The Laker/Lutz News

Tampa Bay Lightning

Stanley Cup visit scores big in Wesley Chapel

By

The Stanley Cup trophy has made countless appearances across the region since the Tampa Bay Lightning have won back-to-back National Hockey League (NHL) titles.

It’s been on display for area police and fire departments, county commissions, mayor’s offices, hospitals, colleges, and nonprofit organizations, to name a few.

AdventHealth Center Ice staffers pose for a group photo with the Stanley Cup. The prestigious trophy was on display for about an hour in the afternoon on Sept. 27. (Kevin Weiss)

It was at one of its final stops — before the start of the Lightning’s 2021-2022 campaign — in Pasco County, at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel.

The appearance was impromptu on a Tuesday afternoon in late September, coordinated by longtime Tampa Bay Lightning team chiropractor Dr. Tim Bain.

Bain’s sports medicine and interventional pain practice — B3 Medical — is adjacent to the Center Ice complex.

Moreover, Bain is actively involved in Center Ice programming. He helps to run an in-house performance training center that primarily caters to the facility’s Global Prospects Academy.

His son, Josh, also is a member of the facility’s Tampa Bay Juniors Hockey Club.

As a contracted Lightning employee, Bain was able to spend a day — Sept. 27, to be exact — with the Cup, which the Lightning won in July after defeating the Montreal Canadians in five games in the best-of-seven series. (The Lightning also won the trophy during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, defeating the Dallas Stars in six games.)

Bain felt it fitting to share his coveted Cup time with others — allowing Center Ice staffers, members, and adult and youth guests to soak up the prestigious trophy and all its glory.

For roughly an hour, dozens upon dozens of people viewed the trophy, admired its history and snapped countless photos.

They were obviously having a great time.

Bain especially wanted the facility’s younger hockey players to get an up-close look at the Cup, which stands about 35 inches tall, weighs 35 pounds, and is made of silver and nickel alloy.

“It’s inspiring,” Bain said of the trophy. “The ultimate goal for any kid that’s ever picked up a hockey stick and put on a pair of skates is the Stanley Cup, right? I don’t think there’s any trophy in sports that is that iconic, and it’s just a really interesting way to be able to give back to the community, and it’s what I want to do.”

Center Ice owner Gordie Zimmerman echoed the “awesome” experience of having the Cup on hand at the facility, albeit for only a short period.

Members of the Tampa Bay Juniors Hockey Club pose for a group photo with the Stanley Cup at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel.

He pointed out many non-hockey fans visiting or working at the complex also were awed by the championship trophy that’s not only awarded annually to the NHL playoff champion, but is the oldest existing trophy (commissioned in 1892) to be awarded to a professional franchise in North America.

“It’s amazing how even people that are not hockey-related, how much attention it grabs,” Zimmerman said. “It just goes to show you the recognition it gets, even when you’re not related to hockey, so it’s pretty exciting.”

Lightning alumni relations coordinator Rachel Kilman was among the NHL officials who helped chaperone the careful movement and interaction of the Cup, at Center Ice.

Every stop around the community with the trophy has been “super, super special,” said Kilman, adding many people are in disbelief upon viewing the Cup in person.

“Everybody’s very, very excited that it’s there,” she said. “There’s nothing like it, there’s only one of them.”

Center Ice facility operations director Rory Mushlin was given short notice that the Cup would be making a special appearance to the 150,500-square-foot complex — the largest ice rink in the southeastern United States.

Mushlin has worked in facility operations for two-plus decades, including stints with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks and New York Islanders.

The New York native grew up on the ice sport, quipping, “I learned to drive a Zamboni before a car.”

While his work experiences have allowed him to view the Cup several times, he’s quick to note every chance to do so is quite memorable.

“Look, I think that is the hardest trophy in all of sports to win,” he said, “and I think that when you have the opportunity to see it up close and personal, it’s always special, no matter how old or how many times you’ve done it in the past.”

That particularly is the case for the younger generation of hockey players who practice and play at Center Ice, he said.

“For the youth hockey generation that we have now, it’s just more and more important for people to get that opportunity (to see the trophy),” he said. “Just like when you get a young kid that wants to be a firefighter, every time a fire truck drives up the street, their eyes light up — I think it’s the same thing for hockey players.”

Gearing up for another Lightning season
Bain has been the Lightning’s team chiropractor since 2011.

Tampa Bay Lightning team chiropractor Dr. Timothy Bain shows off his jewel-encrusted Stanley Cup ring at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel. Bain also brought the Stanley Cup to the facility for a brief period.

He assists Lightning players on injury prevention and body maintenance.

The scope of work includes neurological-based adjustments, post-concussion therapy, craniosacral therapy, plus other exercise therapies to help improve muscle tissue on extremities, such as feet and ankles.

Now, as the franchise begins its run for a Stanley Cup three-peat, Bain is upbeat the team can have yet another successful season — despite having to replace its entire third line, among other roster changes.

The Lightning begins its 2021-2022, 82-game regular season on Oct. 12 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Amalie Arena.

“They’re a good team,” Bain said. “I think they’re a really solid group and returning a lot of guys…so it’s going to be a fun year. It’s always hard, these (championships) are super hard to even think about, so, the fun is in the chase.”

As to why the Lightning has been one of the model franchises in pro sports in recent years, Bain credits the organization’s “really, really good culture” that promotes teamwork over individualism.

“Everybody buys in, everybody’s part of the team,” Bain said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the lowly chiropractor or the guy that brings in the food at night; we’re all part of the team and they’ve really embraced that.”

Published October 13, 2021

Future NHL stars showcase skills in Wesley Chapel

By

The National Hockey League’s (NHL) next generation of talent skated into Pasco County —  showing puck fans and pro scouts their skills in shot-making, blocking, toughness and teamwork.

AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel was the site of the 2021 NHL Prospect Showcase, which ran from Sept. 18 through Sept. 21.

Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Shawn Element, No. 83, of Victoriaville, Quebec, who was invited by the Lightning to play on the team of prospective players, battles for possession with Carolina prospect Blake Murray, No. 85, of Canada. (Fred Bellet)

Hosted by the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, the event also welcomed prospect teams from the Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers.

All four teams played each other once over the four-day showcase, at 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd.

Any skater or goaltender in each of the four organizations on an entry-level contract (or less), provided they are 24 years old or younger and have less than 20 games of NHL experience, was eligible to participate in the showcase.

Contests were open to the public and streamed live on TampaBayLightning.com.

The competition rotates between the cities of the four franchises each year.

Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, goalie Hugo Alnefelt, No. 60, blocks a shot by Carolina Hurricane prospect Blake Murray, No. 85, during action at the 2021 Lightning Prospect Showcase at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel.

With it being the Lightning’s turn to coordinate the event, the Wesley Chapel-based facility provided an ideal locale.

The 150,000-square-foot complex — the largest ice sports facility in the southeastern United States — is known for having four full-sized ice rinks and a mini-rink housed under one roof.

Aside from sheets of ice, the facility was designed to meet various NHL specifications, all the way down to specific railings and glass around the boards.

The facility also features an on-site sports medicine clinic with an evaluation and treatment room; a fully equipped fitness center with over 2,000 square feet of space; and a 90-yard indoor track turf.

Those features, plus the accessibility to on-site hotels and restaurants, as well as nearby Saddlebrook Resort, were other selling factors for the Lightning and other franchises.

