As we close out another week without hockey, the Tampa Bay Lightning gave us a little something to look forward to for next season. On Friday they announced their themed nights for the upcoming season. Currently on the schedule are 22 Theme Nights and 5 Group Nights. Outside of the dates, not much information was released.
While each of the Theme Nights will be celebrated throughout the night, the players will not wear any special jerseys (like Erik Cernak sported in the picture above during warm-ups before the St. Patrick’s Day game back in 2019) as they continue to follow the edict set forth from the league that started last season. However, the team won’t let any of these opportunities to make money pass them by so there will likely be plenty of pucks, t-shirts, artwork, and other assorted trinkets for purchase in the gift shops and on line.
So far it’s just the dates that they’ve announced (coincidently on the same day they opened up single-game ticket sales). More details will emerge the closer we get to the actual events. Things kick off with the Game ONe (it’s Game On and Game One together, get it?) for the home opener on Saturday October 12th. The organization promises the return of the blue carpet, specials on food and drink, live entertainment, and $20,000 in giveaways. It should be fun!
The rest of the Theme Nights are:
NOCHE LATINA, PRESENTED BY GTE FINANCIAL
Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Wild
HALLOWEEN NIGHT
Saturday, October 26 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Capitals
MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT, PRESENTED BY USAA
Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Flyers
HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER NIGHT, PRESENTED BY MOFFITT CANCER CENTER
Monday, November 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Avalanche
THANKSGIVING GAME, PRESENTED BY BALLY SPORTS
Wednesday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Lightning vs. Capitals
90’s NIGHT
Thursday, December 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Sharks
HOLIDAY GAME, PRESENTED BY FLORIDA BLUE
Tuesday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Blue Jackets
HOLIDAY GAME
Thursday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Blues
HOLIDAY GAME, PRESENTED BY BUSCH GARDENS
Sunday, December 22 at 5:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Panthers
FIRST RESPONDERS NIGHT, PRESENTED BY FDOT
Thursday, January 16 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Ducks
GASPARILLA NIGHT
Saturday, January 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Red Wings
HOCKEY TALKS NIGHT
Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Blackhawks
BLACK HERITAGE NIGHT, PRESENTED BY CHASE INK
Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Flames
PRIDE NIGHT
Tuesday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Blue Jackets
TEACHER APPRECIATION NIGHT
Thursday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Sabres
ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION
Monday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Flyers
WOMEN IN SPORTS NIGHT, PRESENTED BY RAYMOND JAMES
Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Utah
KIDS DAY, PRESENTED BY ADVENTHEALTH
Saturday, March 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Islanders
NEURODIVERSITY NIGHT, PRESENTED BY JABIL
Wednesday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Maple Leafs
GO GREEN NIGHT, PRESENTED BY TECO, SYSCO, JANI-KING AND REROUTE
Friday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Red Wings
FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT, PRESENTED BY AMALIE ARENA
Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Panthers
Separate from Theme Nights are their Group Nights. Are we intrigued to see what they do for “Pickleball Night”? Yes, yes we are. Will there be a special pickleball paddle to purchase like the Rays had for their night back in April? Hopefully!
PICKLEBALL NIGHT
Thursday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Golden Knights
FRIENDS NIGHT
Thursday, December 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Sharks
JEWISH HERITAGE
Thursday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Blues
KREWE NIGHT
Saturday, January 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Red Wings
FAITH AND FAMILY NIGHT
Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Flames
GIRLS HOCKEY
Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Utah Hockey Club
GIRL SCOUTS
Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Utah Hockey Club
SCHOOL ALUMNI NIGHT
Friday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Red Wings
BOY SCOUTS
Sunday, April 13 at 6:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Sabres
GIRL SCOUTS
Sunday, April 13 at 6:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Sabres
GOLF NIGHT
Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Lightning vs. Panthers
More Hockey News
Connor Geekie’s professional hockey career consists of two playoff games for the Tucson Roadrunners last season. That doesn’t mean he’s conceding a return to the AHL to begin his Bolts career. In an interview with NHL.com, the 20 year-old confesses that his goal is to make the Lightning out of training camp. It’s been done before. Back in 2016, a 20 year-old Brayden Point forced the team’s hand and made the team a little earlier than they were planning. His career has turned out pretty well.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was on the ice with some aspiring goaltenders a couple of weeks ago. The Lightning crew had him mic’d up. He chats with the kids and gives them advice. His “good thing we have blue paint here” was probably in regards to positioning, but with all of the questionable interference calls in his crease over the last few years has a bit of a double meaning. Also, the tie-dye jerseys the kids were wearing were pretty sharp.
Much like Tiger Woods limping down the fairways at Torrey Pines back in 2008, an almost one-legged Gabriel Landeskog helped his Colorado Avalanche teammates win the Stanley Cup back in the early summer of 2022. Yes, it came at the expense of a Lightning three-peat, but for the guy who had been with the franchise for 11 years and 738 games, it was a heck of a moment. And a costly one. He hasn’t played a meaningful game of hockey since, missing the past two seasons after undergoing cartilage replacement surgery to help with his ailing knee.
Landeskog was back on the ice towards the end of last season, but wasn’t cleared to play. The soon-to-be 32 year-old has kept grinding through his rehab and hopes to be back on the team at some point early next season according to his head coach, Jared Bednar. He’ll probably start the season on LTIR which will give the Avs a chance to figure out how to accommodate his $7 million cap hit when he is ready to return.
One of the employees tasked with that calculation will be new assistant general manager Andrew Wilson, who the team hired away from the league offices last week. Wilson had been with the league for 18 years in various roles, spending the last three seasons as the vice-president of central registry. Among other duties, that department is responsible for making sure teams are cap compliant, so he comes to Colorado with plenty of experience in that respect.
A couple of other teams made front office moves over the last few days with Carolina hiring Tyler Dellow in a similar role as Wilson’s new gig. Dellow will also be responsible for overseeing the Hurricanes analytical department. If that name seems familiar, Dellow was at the forefront of the hockey analytics movement as a blogger/writer before heading up the analytics teams in Edmonton and then New Jersey. The team also promoted Darren Yorke to associate general manager. Yorke has been with the organization for 15 years and worked his way from video scout to director of player personnel.
