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Canes to Lightning: Not so fast

Submitted by ldecock on 10/08/2008 - 09:06

Tags: Talking Points

With the ~~Devil~~ Rays playing in the ALCS on Saturday, the Lightning asked the Hurricanes to move the time of Saturday night's game up to 5 p.m. from 7:30 p.m.

The Hurricanes said no, and it's hard to blame them. With a home game Friday night — the opener against the Florida Panthers — the Canes would be at a huge competitive disadvantage playing earlier.

But there's a subtext here. In the summer of 2006, the Lightning added an ice-level club to their arena and closed off the tunnel that connected the visiting locker room to the visiting bench. It was a double-whammy for visiting teams, not only forcing them to walk about 100 yards to get to the ice while depriving them of in-game access to their dressing room but forcing them to walk through a bar full of possibly inebriated Lightning fans to get to the ice.

Somehow, the NHL decided this was permissible — nominal, in fact. I wouldn't expect any NHL team to do the Lightning any favors, though.

You can still read that story online, but here's the important part — well, all of it really:

The St. Pete Times Forum used to be one of the most hassle-free arenas for a visiting team. A team would enter its bench through a door that led directly into its locker room, a pleasant change from even the newest arenas where a backup goalie must watch from a corner of the rink where his teammates enter and exit, coaches and trainers grasping the boards for life as they shuffle to the bench.

That's all gone this season. The door to the bench has been replaced by seats, and visiting teams now enter from a corner of the rink after a long walk down a hallway -- and not just any hallway. Visiting teams have to walk through a bar, filled with drunken partisans, just to get to the ice.

This may work in Edmonton, where the Oilers walk through a lounge to get to their bench, but making a visiting team do it is a recipe for disaster -- alcohol combined with fan fury.

Comments

Wow, it was only a

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 21:00 — Anonymous (not verified)

Wow, it was only a suggestion and if any of you snoop on Lightning boards or the papers there you would see majority of fans were not for the time change. I have had the chance to go to games in Tampa as I have close relatives there. Entree to that lounge is far from cheap and only those who have tickets to the first two rows at the ice can get in there. And visiting players are known to visit that lounge after the games. I was able to get in there for the last game the Canes played in Tampa and was able to talk to Ward, Ruutu, Staal, and a few others after the game while they were getting a drink after the game. I know you are new to this but maybe you should start actually talking to the players and doing some research before writing stuff, you know getting some actual facts.

Luke?? New to this??

Mon, 10/13/2008 - 10:55 — JRs_Fault

Please check who you are addressing/ who wrote the story... you most likely are referring to Chip (the other 'new' guy, that's only been with the paper for like 25 years).

What part of bush league don't you grasp?

Thu, 10/09/2008 - 09:54 — RDC (not verified)

Visiting player locker rooms should be directly accessible to and from the playing surface. If the Mullet and his home team wish to rub elbows with Tampa's beer-swilling elite b/w periods and after the game, so be it. Opposing players should not be subject to that in any NHL city.

And before you criticize Luke for pointing out how ludicrous that arrangement continues to be, perhaps you should do some research and understand he has had access in his coverage of the team for the past 5+ years that anonymous poster on a blog don't. Get over yourself already.

Under no circumstances

Thu, 10/09/2008 - 08:10 — ldecock (author)

Under no circumstances should the visiting team have to walk through a bar to get to the ice.

End of story.

Having been to that arena at least 25 times -- and probably more -- over the past eight years, I can tell you the situation for visiting teams went from one of the best in the league to one of the worst in the league with the changes made in the summer of 2006.

As for the players wandering through the bar on their way to the bus...there's no other way to get from the dressing room to the bus.

I would have

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 14:43 — esteban1949

I would have said NO & Heck No to them as well...and for any team having to walk through the bar/lounge ...looks like a set up for a sequal...To Slap Shot...the training film for defencemen and penalty killers...from the All washed up leauge...but i could be wrong ? Couldn't I ?

Go Canes,Rats & Chiefs !!

The Lightning front office could...

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 13:10 — RDC (not verified)

....offer to play the game in Raleigh since the seemingly overflowing local fan base for the D-Rays (who knew?) here will be watching on TV while any self-respecting Floridian will no doubt be viewing anything but hockey on Saturday night.

As for the walk of shame opposing players must endure in Tampa, perhaps we should return the favor by letting the RBC traffic manager escort Canes opponents to the visiting locker room by way of the arena parking lot. Hell hath no fury like a Canes fan who has to circumnavigate that labyrinth.

Good for the Canes! It's bad

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 13:04 — Dave (not verified)

Good for the Canes! It's bad enough they get hosed every year with more back-to-back (home then away) tilts than most of the other NHL teams. The 'Ning can stuff it. Melrose needs all the extra time he can get to work on his pre-game mullet.

Have they lost it !

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 13:04 — canesgirl2247 (not verified)

I mean that makes no sense! What if a player just walks through there and some people partying in the bar decides you know what would be funny lets trip him ! You know it is one thing to get hurt on the ice but to get hurt making it to the ice is a whole nother deal ! Hope no one is seriously hurt on the ice and has to go to the locker room....

That is just Stupid ! ! Like KenG said make the home team do it !

If anyone should walk

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 12:00 — KenG (not verified)

If anyone should walk through the bar it should be the home team. When they do good they can get cheered, when they suck they can hear the boos too. That is absurd, but what do you expect...

Now this is some interesting

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 10:38 — Itrain (not verified)

Now this is some interesting reporting. Glad the Canes said no. All of a sudden Tampa realizes it has a pro baseball team and they want other pro sports in the area to lay down for them? I think not.

"Devil Rays"

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 10:30 — I really don't care (not verified)

They're just the Tampa Bay Rays now. I don't care, really, but I guess if we get annoyed by how non-hockey specialist reporters screw up hockey stuff, we should at least get something as simple as a baseball team's name right (especially when their farm team is a local team).

"Devil" Rays

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 11:48 — ldecock (author)

Actually, I meant to put that in ~~strikethrough~~ as a joke and forgot. Thanks for reminding me.

I'll bet Gary Bettman loved

Wed, 10/08/2008 - 09:48 — Anonymous (not verified)

I'll bet Gary Bettman loved this idea of the visiting team walking through the bar!

They won't do anything about it until somebody gets hurt... because that is the way the NHL is run... kind of sucks.

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