Fans watch through the safety glass as Lightning prospects Avery Winslow, No. 67, of Clearwater, and Gabriel Fortier, No. 82, mix it up with Carolina prospects Bryce Montgomery, No. 58, of Washington D.C., and Jack Drury, No. 72, of New York.

“The amenities, that’s really what did it for them,” Center Ice owner Gordie Zimmermann said, noting many Lightning executives have family members who are members of the facility. “They’ve utilized every aspect of this building, basically.”

Zimmermann acknowledged the showcase ranks as one of the most prominent events to be held at the four-year-old facility — ranking up there with the 2017 Four Nations Cup that featured the USA women’s hockey team (as well as Canada, Sweden and Finland) in advance of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Each prospect team featured about three of four players who’ll likely see time in the NHL this year, Zimmermann said, which added to the event’s allure.

Zimmermann spotlighted 20-year-old Panthers goalie Spencer Knight — who shined in this past year’s NHL playoffs — as one of many examples.

Knight last year became the first goaltender to ever have played both in the Stanley Cup playoffs and NCAA (at Boston College) in the same season.

Ice sprays as Tampa Bay Lightning prospect No. 82, Gabriel Fortier, of Quebec, Canada, puts on the brakes before colliding into the end of Carolina prospect David Cotton’s hockey stick.

He also was the second-youngest goaltender in NHL history to win his Stanley Cup playoffs debut, trailing only Don Beupre, who did so at 19 years old in 1981.

“When young guys like this, and prospects and draft picks and free agents are vying for a spot, they’re obviously working their butts off out there, and so it’s very competitive,” said Zimmermann. “It’s almost NHL-quality play, obviously, some of these guys have already played a little bit in the NHL.”

Meanwhile, Lightning fans received a glimpse of the franchise’s wave of younger talent over the course of the four-day competition.

And that future looks quite bright.

Bolts prospect Xavier Cormier, No. 68, of Quebec crosses sticks with a Carolina Hurricane prospect, as Jack Drury, No. 72, comes in for the puck.

The Lightning’s prospect squad finished the tournament as the only team with a perfect 3-0 record. They never trailed in any of their three tournament wins against the Hurricanes, Panthers and Predators.

The Lightning’s 24-man prospect roster mostly featured players from northern states in the U.S.  and hockey-obsessed countries including Canada, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Nova Scotia.

But, there was one Tampa Bay area native as part of the squad — Clearwater’s Avery Winslow.

Bolts Prospect Jimmy Huntington, No. 47, battles Justin Robidas, No. 46, from Carolina, for possession of the puck during the Lightning prospects win over the Hurricanes.

The 19-year-old defenseman said at a media session it was “a dream come true” to be invited to the prospect camp of the team he cheered while growing up.

Winslow enjoyed some on-ice heroics, too, scoring a first goal 36 seconds into a 6-5 shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sept. 19. “It was definitely a very exciting moment for me,” he said.

Winslow has spent the past couple seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, one of three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League.

He’s a prime example of what the Lightning’s presence and success has meant for the growth of the sport throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Avery Winslow, No. 67, of Clearwater, was among the prospects to join the Tampa Bay Lightning. A member of the Islanders Hockey Club, Winslow was invited to showcase his hockey skills.

“It’s really cool to see that the game of hockey has grown so much with the Lightning winning the (Stanley) Cup the last two years,” Winslow said. “You can really start to see the growth of hockey and all the younger people starting to follow along and actually be fans of the sport and not just show up to the games, so it’s definitely cool to see.”

The event appeared be a hit among the arena teeming with hockey fans over the course of the event.

Trinity resident Roger Ennis showed up to the showcase’s final game on Sept. 21, where the Lightning defeated the Panthers in a high-scoring affair, 8-5.

It marked the first time Ennis visited the Wesley Chapel-based facility.

The Lightning fan was pleased with the intimate seating arrangements to get an up-close look at the action on ice.

He also came away impressed by Lightning prospects Winslow and Quebec’s Gabriel Fortier, a second-round draft pick by the Lightning in 2018.

“It’s just great to see the young guys at it, all looking to move on,” Ennis said. “It’s amazing to be able to come here, and make a day of it and get that close.”

Note: Check out our video that includes an interview with Gordie Zimmermann, owner/CEO of AdventHealth Center Ice, along with footage of the prospects and game highlights, at https://www.facebook.com/LakerLutzNews/videos/452615092753043.

Published September 29, 2021

Fall season offers exciting local sports action

By

The fall sports season is here, and there’s plenty of action on tap across The Laker/Lutz News coverage area.

Here’s a closer look at some notable storylines, events and other local happenings these next few months.

The Gaither Cowboys are poised to be one of the Tampa Bay area’s top football teams this year. (Courtesy of Gaither High School Athletics Department)

Which area prep football program will reign supreme?
Fall is synonymous with football — particularly the Friday night lights variety in many communities and small towns. There are about 15 high schools in The Laker/Lutz News coverage area in Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Several of those football programs are expected to have successful, winning campaigns in 2021.

Deciding which program is best is difficult, considering varying school sizes and classifications. However, it might be wise to pay close attention to the Gaither Cowboys (7A), Wiregrass Ranch Bulls (7A), Zephyrhills Bulldogs (5A) and Zephyrhills Christian Warriors (2A).

By year’s end, one or more of these programs could be showing gaudy records and an appearance in the state series for its respective classification.

Of course, winning an FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) 11-man football title is extremely elusive. The last local program to do so was the Pasco Pirates some three decades ago — back in 1992 when they downed Tampa Jesuit 28-16 in the 3A state championship at the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

If you can catch just one regular-season game in person this season, check out the 64th edition of the 9-Mile War between rivals Pasco and Zephyrhills. This year’s contest is set for Nov. 5, at Bulldog Stadium at Zephyrhills High School. Pasco leads the all-time series, 41-22.

The Bishop McLaughlin Hurricanes varsity volleyball program has had an incredible three-year run. All that eludes them is a state title. (Courtesy of Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School Athletics Department)

Bishop McLaughlin volleyball expects to remain elite
The Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School varsity girls volleyball program has enjoyed one of the more dominant runs across any area sports program over the last three years — going 24-3 in 2020, 25-4 in 2019, and 30-1 in 2018, respectively.

The Hurricanes should again remain very competitive in the FHSAA’s Class 3A ranks, under longtime coach Doug Chinchar.

Despite the graduation of Florida Dairy Famers 3A state volleyball player of the year Audrey Koenig —now a freshman at Florida State University — the team returns several other All-State performers and Division I prospects. This includes junior outside hitter Maddie Snider (Florida State University verbal commit) and junior outside hitter Ali Waldon (Mercer University), among others.

What eludes the Hurricanes is a state crown. The program reached the state semifinals in 2020, the regional semifinals in 2019 and was state runner-up in 2018.

Will this be the year the Hurricanes are the last team standing in its class?

The Sunlake High boys cross country team finished state runner-up at last year’s Class 3A meet. (File)

Sunlake High cross-country keeps pushing the pace
The Sunlake High cross-country program looks to remain top dog among area schools.

The Seahawks boys squad finished second in the 3A state meet last season — representing the all-time best mark ever achieved by any Pasco County prep cross-country program.

The school’s girls squad performed well, too, posting a 10th-place finish at the state 2020 meet.

