well, but I think
the person that has impressed me, and this is
going to sound obvious, but I'll break it down,
is Nikita Kucherov. Because he got off to a horrid
start. It was not very good. And there were some
games early in the season when the Lightning
were going through the stretch. It's like, what
the hell is Kucherov doing? What the hell is
he thinking? Had no defensive mindset to his
game. It was like he was running in circles and
just lollygagging out there. I think one game,
you know, Cooper benched him like halfway through
the game because he just wasn't playing any kind
of defense whatsoever. But he has really, really
applied himself and bought in to the team goals.
And it's paying off. I mean, he's moved up. He's
third in scoring now. He's at 70 points, maybe
71. I don't think he'll catch, you know, McKinnon,
you know, McDavid for the goal leaders. But he's...
He's doing great. With his passing and his skating,
if he can just set up two or three goals a night,
we're going to be fine. We're going to be in
good shape. So Kucherov would be my veteran,
and then I would go with Radish and Johansson.
They're not really new guys, but they struggled
at times last season, and they've really improved
their game. And then I'm surprised that J .J.
Moser has turned out to be as good as he has.
When we traded Sergeyev, I think he was maybe
kind of a throw -in. Okay, we're giving you a
defenseman. You've got to give us. Because Geeky
was the big guy, and it's just flipped. Now Moser
is the guy we're counting on, and Geeky's trying
to get his reps in the Syracuse. Yeah. Well,
Moser got his big contract now. Actually, at
the beginning of the season, it was interesting
to see. how Nikita Kucherov was kind of coaching
him. And there was a lot of struggles because
Moser, you know, he was still fairly fresh working
with such a big star like Nikita Kucherov. And
he couldn't see his vision sometimes. Like he
was not there to accept the pass. He was not
here or there. It was complicated, but you can
see that chemistry is building up and it looks
amazing. All those off days, Kuch has had Moser
over in his garage working on passing and accepting
the puck and shooting and all that. Probably.
Well, you and I both write for FL teams. And
you can see our stuff right there. And it was
funny, a few months ago, I wrote a piece about,
you know, well, that was Tampa still suffering.
So I wrote about different defensive issues.
And when it came to... I was like, don't even
start me there. And I felt like he read it because
he's just a completely different person now on
the ice. He's so good now. Yeah. Well, the other
thing I think people forget, we went through
the same thing with Sergeyev when he was first,
first came up to the lightning. Defensemen take
a long time to develop and to really get good.
and master the game the way they need to to be
successful. Sergeyev struggled, not to maybe
the extent that Radish did, but Radish had his
growing pains. Moses had his growing pains. And
now that they've been in the league a year or
two, they're starting to understand the game
a little bit better and are able to be big contributors
for the success of the team. So you have to remember
that with defensemen. It just takes them. you
know, a long time. Cause the NHL game defensively
is so different than, you know, what you might
even play in the AHL. And it's really different
from, from college. So. Well, yeah, defense is
just a different universe, especially for the
Russians. They just don't teach them the same.
That's why if you take Tim Russia, that's probably
going to be one part that's – there are some
issues, defensemen, because everyone wants to
score and be the part of offensive unit. It's
harder to find a good home guy. Yeah. Was Lindstrom
in Detroit? Was he a Russian or was he from the
Czech Republic? Hold on. Okay, Lindstrom. Yeah,
he was sweet. Well, I don't know. Yeah, like
it's stay at home guy. That's Zubov. Sergey Zubov.
dallas oh yeah yeah so it was a while ago a long
time ago he played with the pens during their
stanley cup runs i mean you're talking like 10
15 years ago yeah but yeah but he was awesome
in dallas obviously like he's a legend of the
dallas stars he's but yeah it's been a while
so i can't even yeah i can't even remember anyone
else he's i would say he's number one he's like
yeah and he used to be my favorite too I couldn't
understand why because I was a child. Yeah. You
just like to short name. Maybe. Easy for me.
Yeah. He's trying to do the same for his team
and the KHL, but it's not working out. It's just
a different mentality because he's still very
old school and he's still very NHL focused guy.
So it's harder for him to deliver all of his
knowledge on the ice in the KHL. Yeah, I can
imagine. That's a different brand of hockey.
