Team Tampa Bay's Take by Joey Johnston - The NCAA Men's Frozen Four Has Landed!

By Joey Johnston

The first team charter — from Sun Country Airlines, appropriately enough — touched down Tuesday afternoon at about 3:40. The Michigan Wolverines had landed. Tampa Bay’s Frozen Four adventure was officially on — again.

Wolverines freshman forward Adam Fantilli had saucer-big eyes, once he reached the special-for-Michigan “blue carpet’’ outside the plane.

“Are you kidding? Wow!’’ Fantilli said with a smile as his team was surrounded by local dignitaries, youth hockey players, and Michigan supporters. Pirates from Gasparilla’s Ye Mystic Krewe draped Frozen Four bead necklaces around the players’ heads. A steel drum band played nearby.

All of the Frozen Four teams got similar treatment. Players were handed bottled water and oranges, then they posed for photographs by a giant Frozen Four puck and the NCAA men’s hockey championship trophy before being whisked by bus to their team hotel.

“We know you’re on a business trip, but we wanted to be the first to welcome you to our hometown,’’ Tampa Bay Sports Commission executive director Rob Higgins said. “Team Tampa Bay will be with you every step of the way. Do you feel our energy?’’

The Wolverines certainly did. So did the Boston University Terriers. And the Quinnipiac University Bobcats. And the Minnesota Golden Gophers (for the record, BU was welcomed with a red carpet and Minnesota a maroon carpet, in keeping with their team colors, while Michigan and Quinnipiac each had blue carpets).

No detail too small.

Speaking of details, special kudos to players and staff from Quinnipiac, which arrived in polo shirts and shorts, all the better to enjoy Tampa Bay’s relaxing tropical conditions.

“We’re so lucky to be here in Tampa — a great city and a true Hockey Town,’’ BU senior defenseman Domenick Fensore said as he basked in the mid-afternoon temperature of 88 degrees. “We’re here to make some unforgettable memories.’’

That mirrored the message from Steve Griggs, president and CEO of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, who greeted the teams on the tarmac.

“When our club won the Stanley Cup (most recently in 2021), our general manager (Julien BriseBois) told us, ‘You have 10,000 moments in life. And you probably only remember a hundred of them.’ For all of you guys, this will be one of the hundred moments that you remember,’’ Griggs said.

“Remember this week. Cherish all the moments. You’re with your boys, your brothers, trying to win a championship. And we’re going to have raucous crowds to cheer you on. So enjoy your experiences here.’’

This week, Tampa Bay is the college hockey capital of the world.

Twenty years ago, such a scene would have been unimaginable.

But as the NCAA Frozen Four begins its third run in Tampa Bay — the sold-out semifinals are Thursday at downtown Tampa’s Amalie Arena with the sold-out championship game set for Saturday night — it’s still a question worth asking.

Tampa Bay’s transformation to Hockey Bay?

How in the heck did that happen?

Growing The Game

Maybe it’s old news for the locals by now. After all, the Tampa Bay Lightning have earned three Stanley Cups, while playing in the finals on two other occasions. Youth hockey has exploded in interest, while high schools and local colleges have ultra-competitive club teams.

Lightning home games are an occasion — the franchise’s 325 consecutive sellouts were halted only by COVID and the arena remains covered with fans wearing the blue and white sweaters of their favorite Tampa Bay players. Everywhere you look, there are “Go Bolts!’’ banners hanging from the windows of businesses and restaurants.

In the last decade, since introducing its “Build The Thunder’’ program, the Lightning have visited nearly 300 schools to promote hockey and teach the game to students, while giving away more than 100,000 street hockey sticks and helping to build 10 outdoor street hockey rinks.

In the Lightning’s early days, there were two ice-hockey rinks in the Tampa Bay area. Now there are 14.

“When I first got here (in 1997-98), we were losing 50 games a year,’’ said former Lightning defenseman Jassen Cullimore, now the team’s director of community hockey. “My first three years, I think we had three new owners, three new GMs and three new coaches. But we stuck with it and won our first Stanley Cup (in 2004).

“What hockey was in Tampa Bay when the franchise started and when I got here to what it is now? It’s like night and day.’’

In 1990, Tampa was improbably awarded an NHL franchise — “The Puck Stops Here!’’ screamed the Tampa Bay Times front-page headline, while a photograph featured Tampa mayor Sandy Freedman triumphantly lifting a hockey stick above her head — but the road was bumpy.

Lightning founding father Phil Esposito brought Wayne Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings and Mario Lemieux’s Pittsburgh Penguins to St. Petersburg’s Florida Suncoast Dome (now Tropicana Field) for an exhibition that he said would begin hockey’s solid future in Florida. More than 25,000 tickets were sold. But the portable rink, installed in a stadium designed for baseball, had a malfunctioning cooling system that left puddles of water on the ice surface and caused the game to be delayed.