And, a majority of Sunlake’s top distance runners are expected to return.

Last season, there was only one senior among the boys team’s top seven runners and two seniors among the girls team’s top seven.

The Seahawks haven’t been complacent in the offseason, either. Athletes participated in a running camp at University of North Carolina-Asheville — which featured lots of challenging hills work.

Speaking of high school cross-country, pay attention to Land O’ Lakes resident Elli Black — a home-schooled student who runs for Tampa Cambridge Christian School. Black is coming off a second-place finish in the 1A girls state meet, posting 18:28.5, as a seventh-grader. She’s shaved several seconds off that mark since then.

Former Tampa Bay Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell is leading the Pasco-Hernando State College’s upstart women’s soccer program. (File)

PHSC women’s soccer kicks off inaugural season
Pasco-Hernando State College launched a women’s soccer program earlier this summer, and will kick off its inaugural season in September.

The program is led by former Tampa Bay Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell, a familiar face and widely known figure in the soccer ranks. The English-born Campbell played professional soccer from 1996 to 2013, before serving as the assistant coach for the Rowdies from 2014 to 2015 and head coach from 2015 to 2018.

Women’s soccer marks PHSC’s first new sport since 2005 — when it brought on women’s cross-country, under head coach Jackie Wachtel.

PHSC joins four other NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) women’s soccer programs in the state — Polk State, Daytona State, Eastern Florida State, and Asa College.

The upstart program had open tryouts in late June at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, in Wesley Chapel.

As for the style of play, players and fans can expect lots of action and high-scoring affairs, under Campbell’s tutelage.

Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Gabriel Fortier is expected to highlight the 2021 NHL Prospect Showcase at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel. (Courtesy of Tampa Bay Lightning media relations)

AdventHealth Center Ice to host 2021 NHL Prospect Showcase
Local hockey fans will get a taste of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) next generation of top-end talent later this month — in Pasco County no less.

AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel is the site of the 2021 NHL Prospect Showcase, to be held Sept. 18 through Sept. 21.

Hosted by the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, the event will welcome prospect teams from the Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers.

All four teams will play each other once over the four-day showcase.

Any skater or goaltender in each of the four organizations on an entry-level contract (or less), provided they are 24 years old or younger and have less than 20 games of NHL experience, are eligible to participate in the showcase.

Teams will dress 18 skaters and two goaltenders for each contest. Games are regulation length with three 20-minute periods. A five-minute, three-on-three overtime period will determine a winner if games are tied after regulation. Games will conclude with a five-player-per-team shootout regardless of the final score.

The Lightning roster will include a number of the organization’s top prospects, including 2018 second-round draft pick Gabriel Fortier, who recorded six goals and 10 points in 30 games last season for the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.

Also participating for the Bolts is a pair of 2020 second-round draft selections in forwards Jack Finley and Gage Goncalves, who each made their professional hockey debut with Syracuse last season.

Meanwhile, three of Tampa Bay’s selections from the 2021 NHL Draft in July will be in attendance as well — defenseman Roman Schmidt (third round, No. 96 overall), forward Cameron MacDonald (fifth round, No. 160 overall) and forward Niko Huuhtanen (seventh round, No. 224 overall).

The contests will be open to the public. They’ll also be streamed live on TampaBayLightning.com.

Published September 01, 2021

Ice center names academy director

By

Hockey in Florida is hotter than hot following back-to-back championships by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Glen Metropolit, former Tampa Bay Lightning player, is the new director of AdventHealth Center Ice’s Global Prospect Academy. (Fred Bellet)

Now, AdventHealth Center Ice has strengthened its connection to the Bolts, through a new hire.

Glen Metropolit, a former Tampa Bay Lightning forward, has been selected as the new director of AdventHealth Center Ice’s Global Prospects Academy.

The academy provides a tailor-made educational approach — giving students a chance to combine intensive hockey training, along with scholastic pursuits.

Gordie Zimmermann, chief executive officer for AdventHealth Center Ice, announced Metropolit’s selection during a news conference last week at the five-rink facility, off Cypress Ridge Drive at the Interstate 75 interchange, in Pasco County.

The academy is part of ice center’s mission to build a “developmental pipeline” for future hockey players – both boys and girls – who want to play on college, professional or Olympic hockey teams.

About 30 students are expected to enroll in the program, which will more than double the previous year’s enrollment of 14,  Zimmermann said.

North Tampa Christian Academy will provide the academic curriculum, with Global Prospect Academy students attending classes at North Tampa Christian, which is about three miles from the ice rink.

Gordie Zimmermann is the owner and chief executive officer of AdventHealth Center Ice, the largest ice sports training facility in the Southeast. (Fred Bellet)

A classroom dedicated to academics also is located at the ice rink.

North Tampa Christian will provide transportation between the two sites.

The program will be crafted to meet both academic requirements and hockey training schedules. Pasco-Hernando State College also will provide college course opportunities.

“It’s a highly competitive academic program,” said Stephen Herr, North Tampa Christian’s headmaster. “They are going to get a top-notch education. They are going to get academic scholarships they hope for, in addition to athletic scholarships they and their parents have dreamed of for so long.”

The program provides an opportunity previously not available to area student-athletes, Zimmermann said.

Academy hockey players run drills on the ice as AdventHealth Center Ice officials announce Glen Metropolit as the new director of the Global Prospect Academy.

“Kids were going to Michigan or Boston to play hockey. There were no programs in Florida. In the future, we’ll grow and include other sports we have here,” he said.

Figure skating could become the second ice sport for a program like the one the academy provides for youth hockey players, Zimmermann said. It also will recruit students nationally and internationally, he added.

He mentioned one family from the Czech Republic that is considering a move to Pasco so a son can enroll in the academy to play hockey. They also have a daughter who figure skates, Zimmermann said.

They are just one example of the broad-based interest in the new academy, Zimmermann said.

Brian Bradley represented the Tampa Bay Lightning organization at the news conference. The former Tampa Bay Lightning player is an inductee into the Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame.

Before accepting his new role, Metropolit served as assistant director and head coach for the Lightning’s U18 Elite Training Program for high school students from grades nine through 12.

The former hockey player had stints in several national and international hockey leagues, and is an inductee into the ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League) Hall of Fame.

He also is a recipient of the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy, an annual award bestowed to a hockey player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

Gordie Zimmermann, left, chief executive officer of AdventHealth Center Ice; Glen Metropolit, new director of Global Prospects Academy; and Stephen Herr, headmaster of North Tampa Christian Academy, chat prior to a press conference.

Metropolit describes hockey as “the ultimate sport.”

Of his new appointment, he said: “This is just another way I can give back and help hockey players reach their goals.”

Metropolit’s staff includes Stan Neckar, former National Hockey League and Tampa Bay Lightning player; Nick Lindberg, former professional hockey player; and John Drysdale, a USA level 4 certified coach, a bronze certified goalie coach, and a former youth development director.

Zimmermann noted that the interest in hockey, in general, has grown steadily over the past five years.

“We’ve probably doubled the size of youth hockey in Florida,” he said.

AdventHealth Center Ice provides considerable opportunities for those interested in developing their talents, and for spectators who enjoy watching sports.

The facility is the largest ice sports training in the Southeast, with one Olympic-sized rink, three National Hockey League style rinks, and one mini-rink.

