It was a whirlwind 24+ hours for Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Jack Finley. It started off normally enough as he was practicing with the Syracuse Crunch as they prepared for their Wednesday clash with the Providence Bruins. Then he got the call. Due to Brayden Point being a healthy scratch after missing a mandatory meeting, the Bolts needed another center for their game against the Boston Bruins. That center ended up being Finely.
Following the 6-2 loss, he spoke with media about his day and his debut.
The 22-year-old described it as a “whirlwind” day as he found during the middle of practice that he would be joining the Lightning. He didn’t have much time to process it as he had to jump on a plane, drop his stuff off at the hotel, shower, and then head over to the rink.
From there, he had his welcome to the NHL moment when he stepped onto the ice for warm-ups. As has become tradition, he had a solo lap before the rest of the team joined him to get ready for the game.
“When I went out for warm-ups, it was insane. I don’t think I’ve ever had that many people just watching me on the ice. So, I was a little bit nervous. I was nervous I was gonna fall. When I came out there, it kind of hit me that I made it, and it’s unbelievable,” he told the media after the game.
Making it even more special was the fact that Jeff Finley, his father and 15 year NHL veteran who scored one goal in 19 career games against the Lightning, was there to see it. The elder Finley has worked as a scout for the Winnipeg Jets and was on his way to Syracuse to watch his kid play for the Crunch. Luckily, he was able to re-route his flight and make it to TD Garden in time for Jack’s debut.
“I just think he’ll be excited. He’s helped me so much my whole life and growing up, just following hockey through him. It makes me pretty emotional, just thinking about it. I’m excited he could make it and excited to give him a hug.”
It was obvious that he was pretty choked up thinking about it, and why wouldn’t he be. It hasn’t been the smoothest journey for the 6’6″ center over the last few seasons as he’s endured a few injuries and is just 10 games into his season following a seven-month rehab. There were likely some moments of doubt about the future of his career while enduring surgeries and working through recovery.
Despite the emotion of the night, the 2020 draft pick didn’t look out of place as he recorded one shot on goal in 8:25 of ice time. It was a quality chance as he used his size to shield a defender away from him and snapped a shot on Jeremy Swayman off of a feed from behind the net. The Boston netminder was able to make the stop without a rebound, but it was an example of the offense that Finley could bring to the Lightning in the future.
He was credited with one hit and won three of his five face-offs on the night. The Lightning had a positive shot-attempt share (63.64%) and scoring-chance share (60%) while he was on the ice as well. He also got a first-hand taste of some of the animosity between the two organizations as he was part of more than a couple after-whistle scrums on the night. He praised the Lightning for sticking up for each other and “answering the bell” when they needed to, a reference to the Emil Lilleberg fight.
His first stay with the Lightning was brief and he’ll head back to Syracuse, in time to take on Boston’s AHL affiliate, to continue getting back into game shape as the Lightning reassigned him on Wednesday. It’s not likely to be his last time wearing the blue and white, and if last night was any indication, he could be filling a spot on the bottom-six on a regular basis sometime soon.