In the inaugural 1992-93 season, the Lightning played in the Florida Expo Hall, located on the grounds of the Florida State Fairgrounds. During the fair’s run, cotton-candy kiosks and livestock exhibits were nearby. It was so cramped, the Zamboni was parked outside. And it was a barn — literally — because the elephants were often housed in the building.

The Lightning played three seasons in St. Petersburg (when the building was called the ThunderDome) and the high point was drawing a record 25,945 fans for the team’s first home playoff game in 1996. Stability was provided during the opening of the team’s downtown Tampa arena, the scene of the Lightning’s Game 7 triumph in the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. The organization thrived under Bill Davidson’s ownership with Coach John Tortorella directing a cast that included Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, Brad Richards and the veteran, Dave Andreychuk.

But true stability occurred when Jeff Vinik became the owner in 2010. Not only have the Lightning become one of the NHL’s marquee franchises — winning the Cup in 2020 and 2021, then falling in the 2022 Finals — but now they’re a community treasure.

At each home game, the Lightning presents a $50,000 grant to a non-profit organization through its Community Hero program. The game presentation — everything from the lightning-throwing Tesla coils to the digital pipe-organ music to the riveting National Anthem renditions by Sonya Bryson-Kirksey — is top-notch and must-see. The Lightning rank No. 1 in the NHL’s Net Promoter Score, which measures the fan experience and customer service.

The hockey itself remains at a championship level with the presence of luminaries such as Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

“This is just a wonderful place to play and a wonderful place to coach,’’ said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who recently passed a decade’s worth of service, making him the longest-running professional sports coach in Tampa Bay history.

Return Of The Frozen Four

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s evolution is a compelling story in its own right, an elite franchise that has led the NHL’s charge through the Sun Belt and other non-traditional markets.

But how did college hockey — a sport with the nearest team hundreds of miles away from Tampa — enter the picture?

“We get the opportunity to host a once-in-a-lifetime event for the third time,’’ Higgins saiid. “It speaks to how the Tampa Bay area has embraced hockey at every level — the NHL, the youth and grassroots efforts and college hockey as well. We always believed this event would be great in Tampa Bay and now we get another opportunity to showcase the enthusiasm of our community.’’

Following the Lightning’s first Stanley Cup championship in 2004, Higgins and Lightning executive Bill Wickett took a side trip from the 2005 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament and visited the University of Alabama-Huntsville (then the nearest hockey-playing school to Tampa). What if Tampa Bay pursued the Frozen Four — probably a long-shot at best, according to conventional thinking. Jim Harris, then the UA-H athletic director, was on board.

When Tampa Bay made its formal pitch to the NCAA committee, St. Louis, an all-time Lightning favorite, put things over the top by extolling the area’s virtues and sharing his experiences as a University of Vermont player.

Originally, bids were sought for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Frozen Four events. When the committee off-handedly asked Higgins if Tampa Bay might be interested in hosting the 2012 Frozen Four — a possibility that hadn’t been on the table — Higgins nodded affirmatively and pulled out hotel commitments for 2012 that he had researched and confirmed (just in case).

Tampa Bay had its Frozen Four.

Still, there were skeptics galore.

“We were really concerned going to Tampa — and most of college hockey was,’’ said retired Boston College coach Jerry York, whose Eagles won the 2012 Frozen Four in Tampa. “We were very concerned it wouldn’t fly. Was it too far for people to go? The majority of our programs were Northern and Midwestern. Would it sell? Were the Lightning going to be receptive?

“Everything was so non-traditional. But the reception we got, the walk-ability from the hotel to the rink, how the fan base took over the whole area … it was a surprise and we all felt very, very welcome.’’

Tuesday afternoon, when the Frozen Four teams arrived in Tampa, there was nothing but good vibes from all the players and coaches.

“You walk off the plane here and get a greeting like this … and you know you’ve walked into a big-time environment,’’ Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “We’ve been here before (2016 Frozen Four). It’s great. I think we should be coming here more often.’’

That’s the feeling of Minnesota coach Bob Motzko, who has endured a brutal winter in his home state. April Fool’s Day alone brought 8 inches of snow, power outages and dozens of people stranded at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

“There’s more snow coming tomorrow (Wednesday), but we’re here in Tampa now,’’ Motzko said. “We’ve had an awful winter. I’m telling you, there’s going to be a pile of Minnesota people down here for the Frozen Four.

“This is a great tournament field and a great site. I know we want to take the Frozen Four all over the country, but sometimes you just get a home-run destination. I’m not on the committee, but I think Tampa Bay is a spot you’d like to have on the regular rotation. We’re thrilled to be here.’’

Welcome to Tampa Bay.

Welcome to Hockey Bay.

For Tampa Bay’s Frozen Four, it already looks like the third time is a charm.

Previous Men's Frozen Four Team Tampa Bay's Take

• Team Tampa Bay's Take with Joey Johnston: A Frozen Four to Remember
• Sunshine State Semifinals
• Friday at the Frozen Four
• More Praise for Tampa Bay
• Tarmac Arrivals
• Chad Tolliver
• Selection Sunday