It also boasts locker rooms, a fitness and sports recovery center, off-ice training area, full-size restaurant and bar, concession stand and pro shop.

It hosted the 2018 U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey Team training program, and the team went on to win Olympic gold.

Adult and youth leagues play there, and it attracts special events — which, in turn, has a positive impact on Pasco County’s economy.

Visitors to the area to attend events at the ice center often stay in area hotels and spend money at gas stations, at restaurants and at area attractions.

By Kathy Steele

Published August 18, 2021

Local chiropractor shares lessons from ‘life in a bubble’

By

Like everyone, Dr. Timothy Bain, a chiropractor from Wesley Chapel, has had to adapt due to concerns about COVID-19.

Unlike the vast majority of people, though, Bain’s adjustments have been more extreme.

As the Tampa Bay Lightning’s team chiropractor, he was in a traveling party that spent a combined 65 days at hotels in Toronto and then Edmonton through the Tampa Bay Lightning’s  Stanley Cup title run.

Bain was “in the bubble” from late July through late September, while games were played without fans in attendance and measures were taken to allow teams to safely complete the NHL playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning team chiropractor Dr. Timothy Bain celebrates the organization winning its second Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Wesley Chapel resident spent 65 days with the team in the NHL playoff ‘bubble’ in Canada from late July through late September. (Courtesy of David Miles)

The chief executive officer of B3 Medical shared some of the lessons he learned from the experience, and other insights he’s gleaned along life’s way, during a Zoom business breakfast meeting on March 2, with members of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.

One lesson Bain shared involves the importance of learning from failure.

“You’re going to fail. Everybody fails. Everybody fails a lot. You’re going to fail more often as a business leader and a business owner, I think than the average person — because we’re willing to fail.

“We look at, ‘How am I going to succeed?’ And, the answer is, ‘You’re going to fail — a lot of times,” he said.

In the season the year before claiming the Stanley Cup, the Lightning failed.

“We failed. Really miserably. In front of everybody,” the team’s chiropractor said.

“We won the President’s Trophy, which meant we had the best record in hockey. In fact, we had a historic season, then we went to Columbus and we just got swept right out of the playoffs.

“Nobody could believe it. We couldn’t believe it. I’m sure none of the fans could believe it.

“It was embarrassing.

“But we learned.

“Some of the things that we learned were: Maybe we brought guys back too quickly. Maybe we didn’t bring them back fast enough. Some of our rehab didn’t work as well as we thought it was going to. Maybe we needed some different characters in the room.

“Maybe we needed some different character,” he said.

Failure can be a valuable teacher: The important thing is to fail forward, Bain said.

“Every time you fail, make sure you’re moving forward. You learn something from it, and you move forward to your ultimate goal,” he said.

“With the Lightning, I think, the obvious ultimate goal is a big, shiny Stanley Cup — which is the most revered trophy in sports,” he said.

Lumps and bumps, along the way
The story of the Stanley Cup championship season didn’t start off well.

“The beginning of the season, was truthfully ugly for us,” Bain said.

But the team picked up Pat Maroon, who was a catalyst in breaking up team cliques, he said.

“Sometimes, it just really takes one person to get those cliques to start to work together, so you can start to move forward,” Bain said.

The team made some deals at the end of the season, to bring more grit to its game. It had to go into the playoffs with a different attitude, and style, and that was a hard adjustment for some players, he said.

“Guys wanted to play the old-style of Lightning hockey, which is fast, furious, move it around, score tons of goals. And, in the playoffs, really you can’t do that,” Bain said.

He said he knew the team had reached a turning point when it won a game that had five overtimes.

One moment, in particular, stood out to him.

“I remember at the end of the fourth overtime, the guys came in, I’m thinking: ‘These guys are going to be exhausted.’ The first thing I see, is somebody said, ‘This is fun, isn’t it? I can’t wait. I hope we have another one of these things.’

“That was cool. Right then and there, I knew we were going to win that game,” Bain said, because of the players’ mindset.

“Our identity now was: ‘We’re not going to lose this thing. We’ve got this.’,” Bain added.

In today’s business climate, COVID-19 brings a lot of fear and anxiety.

The Lightning overcame challenges.

“We dealt with adversity upon adversity. Guys getting hurt. We lost our captain.

“It didn’t matter what the obstacle was. We had a notion that failure was not an option this year,” Bain said.

“We created a plan. We worked the plan. We trusted the plan,” he said. “We had to adapt. We adapted better than other teams.”

“Every business creates a plan at the beginning of year. ‘OK, I’m going to execute on the strategy,’” he said.

But, it’s important to periodically check back on that plan: What worked? What didn’t work? What needs to change?

During COVID, employers and employees have faced a multitude of changes.

Some employees work at home. Some are dealing with child care issues. Some are sick, or have family members who are sick. Some have lost loved ones to COVID.

Employers need to keep a pulse on what’s happening with their staff, he said.

“So, there’s got to be an element that we bring into our businesses, of empathy and trust. And,  we’ve got to make sure that we’re there for our employees and our team members, because they’re going through stuff as much if not worse than we are. They’re fearful for their jobs, they’re fearful for their life, they’re fearful for their families,” he added.

It’s important to stay focused on the company’s ultimate goal, and for staff to have buy-in.

“In a company, everybody is a cog in the wheel, and without each piece, you can’t really get anywhere,” Bain said. “If you’re having one person who is inside your team, who doesn’t know their role, or doesn’t understand their role, inside of the bigger picture — or doesn’t understand the big picture — it can really derail what you’re trying to do,” Bain said.

With the Lightning, “the mission was really obvious,” Bain said. They had to make it to the last game of the season, or they had failed.

“It was about putting the right team of people, on the ice. It was about putting the right team of people behind the people on the ice,” Bain said.

The same is true for companies that are in pursuit of a goal.

The shiny object may vary, but he said: “We all want to win our Stanley Cup.”

Published March 31, 2021

Street hockey rinks open in Wesley Chapel, Holiday

By

Perhaps someday a future hockey star will be able to say he or she first learned to play hockey on the streets of Wesley Chapel and Holiday.

Pasco County has added to its assorted sports and recreational profile with yet another outdoor activity in check — street hockey.

Two new outdoor street hockey rinks have opened at Wesley Chapel District Park and the J. Ben Harrill Recreation Complex in Holiday. The rinks were created through a public-private partnership between Pasco County and the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Tampa Bay Lightning. The rinks are approximately 60 feet by 120 feet, with a full dasher-board system. (Courtesy of Pasco County)

Two public outdoor ball hockey rinks are now available for use at J. Ben Harrill Recreation Complex in Holiday and Wesley Chapel District Park, 7727 Boyette Road in Wesley Chapel.

The concrete rinks — approximately 60 feet by 120 feet, with a full dasher-board system — are part of a public-private partnership between the county and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Designed with the idea of growing the game of hockey throughout local communities, the rinks will allow young hockey players in the area a place to train, whether it’s the grass roots level or in organized leagues and tournaments.

A virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony of the rinks was held Dec. 10, with several representatives on hand from both the county and Lightning, respectively.

“We are very proud to open these two rinks today as part of our pledge to build 10 ball hockey rinks across the Tampa Bay area,” Lightning CEO Steve Griggs said. “These two rinks that we opened will give local youth the opportunity to get outside and play the great game of hockey. The Lightning would like to thank Pasco County for their enthusiasm and support in helping us make this a reality for everyone in Pasco County.”

Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey tabbed the rinks “just one more wonderful thing that we’re bringing to Pasco County, to give our residents a really high quality of life.”

“This is another unique sport for kids to be involved in and learn all the good, life lessons you learn when you’re a part of a team,” Starkey said. “These rinks are a real value to the county and to the communities we serve.”

She also noted: “When (the Lightning) mentioned that they were going to put one (rink) in, knowing how large our county is and how much need that we have here, I asked them if they’d be kind enough to put in two.”

Count former Tampa Bay Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk among those “super, super excited” to witness outdoor ball hockey ramping up in Pasco.

“This place will be loaded with kids every night,” said Andreychuk, who serves as the franchise’s vice president of corporate and senior affairs. “As we know, having kids, giving them an activity, something to do, is a great thing.”

The county was responsible for laying out the rink concrete slabs, while the Lightning built out the remainder of the project, including the dasher boards, goal nets and electronic scoreboards. The pro hockey franchise also will be supplying equipment, such as sticks, balls and protective gear.

Lightning community hockey manager Josh Dreith, too, figures the rinks will be a score on both the east and west sides of Pasco: “I love Pasco County. There’s a ton of Lightning fans in Pasco County, and there’s a ton of engaged kids, as well.”

The Holiday and Wesley Chapel locations are part of 10 rinks being funded and constructed in the five-county Tampa Bay area — via a $6 million grassroots hockey development initiative from the Lightning’s Build the Thunder 2.0 and Connect the Thunder programs, and the NHL’s Industry Growth Fund. The other rinks are situated in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Polk counties, respectively.

The rinks in Pasco are available upon request for open play now. There’s hope to have league play begin by March, depending on the COVID-19 situation, officials say.

Programming at the new rinks will eventually include:

  • Clinics run by Lightning alumni
  • Ball hockey leagues
  • Adult ball hockey
  • Ball hockey lessons

All essential equipment for teams playing ball hockey will be provided by the Lightning, including hockey sticks, balls and goalie protective equipment. Pasco County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources will manage all programming and maintenance of the rinks.

Keith Wiley, the county’s parks department director, explained: “We’re going to have a combination of free play, obviously open to the public. And then, in coordination with the Lightning, we will be working on actual league play, where we can create some structured programming, depending on (the) season.”

With the partnership, the county contributed property and $240,000 toward the cost of the underlying concrete pads at the two outdoor rinks. From there, the Lightning have built out the remainder of the infrastructure, with dasher boards, scoreboards, penalty boxes, goalie nets, and more.

Engineering design on the rinks began in February. Construction began in August with the county’s portion of the work completed in late October.

Contracting through the Lightning, EnvironBuild LLC finished the dasher boards and scoreboards on Dec. 10.

Some minor improvements do remain, such as sheds, bleachers, and scoreboard electrical connections. Those touches are expected to be complete around March or so.

Published January 06, 2021

Celebrating some of life’s big moments

By

If ever there was a time when joy was needed, 2020 was the year.

Here’s a look, in condensed form, at some of the stories revealing big moments and happy times in The Laker/Lutz News region, during the year that was.

(File)

Soaring into the wild blue yonder
Olivia Jenkins flew her first solo flight from Tampa North Flight Center in Lutz, aboard a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, on Sept. 23. In doing so, she achieved a personal goal to fly solo before even getting a license to drive a car. She intends to get her private pilot’s license when she turns 17, on Feb. 10. She has big plans after that, too. She will seek a congressional nomination to a military service academy, and one day hopes to fly for the U.S. Air Force or perhaps to fly helicopters for the Army.

Superheroes give boy an epic parade
David Castle — an 8-year who loves superheroes, WWE, Fortnight, motorcycles, fast cars and

fishing — had a very special Halloween when hundreds of people joined in to put on an epic parade for him. Superheroes dropped by and bikers threw up smoke, giving David a day to get his mind off cancer and just enjoy being a kid. He’s had a hard battle — but on this particular day, he was surrounded by people who wanted to make him happy, and they did.

Making birthdays happy, despite COVID-19
When Kynlee Kuberski wasn’t able to celebrate her 11th birthday at Universal Studios, her mom, Jessi, took to social media inviting people to drive by to wish her a happy, socially distanced birthday. People responded, making the day a treat for Kynlee, who lives in Connerton. Kynlee, center, reacts as a Pasco County Fire Rescue truck drives by — adding to the fun. Her mother, Jessi, stands to her left, and her older sister, Kalyn, is on her right.

 

When original plans for Evelyn “Ev” Furman’s 99th birthday were canceled, her daughter came up with Plan B.
The plans were all set. Furman’s family planned to travel to Land O’ Lakes and to take her to the Rusty Pelican to celebrate her 99th birthday.
A birthday lunch with friends was planned, too.
Neither happened, thanks to COVID-19.
Instead, her daughter, Debbie Storts organized a party — inviting people to drive, walk or bicycle by the house to help Ev celebrate.
Storts used a 6-foot tray to hand out cupcakes. Those bringing gifts left them at the edge of the driveway, where they were collected and sanitized, before being delivered to the Birthday Girl.
Although the original plans fell through, Ev didn’t mind.
“It was the best party I ever had,” she said.

 

The Rev. Harold Thomas, and his wife, Bermice, enjoy lunch, during the “Birthday King’s” surprise birthday party.
Members of St. John Missionary Baptist Church, in Dade City, wanted to do something special for the Rev. Harold Thomas, who was turning 85.
So, they threw him a surprise celebration, complete with a drive-by parade with police sirens, and a luncheon with social distancing.
The finishing touches were a red robe and crown, for the “Birthday King.”
The pastor has led the church for 37 years.

 

Faithful woman has a national role
Michele Bowman, who lives in Zephyrhills, has achieved something attained by only three other Floridians in 117 years. She’s been elected as one of nine national directors for the Catholic Daughters of America.
The organization promotes spiritual growth, charitable giving, community service and sisterhood.
She wants to expand the membership and to attract younger members.
“It’s a problem when your membership starts to age out” she said, in a Laker/Lutz News interview. “We may have to change the way we approach things, and I’d like to have a voice in this because I believe it’s a big issue. We should be proactive.”

 

Gesture honors a Marine’s service
Otis Felder, a retired U.S. Marine, was already having a pretty good Veterans Day — even before he made his daily trek to the dog park at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, off Collier Parkway. But when he arrived, it got even better. That’s when he was surprised by a new bench at the park, which his friends had dedicated to him. ‘Holy mackerel,’ the 84-year-old said, when he saw the bench. ‘I never expected anything like that.’

 

 

Military veteran Francis Xavier O’Connell salutes the flag during a ceremony in his honor.

Venue changes, but dignity preserved
A date had been set to honor Francis Xavier O’Connell — a decorated military veteran and a former prisoner of war — during the legislative session in Tallahassee, but that couldn’t occur because of COVID-19.
So, new plans were made to provide a socially distanced ceremony at Angels Senior Living at the Lodges of Idlewild, in Lutz, where O’Connell lives.
Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, he had to watch the ceremony through glass doors, as it was performed outside.
O’Connell’s niece, Carolyn Matthews, who was involved in arranging the tribute, said members of two veterans groups stepped forward to help create a meaningful and dignified event.

