Lightning plan to evacuate to Raleigh ahead of Milton, season opener

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 7, 2024

Published in Hockey

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TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The Lightning have been forced to evacuate Tampa Bay before due to an approaching hurricane. But the challenge that faces them now with Milton is different than when they relocated training camp to Nashville two years ago to avoid Ian.

Many players had their homes and property damaged by storm surge from Helene less than two weeks ago. After Monday’s practice at Amalie Arena, they hurriedly packed their equipment bags and prepared to evacuate that night to Raleigh, N.C., where they will continue preparations for Friday’s regular season opener against the Hurricanes.

“We barely recovered from the last (hurricane) before it starts again,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. “It’s tough, but we’ve still got to prepare for Friday. ... It’s obviously hard, but we’ve got to be business when we’re at the rink. But it’s going to be worse for those people who are going to be affected.”

The preseason finale against Nashville that had been scheduled for Monday in Tampa was canceled.

“We’d like to probably play another game, but that’s what it is,” Hedman said. “We’re pros. The most fun is to play regular season games, so we’re super excited for that. We’ve had really good practices, and there have been some tough ones, good battles, and we’ve just got to be ready for opening night.”

The Lightning travel party planning to head to North Carolina included players’ families and pets, though some players already had made arrangements for their families to evacuate on their own.

“If we couldn’t bring our family or pets, we wouldn’t go with the team; we would figure out our own stuff,” said center Nick Paul. “So, I think the team knows that and knows how important our family is. So, they do a good job of getting everyone together.”

Monday’s practice was long and intense, with the team running drills on everything from 2-on-1s to 6-on-5 and 4-on-3 situations, as well as small-ice corner puck battles.

“It’s always a little stressful time, but we’ve got a job to do,” coach Jon Cooper said. “A little bit more on our plate right now, but we’ll just look after everything at home and prepare for what we have to do Friday night.”

Top-line left wing Jake Guentzel abruptly left the practice early and didn’t return when the team took power play reps at the end of practice. Asked if it was a cause for concern, Cooper flatly said, “No.”

Paul said the players who were on the team when it evacuated to Nashville in 2022 have been helping others who have never experienced a hurricane.

“I wouldn’t say we’re calm about it, but definitely have more confidence about it — what to do with pets, what’s going on, stuff like that,” Paul said. “People are moving on their own and going to go see family, and how to go about that and highway situations and stuff like that.

“So, yeah, there’s a lot of experience in this room, and if you’re a little panicky or anxious about something, coming in here and seeing the confidence and calmness of a lot of guys, I think helps a lot.”

Saturday’s home opener against Carolina is in jeopardy of being postponed, but the situation remains fluid as Milton approaches the west coast of Florida. Regardless of the storm’s severity, first responders that normally would work the game might be best utilized dealing with the aftereffects.

Also Monday, the Lightning made their season-opening roster official before the 5 p.m. ET deadline, reassigning defenseman Max Crozier to AHL Syracuse to get $618,000 under the $88 million salary cap. The team still can make additional moves before Friday’s opener.

The 22-player roster will have 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders, and include 20-year-old top forward prospect Conor Geekie, who arrived from Utah in June in the Mikhail Sergachev trade.

It’s unclear whether forwards Luke Glendening and/or Mikey Eyssimont, who spent training camp recovering from injuries, will be available to start the season. Cooper was hopeful Sunday that both would be options.

Forward Logan Brown, who made a push for a roster spot before getting injured, was released from his professional tryout contract but is expected to sign an AHL deal and go to Syracuse.

All three players placed on waivers Sunday — forwards Gage Goncalves and Jesse Ylonen, and defenseman Steven Santini — cleared and will report to Syracuse.

Two non-roster players who did not participate in camp due to injuries — forward Jack Finley and forward Gabriel Fortier — will open the season on the injured non-roster list.

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