Yeah. Yeah. Let's just outscore everybody 10
to 8 and see what happens. Well, that works too.
But like you said, when it comes to playoffs,
it's just a different mentality and different
style. So you still need to remember that any
team needs to be able to play defensively. Yes.
That wins you championships. That's for sure.
So how do you think it's going to go game -wise?
um at the stadium series I mean because I would
feel like I'm a hockey player and you know I'm
outside and this amazing stadium it's so loud
for many guys it's it's still going to be the
first time especially for the younger Tampa Bay
Lightning guys so it's you are going to get distracted
you want it you don't want it you are going to
get distracted yeah and and the other thing too
is they say puck drops at 6 30 puck won't drop
to about 6 40. or 645, all the pregame ceremonies.
It's like the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals.
They're going to introduce every single member
of the team, coaching staff, equipment managers,
you know, what have you. So there's going to
be that little bit of a delay after you've already
got your body warm and, you know, been out for
warmups. The other thing is the intermission.
The first intermission, Tim McGraw's playing
first intermission. I can't imagine he's going
to do a 15 -minute set and be done. Okay. I imagine
that that intermission is going to go a little
bit longer. Hey, it depends how much they're
paying. Well, that's true, too. I saw Tim McGraw.
He played a Bucs game one year as a season opener.
He started playing about three. you know wrapped
up about 3 30 3 45 the players were out on the
field warming up and he's still on the stage
you know and one end of the stadium you know
playing away but yeah it was it was hotter than
hell that day so um i think it'll be a lot cooler
and he'll enjoy things a little better this time
in tampa than he did his previous time playing
outdoors Who do you expect at the game, like,
celebrity -wise? Because I honestly, like, I
even, I think it's a great article about my expectations,
who should attend the game. And I was really
surprised that there were no big celebrities
at the Winter Classic in Miami. I was in shock.
I was in shock. So I think it's going to be better
once again in Tampa. Tom Brady. Probably an obvious
choice. I think he's going to be there. Who else?
Yeah. Who do you expect to see? Some celebrities.
John Gruden. John Gruden. Everybody that has
a little bit of Bucs heritage will probably show
up. Garrett Brooks. I see him all the time at
the USF basketball games. He works for USF now.
He's part of the athletic department. He'll probably
make an appearance. You mentioned Brady. John
Gruden, definitely be there. Maybe some Tampa
Bay Rays and some Bucs football players. Baker
Mayfield, he's attended a few lightning games
this season with his buddy Tristan Wirfs. They
may show up. But as far as like a movie star
or a big rock star, I don't foresee anybody.
Anybody, really. In Miami, you said you didn't
see anybody. That is a big, diverse city. A lot
of Hispanics, they don't relate to hockey. Soccer
is their big sport. So from a buy -in standpoint
and from a marketing standpoint, which we referenced
a little bit earlier, It's a tougher sell for,
I think, to some of these markets because they're
not used to, you know, going to the hockey game
or watching it or, you know, being involved in
any way. But it's going to be different. It's
not just a hockey game. It's an event. I agree.
If they really wanted to sell it to, you know,
non. hockey folks and get those folks in and
check out the game and the event and all this
is pretty cool i think they would have they should
have gotten someone with huge pop international
stardom like justin bieber well i think justin
bieber is a has -been um i don't think he's put
on any new music and okay his wife she's pretty
big yeah because yeah i don't see i don't hear
any ladies names Yeah, no. I know Bad Bunny's
playing the Super Bowl. I am not a fan of Bad
Bunny myself. I am not a fan of Latino music
or rap or the hip -hop culture. I know you would
probably find that hard to believe, but there
is a market for it, and if that's what the younger
generation... is into that you're trying to market
to, then you have to give them what they want
and deliver, or you're not going to get the payoff
down the road that you want. Oh, so who do you
prefer? Like Tim McGraw, country stars, country
music? I'm a rock guy. You know, let's get, I
saw the Rolling Stones at the stadium their last
time through Tampa. Bring the Stones back. You
know, let's. let's have queen play i you know
i'm an old school kind of guy um you know love
bob seger he's my favorite artist of all time
he didn't not touring anymore but i saw him on
his last run um through tampa new if you're talking
somebody new i i don't know that there's taylor
swift anybody oh give me a break I saw enough
of her during the Kansas City Chiefs football
games that were nationally televised. No, not
Taylor Swift. I don't know. Ariana Grande, maybe?