 

 

First Day, learning in-person
Beyond requirements for masks, social distancing and frequent hand-washing, the first day of school in the 2020-2021 school year will stand out for Principal Tim Light for another reason, too. It was his first ‘First Day’ leading Cypress Creek Middle School in its newly opened home on Old Pasco Road. He’d been planning for the day for months, and he was ready. ‘I’m very excited,’ Light said. ‘Honestly, I never thought this day was going to get here.’

First Day, learning remotely
Five-year-old Brooklyn Holtzman, of Land O’ Lakes, had her first day of kindergarten at home — learning remotely through Pasco County Schools’ MySchool Online. She’s enrolled at Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School. She even had a special hat for the day.

 

Celebrating the Lightning’s Stanley Cup
The Tampa Bay Lightning injected joy and excitement in the midst of a global pandemic by defeating the Dallas Stars, to bring home the Stanley Cup.
Amelie Arena was open for a limited number of spectators and outdoor watch parties were socially distanced. Spectators wore masks. (They’re not masked up in the photo, but once the picture was taken they put their masks back on.)
When the Lightning won the cup, euphoria erupted.
Mary, David and Kimberly Eberhard are loyal Lightning fans.
When she’s not cheering on the Lightning, Mary’s financial acumen helps keep The Laker/Lutz News running smoothly.

Toronto Raptors training camp a slam dunk at Saint Leo

By

When it comes to melding professional sports and higher education, Saint Leo University has been known as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ exclusive educational partner.

The partnership, which began in 2019, has featured traditional in-stadium and in-market advertising, digital and social features. and other unique fan elements. Most visible elements can be seen along massive interstate billboards and signage throughout Raymond James Stadium.

Saint Leo men’s basketball coach Lance Randall leveraged his friendship with Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse to help lure the NBA franchise to hold preseason camp at the university campus. (Courtesy of Saint Leo University athletics)

Over the last month, the university scored another professional sports franchise partner, albeit for a brief period.

Saint Leo’s on-campus Marion Bowman Activities Center served as preseason training camp host for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, from Dec. 1 through Dec. 11.

The Raptors journey to Saint Leo and the Bay Area came by way of circumstance.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the franchise was unable to start the 2020-2021 regular season in Toronto due to Canada-U.S. border restrictions.

Needing a temporary home in the U.S., the Raptors’ players voted to begin their 2020-2021 season in Tampa over cities such as Buffalo, Fort Lauderdale, Louisville, Nashville and Newark.

Raptors “home” games — at least initially —  will be played at Amalie Arena, the homesite of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, at 401 Channelside Drive in Tampa. The scheduled 72-game regular season begins Dec. 22 and is expected to run through May 16. The Raptors announced at least 17 home games will be played at Amalie Arena in the first half of the NBA season.

Besides the home arena, the Raptors, too, needed someplace nearby to hold its two weeklong training camps while construction was underway on a makeshift practice court inside a hotel ballroom at JW Marriott Tampa Water Street, in downtown Tampa.

And, that’s when some deep coaching ties came to assist.

Coaching connections
Saint Leo men’s basketball coach Lance Randall has known Raptors head coach Nick Nurse for over 20 years.

It’s a relationship dating back to when the pair was coaching against each other in Europe, more specifically in the British Basketball League. Both also coached England’s Birmingham Bullets at separate times in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They’ve remained friendly ever since.

“There’s not a ton of American coaches over there (in Europe),” Randall recently told The Laker/Lutz News, “so you tend to get to be closer with guys that are American when you’re over there and make some sort of connections and bonds.”

(Courtesy of Toronto Raptors)

It was sometime in mid-November when Randall received a random text message from Nurse, inquiring about the college’s basketball facilities as a possible camp site, as the team made preparations for a move stateside.

Randall subsequently went into recruiting pitch mode, self-assured the Bowman Center would be a slam dunk for the Raptors.

The Bowman Center has 10 basketball hoops, two full-size courts and a 4,444-square-foot weight room.

The facility also has a balcony overlooking the practice gym, which allowed team scouts and management to get a bird’s-eye view of all the action.

Add to that a serene setting devoid of distractions in rural East Pasco County, off State Road 52, some 35 miles north of the team’s downtown Tampa hotel stay.

Raptors representatives were on-campus within a week of the original text conversation, touring the facility with Randall and other university officials. They also took a look at Lake Jovita and some of the surrounding areas.

The NBA franchise clearly liked what it saw from the in-person visit.

“We have a great gym for getting better,” Randall said. “We have a lot of baskets, we have a great floor, and it just kind of made sense. And, the students are off-campus, so from that standpoint, it just kind of fell into place.”

The timing also worked for Randall’s own program.

With the status of the NCAA Division II and Sunshine State Conference season and games in limbo, Randall had no qualms with having his team conducting some routine practices at Academy at the Lakes, in Land O’ Lakes. End-of-semester final exams also took place during the time of Raptors training camp, meaning Randall’s squad was due for a break anyway.

Home away from home
For the duration of Raptors training camp, buses shuttled players, coaches and officials to Saint Leo, generally between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., each day.

As many as four shuttle buses could be seen parked at any one time next to the Bowman Center.

Raptors management strived to normalize the temporary setting, wrapping the university’s fitness center, end mats and other portions of the arena in team logos and its signature red and black color scheme.

Toronto Raptors veteran guard Fred VanVleet hones his jump shot inside Saint Leo University’s Marion Bowman Activities Center. (Courtesy of Toronto Raptors)

Practices were closed to the media and public, but both Randall and Saint Leo athletics director Fran Reidy were able to view some action from afar, at least in the early portion of training camp.

For them, it was a surreal experience witnessing an NBA team on Saint Leo’s hardwood floor, let alone one that won an NBA title in 2019 and has secured a playoff berth seven years running.

“It’s great to watch pros who really do work,” said Reidy. “You know, they didn’t get there by accident, right?

“When I was watching these guys, they’re working at their game, they’re not going through the motions. There’s guys that work out before the team practice or after the team practice on their individual part, and obviously they work on the team concept in the middle, but it is interesting to see how hard these guys work.

“To see guys that were winning an NBA championship a year ago (in 2019) in your gym with arguably one of the best coaches in the league, it was really fun to watch,” Reidy said.

Randall added: “They really just kind of locked in. They’re very professional about how they do things and they’ve been a great group, just a really classy organization. They’ve got a culture of winning and doing things the right way, and really it’s embodied everything they do, even just simple things like meeting and greeting.”

From a coach’s perspective, Randall also was captivated by the team’s “attention to detail, and the ability to facilitate those details on a moment’s notice.”

It was a valuable learning tool for his own basketball staff, he said.

On the flip side, Raptors players and coaches came away quite pleased with the university’s Southern hospitality.

In a recent Zoom media conference during camp, Nurse joyfully mentioned that Randall’s wife had baked chocolate chip cookies for the entire team.

“That’s how special the touches are around here,” said Nurse, the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year. “They’ve been gracious, gracious hosts.”

Nurse praised the Bowman Center’s basketball facilities, too. He noted how its 10 hoops are distinctly spaced out in the arena, which allowed the team’s 20-man roster to get adequate individual work in without encroaching on each other.

“We’ve got 20 players here, you’ve got a lot of bodies,” said Nurse, “so you need a lot of baskets to keep everybody active, and getting required shots in and form shooting work, and all that stuff going.”

He added: “The facilities here are perfect, really perfect, and we’re happy and fortunate we chose here and that they were able to accommodate us.”

Raptors all-star power forward Pascal Siakam likewise came away satisfied with Saint Leo’s digs.

“I think it’s been great,” Siakam said of the training camp experience at Saint Leo. “I would say we’ve been blessed to be able to have a facility like that. Definitely a shout out to Saint Leo for letting us use the gym and be a part of what they have here.

“I think it’s been great just being here and having everything under one roof. I just know, obviously, we appreciate it as a team.”

Branding boost
Those types of responses gratified Saint Leo’s athletics director, confirming the university’s sports facilities and amenities are top-notch and pro-caliber.

“We do have really good facilities. We’ve known that for a long time. Anytime we can get other people to campus, they realize the same thing. But, when a professional team comes to campus, I think it validates what you’ve been saying,” said Reidy.

Besides validation, the partnership in with the Canadian-based NBA franchise has yielded other benefits for the private Catholic university with an undergraduate on-campus enrollment of 2,000-plus.

Saint Leo naturally has gotten quite an exposure boost over the last several weeks — becoming the subject of much local, regional, national and international media attention.

Reidy believes it all could be a windfall for recruiting new student-athletes in the future.

And, not just in hoops, but even in sports like men’s lacrosse, which has seven Canadian-born players on its 2021 roster.

“We have a bunch of Canadians on our (men’s lacrosse) team, so this certainly is not going to hurt our recruiting,” Reidy said. “Because the Raptors have been here, now those kids will know that, ‘Well the Raptors were at Saint Leo, then it must be the real deal,’ so it has been a really good brand for us, really helped us at a time when we haven’t played any sports (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), we were kind of in need of a little spark, and this has been a very good experience.”

This is actually not the first time Saint Leo has played host to an NBA team.

The New Jersey Nets in 1996 held preseason training camp at the college, lodging at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel.

That partnership also happened by way of a coaching connection.

Then Nets rookie head coach John Calipari had served as a graduate assistant in 1982 at the University of Kansas under Ted Owens, Saint Leo’s athletic director at the time.

2020-2021 Toronto Raptors roster
Players

  • OG Anunoby, forward
  • Aron Baynes, center-forward
  • DeAndre’ Bembry, guard-forward
  • Chris Boucher, forward-center
  • Oshae Brissett, forward-guard
  • Terence Davis, guard
  • Henry Ellenson, forward-center
  • Malachi Flynn, guard
  • Jalen Harris, guard
  • Alize Johnson, forward
  • Stanley Johnson, forward-guard
  • Alex Len, center
  • Kyle Lowry, guard
  • Patrick McCaw, guard
  • Malcolm Miller, guard-forward
  • Norman Powell, guard
  • Pascal Siakam, forward
  • Matt Thomas, guard
  • Fred VanVleet, guard
  • Yuta Watanabe, guard-forward
  • Paul Watson, guard

Staff
Nick Nurse, head coach
Adrian Griffin, assistant
Sergio Scariolo, assistant
Jim Sann, assistant
Chris Finch, assistant
Scott McCullough, trainer

Published December 16, 2020

Local chiropractor keeps Lightning fit for ice

By

Dr. Timothy Bain dreamed of someday hoisting the NHL’s Stanley Cup, as he grew up in the Northeast and played and watched hockey.

Little did he expect, however, to actually get that rare opportunity.

“Who knew at 53 (years old) that this would happen? I thought it’d happen at like 23,” Bain quipped, in reference to hoisting the Cup, after the Lightning’s Stanley Cup win after six games against the Dallas Stars.

The Wesley Chapel resident has been the Lightning’s team chiropractor since 2011.

Tampa Bay Lightning team chiropractor Dr. Timothy Bain celebrates the organization winning its second Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Wesley Chapel resident spent 65 days with the team in the NHL playoff ‘bubble’ in Canada from late July through late September. (Courtesy of David Miles)

He also runs his own practice, B3 Medical, with locations in Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, Carrollwood and Riverview, and works with a sports performance facility at Saddlebrook Resort & Spa designed for elite-level athletes.

Bain assists Lightning players on injury prevention and body maintenance.

The scope of work includes neurological-based adjustments, post-concussion therapy, craniosacral therapy, plus other exercise therapies to help improve muscle tissue on extremities, such as feet and ankles.

“Ultimately, it’s about getting the athlete better,” Bain said, describing his role with the team.

The chiropractor’s work to enhance players’ bodies for the ice was deemed so critical that he was included in the team’s 52-member traveling party (including players and coaches) to the NHL’s quarantine “bubble” for the postseason tournament in Canada.

“They were really great at saying, ‘We need you there, we want you there, you’re a big part of our team,’ and it made me feel really good and proud of that,” Bain said.

The traveling party spent a combined 65 days at hotels in Toronto and then Edmonton through the team’s lengthy title run, from late July through late September, where all games were played without fans in attendance. The great measures were put in place to safely complete the NHL playoffs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Bain and other Lightning personnel, being away from family and home for so long was quite challenging. So, too, was being cooped up in a hotel room, ice rink or training room.

The Wesley Chapel physician made the best of it, however.

He approached it as a valuable bonding experience, particularly when the club shifted to Rogers Place in Edmonton for the conference finals, where rinks and hotels are intertwined.

He likened it to a kid’s summer camp, where everyone bunks together on the same floor and is around each other seemingly at all times.

“We lived on basically one floor, and we walked to the rink and walked back to the floor,” Bain said. “We had a really small, little treatment room, and all the guys kind of came in there and hung in there while they were getting treated, or waited to get treated, so we became a real close-knit group through this whole bubble process.

“I never want to have to leave my family again for that long, but it was a really great experience,” he said.

Boredom might’ve set in for some on non-game days, but Bain kept busy all throughout.

He worked with each of the 25-plus active players on various therapy regimens and body maintenance, all while keeping tabs on his medical businesses back in Tampa.

“Me, I really didn’t have a lot of downtime,” Bain said. “All of us therapists were extremely busy from sun up to 12 a.m., 1 a.m. We had guys working on different things and keeping them on track. You may have had an hour here or an hour there to grab a sandwich, but you really didn’t have a ton of downtime.”

Circumstances aside, seeing the Lightning win the Cup for the first time since 2004 ranks among his life’s most special moments.

“I was hoping to win a Stanley Cup since I can remember, and so this is a way to have that dream come true,” Bain said.

Like other staff members of the Lightning — Bain has since enjoyed some personal time with the Cup, like hugging it during the team’s plane ride back to the United States.

He’s partaken in other Cup traditions — kissing it, sharing drinks out of it, and otherwise marveling at it in the training room and lunchroom at team headquarters.  “We really had a lot of great time to spend with the Cup,” Bain said.

As a hockey lifer, Bain appreciates the significance of the moments.

The Tampa Bay Lightning won its second Stanley Cup in franchise history after downing the Dallas Stars in six games in the NHL finals last month. The NHL playoffs were played in Canada without fans.

Aside from playing hockey as a youth and working for the Lightning, Bain’s also been a longtime referee in the sport’s minor leagues.

The Cup is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America. Part of its lore is being the only trophy in major sports not reproduced each year.

When a team wins the Cup, they are allowed to hold on to the trophy for one year, and the name of every player, coach and front-office employee is inscribed onto it.