She didn't show up at the Winter Classic, and
she was born in South Florida, and she roots
for the Panthers. I expected her there. She didn't
show up. Maybe they forgot to invite her. Well,
did you fire off an email saying, I was looking
for you. I missed you. I will, because I just
expect that it's going to be 100%. So, yeah,
I was very surprised. Yeah, I don't know. Like
I said, the Super Bowl is the marquee event.
The Winter Classic is the marquee event, or the
Stadium Series is the marquee event for NHL.
And they've done a good job marketing, but I
think there's, you know, a lot of opportunities
to get some of those outliers. If you're a hockey
fan, you're already in. They don't have to sell
it to you. You're already there. But if you're
trying to grow the game, get new folks involved,
bring in some new fans, expose them to the great
sport, then you have to do some things maybe
in some untraditional ways and bring in maybe
some untraditional entertainment that Gary Bettman
wouldn't like, but somebody 40 years younger
is going to appreciate. I don't know. You know,
the last time I checked, he likes very strange
stuff, like a new upcoming TV show. Yeah, I was
very surprised myself. I was like, so he's not
that old school after all. But what about the
date? Because I think one of the reasons they
chose February 1st is Gasparilla Festival. So
they're still probably hoping to bring in some
new people, people who don't necessarily go to
hockey games. Yeah, I can see them doing that.
But a lot of the people, this is my impression
of Gasparilla. I've never been there. Full disclosure,
what I'm about to say is what I've read, what
I've seen on TV through the news reports. It's
just a drunk fest. I mean, if you want to act
like an idiot as a 50 -year -old, go to Gasparilla,
drink a lot, pass out. Have your friends carry
you back to the car, go home and forget whatever
happened and wake up the next morning and wonder
why you have a headache. That's my impression
of Gasparilla. And you're doing all of that looking
like a pirate. Yes, yes. And collecting beads
like it's Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Yeah, I
just, I've never had a lot of time for that.
I've never had a lot of patience. You know, to
do stuff like that, maybe I'm weird. I'm in the
minority. I don't know. No, the first thing that
I'm like, where's the parking, people? It will
be really hard to find a parking. I really care
about my parking. Yeah. Well, there are plenty
of parking at Raymond James. That's not going
to be the problem for the event. I don't think
that Gasparilla, the parking goes quite down,
you know, that far. That's a little bit of a
haul from downtown. I mean, driving it, it's
not bad, but if you've got to walk it or take
a shuttle bus or something, it can be a little
bit of a distance. It'd be interesting to find
out the hotel occupancy rate with Gasparilla
already being on the books for a while, and then
this game coming in after Gasparilla was already
said, hey, we're going to be here on... You know,
the end of January, it'd be interesting to see
people held onto the rooms to go to the game.
Did they vacate them? Are they going to stay
in town to maybe watch the game somewhere, be
part of the event in that capacity? I don't know
if anybody will do a study on that. Maybe the
Tampa Bay sports commission or something. It
would be interesting for me to see what the,
what the breakdown of that is. Do you think,
like, yeah, I just want your honest opinion.
To me, it's kind of strange that we finally got
two outdoor games in Florida the same year as
the NHLers will go to the Olympics. It's like
it's too much that's going on. And it kind of
also feels like it's a distraction from the Olympics.
I don't know. I don't know about a distraction,
but I think having two games. in the same state
is a distraction. If you're watching your dollars,
you have to make a decision. Okay, do we want
to go to Miami or do we want to go to Tampa to
see the game? Now, obviously, if you're a Lightning
fan, we know where you're going. If you're a
Panthers fan, we know where you're going. But
the stadium series brings in a lot of casual
hockey fans. Hey, I'm from Philadelphia. I like
the Flyers, but... You know, I'm living in Bradenton
now, so I'm going to go to Tampa for the game.