With that, it’s widely considered bad form for players and hockey fans to touch the Cup if their team didn’t win it in a particular year.

Naturally, Bain had never touched the Cup until now.

“There’s no trophy in the world like it, right?,” Bain said. “There’s only one of these things, and part of that joy is being able to spend some time with it.”

 

Talent, grit, leadership carried Lightning

The Lightning had its fair share of opportunities to claim an NHL championship since Bain began working for the club nearly a decade ago.

Before this banner season, Bain was sure the 2018-2019 team would win the Cup following its 62-win regular season — which tied the 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings for most by a team in the regular season in NHL history.

That squad, however, was shockingly swept in four games by then No. 8 seeded Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round.

Bain had a front row seat to that squad’s April 2019 playoff meltdown.

“We had the superstars,” he said, “(but) we didn’t necessarily have the grit and the determination and the size to get through the way that the game is (loosely) officiated and played differently throughout the playoffs.”

Bain also viewed the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 teams capable of winning a title, until key injuries to goalies and others hit at the wrong time.

This year was different though. A couple circumstances gave Bain unwavering confidence the Lightning would finally pull off a Cup win.

He credited the organization’s respective acquisitions of forwards Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow and defensemen Zach Bogosian, Pat Maroon and Luke Schenn.

Those players, Bain said, “changed the culture enough” by bringing some toughness to the club to complement its offensive-minded skill players.

The team chiropractor singled out Maroon for his leadership in bringing the team together during a critical weeklong trip to Sweden back in November.

“Where there may have been cliques before, Pat Maroon changed that,” Bain said of the 32-year-old defenseman who also won the Cup in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues, becoming the third player in the NHL expansion era to register back-to-back titles with different teams.

Another watershed moment, Bain said, came when the team was exacting revenge over Columbus in a five overtime 3-2 victory in Game 1 in the Eastern Conference first round on Aug. 11 — the fourth-longest game in NHL history.

“When we won that game, that’s when I thought, ‘This is gonna happen,’” Bain said of the possibility on the Lightning winning the Cup.

Besides the outright win, it was the team’s composed locker room between each period that opened his eyes: “When the guys were coming out or going in, they were all laughing and having fun, and there was not a guy in there that was nervous, and they kept it that way through five overtimes.”

He added: “Everybody was on the same page, they all bought into a system and put aside their own personal stuff to win a goal, and it was an amazing thing to be a part of.”

Now that he’s hoisted the Cup, Bain already has a new goal — defending the Cup in 2021, hopefully at Amalie Arena, in front of 20,000 or so screaming Lightning fans.

“That would be nice, wouldn’t it? That was the hardest part, is we weren’t able to do that with all the fans,” Bain said.

Published October 14, 2020

Reflecting on a storied broadcast career with the Tampa Bay Lightning

By

He’s the enduring voice you think about when watching the Tampa Bay Lightning on television. He’s the unflappable personality who always knows the right words, when to be serious, when to be dramatic, when to explain the situation and when to add a dash of humor.

Now, it’s time to put down the microphone, slow down a bit, count his blessings after 42 years in broadcasting and enjoy his life in Lutz.

It was Rick Peckham’s plan all along to call it quits after this past season with the Lightning, where he served as the television play-by-play announcer for 25 seasons.

Rick Peckham, left, and his Lightning broadcast partner, Brian Engblom. (Courtesy of Fox Sports Sun)

Who knew he would have this kind of exit?

The National Hockey League season was halted in March by COVID-19, then resumed in August at the Canadian virus-bubble cities of Toronto and Edmonton. Peckham’s last official call — Brayden Point’s overtime game-winner at the clinching Game 5 against Columbus in the Eastern Conference first-round series — was working off a video screen from an Amalie Arena studio.

When NBC’s national team picked up the remainder of playoff coverage and the Lightning clinched the franchise’s second Stanley Cup championship, Peckham was exchanging high-fives with his postgame-show broadcast partners at Amalie, then on the air to provide perspective. And, when Lightning players returned to Tampa for the championship celebration, it was Peckham who emceed the proceedings at Raymond James Stadium.

“All of it was truly amazing and I consider myself so fortunate to have been a part of it all,’’ said Peckham, 65.

Peckham, a graduate of Kent State University, worked minor-league hockey in Rochester, New York, then with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers before joining the Lightning in 1995-1996. Peckham and his family — wife Vickie and their two sons — settled into Calusa Trace in 1996 and have lived on a lake at Wellington Manor for the past 13 years.

Lutz feels like home.

“When we got to the Tampa Bay area, everything seemed to be growing out in this direction,’’ Peckham said. “It seemed like a convenient place to be, and it turned out to be a great decision. Everything about it suggested a great family area — kids playing in the neighborhood and riding their bikes to school — and we have loved being here.

“There has been growth, maybe too much growth in the minds of some people, but it has brought a lot of conveniences. I’m so glad we chose this area because we have made a lot of memories and now I’m looking forward to what’s to come.’’

Peckham might still be involved with some special events with the Lightning and he could play a role with the franchise’s alumni player group. For the most part, though, he’s looking forward to picking up even more rounds of golf, his beloved pastime, and maybe discovering some new hobbies.

Either way, he’s ready for a change of pace.

“When you start in minor-league hockey, you’re doing broadcasting, sales, public relations, working about 80 hours a week in season, but it’s a wonderful learning experience,’’ Peckham said. “In the NHL, there’s the constant travel. I’ve ridden a lot of buses and planes.

“You leave after the game and you’re doing a lot of unpacking at 1:30 in the morning at a hotel. In your 30s, it’s cool. In your 40s, it’s OK. By your 50s, you’re getting tired of it. In your 60s, you’re not sure if you can keep doing it. So being at home will be just fine with me. I was fortunate to see about all I needed to see and meet some great people along the way.’’

Peckham, admittedly a creature of routine who’s accustomed to a hockey schedule, said the COVID-19 shutdown opened his eyes even more to the beauty of the Lutz area.

“The funny thing is, when hockey season is roaring along, you’re so busy that sometimes you don’t realize how fortunate you are to be in Florida,’’ Peckham said. “When the game’s weren’t being played, we could get outside and the weather was just gorgeous. I took full advantage of playing golf. Other than that, we coped the best we could, and it was great that the season was able to be finished.’’

Peckham said he’ll forever be grateful for the circumstances of his final call. It was an exciting game, a dramatic overtime winner from Point, and a swirl of gratitude and emotions from others that overwhelmed him.

“It was an announcer’s dream,’’ Peckham said. “To have a game like that, a clean game-winner and an exciting finish, it could not have worked out more perfectly. There were emotions for me, sure, but overall, I tried to approach it like any other game.’’

That approach has served Peckham well for decades.

“You always tried to be honest, accurate, under control, but you always wanted to be aware of the reaction of the fans,’’ Peckham said. “The fans here really care. They’ve gone through a lot to be recognized as a hockey market. They got to win the Stanley Cup in 2004 and they’ve been so close in recent years, then they got another one.

“All of those things go into how you present the game. I’ve been fortunate to have a great situation and lots of stability. Jeff Vinik (Lightning owner) and everyone in the organization make you proud to work for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Everything has been done in a first-class manner. The way it happened for me, I couldn’t write a story and have it end any better.’’

By Joey Johnston

Published October 07, 2020