You know, just to say I was there, just to be
part of the event, because it is an event. And
who knows when it will come back again? I mean,
this may be your only chance for another 10 years
or so, you know, to see an outdoor game. So I
think there's a lot of casual, you know, hockey
fans that will check it out just to be there
for. For the event. At least I'm hoping that's
the case. You know, your Lightning people are
going to be there. I will tell you, the last
time the Lightning played in an outdoor game
was in Nashville a few years ago. 20 ,000 Lightning
fans made the trip up. Yes. So there is, you
know, that potential for, as we talked earlier,
a lot of Boston fans coming in. Just casual fans
coming in. Just to be part of it. And Tampa,
like Miami, is a destination city. Look what's
going to happen up north this week. It's going
to be 10 below zero in Boston. A guy's going
to look at his wife and say, honey, let's go
to Tampa for the hockey game. We'll spend the
weekend there. Get out of this cold. It's going
to happen in a lot of places in the north. It
should happen. Hey, let's go to Florida. It may
not be great weather, but it's going to be a
lot. than what we have. And that's kind of the
draw for, you know, Tampa and Miami. Warm weather,
climate. Let's bring in some folks. People take
vacation. I think it would have been more impactful
if they would have had the game during spring
break. Oh, okay. Well, like you said, we'll get
more drunk young people. Yeah, yeah. We need
that. And you know what? As long as they're spending
dollars and... You know, they're buying hotels
because that's what the city cares about. How
much are you spending? Is it worth it for us
to put on an event like this? You would get,
I think, a little more bang for your buck, you
know, during spring break. Come down, spend a
day or two in Tampa, go to the game, then you
go up to Panama City or, you know, Miami or wherever
you want to go to, you know, finish out your
spring break on the beach. But it's going to
be really warm by that time, and it's closer
to playoffs. That's true. Yeah. That's true.
Yeah, a lot of things to consider, you know,
especially in this market if you're going to
do a game like that in February. All I know,
I'm excited. You are excited. And I do feel like
it's going to be awesome. There's still competition,
you know, Winter Classic in Miami or the Stadium
Series in Tampa. I feel like we're going to win
this one. It's the same thing, just a different
name. They have to sell it a different way. You
can't have Stadium Series 2 or Winter Classic
2. Yeah, it's basically the same thing, just
a different name. I imagine the exhibits, the
festivities that the NHL puts on is going to
be very similar in Tampa to what they did in
Miami. Very, very similar. I don't think I would
almost. bet a paycheck on it, that the Lightning
are going to get blown out like the Panthers
did in their winter classic. I don't think that's
going to happen. Will not happen, I think. We'll
make sure it's not going to happen, yeah. Yeah,
okay. But, you know, it's still different because
if you think about it, this one is really going
to be the first. ever outdoor game because raymond
james doesn't have a true outdoor game yes yeah
it's true outdoor game the first one ever in
florida not the one in miami we're not going
to pull the roof back and call it an outdoor
game yes right yeah that's that's kind of cheating
a little bit but you know it worked and it was
very very successful yeah But once again, we
are excited about this one even more. Yes. Always
more excitement for something in your hometown
and something you go check out in person and
get another Lightning win. I mean, who knows?
The Lightning, they got Chicago tonight, then
it's Columbus, then Utah, and Winnipeg. The Lightning
could have four more wins under their belt by
the time that stadium series rolls around. So
we'll see. We'll see. We'll see. And we'll make
sure. Yes, we will. Let's talk about, you know,
everything that's going to happen just after
the stadium series. Let's see how it's going
to go and get together again. And just you share
what you think. I'll share what I think. That
sounds like a wonderful plan. Yes. I don't get
the opportunity to talk hockey very often with
a lot of my friends and outsiders because they're
just not hockey fans. So it's refreshing to talk
to someone that has a good knowledge, a good
base. We can throw opinions out and say, oh,
that's crazy. Why do you ever think of that?
That's not going to happen. Yes, we'll get there
because we just started and we've been talking
about it and finally we're there. Yeah, let's
do that. Let's entertain. Let's do that and throw
out opinions. I always tell people when I have
a really strong opinion, you know, you could
be right, but you would be wrong. I have to.
I hope you understand that that's not happening
when you are talking to a woman. So you can be
right, but obviously you are not. It's the utmost
respect factor. Yes. Yeah. Let's see where we
go. Yeah. Where it's going to take us. Okay.
Thank you so much. And you guys, thanks for listening,
following. We'll do more. We promise. We will.
Go Bolts. Yay.