Tampa Bay Lightning Players: Off-Season? More like wedding season
A couple of Tampa Bay Lightning players have made this off-season a rather special one by taking a rather large leap.
The off-season is one of those times where players finally get an opportunity to take a break from the rough and tumble life on the road and actually spend some time at home with their families. This doesn’t mean there isn’t quite a bit of hard work preparing for the new season, but it is definitely at a different pace.
The difference between this off-season and your normal, run-of-the-mill off-season is a couple of Tampa Bay Lightning players made the conscious decision to make this off-season stand out above the rest. No, this doesn’t mean they’ve all adapted former Lightning captain Martin St. Louis’ insane training regimen.
No, this is something incredibly and entirely different. This is something that one hopes only happens once in a lifetime and has an everlasting impact on a player’s life. For two Tampa Bay Lightning players, this off-season has quickly transformed into wedding season!
Everything kicked into gear on June 30, 2017. This is the day Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos would marry his longtime girlfriend Sandra Porzio. Former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Teddy Purcell posted a pre-wedding picture of himself and the captain.
Once the nuptials had taken place and the party had kicked into high gear, fans were quickly treated to an Instagram post from former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nate Thompson. What’s a little kiss between two friends, right?
Just like that, one of the most eligible bachelors on the team is off the table once and for all. The important question now is whether or not the captain will be good-to-go when the new season kicks off on October 6?
This brings us to the next Tampa Bay Lightning player to take the ultimate plunge this off-season. The Stamkos wedding took us north to Canada, but this next wedding takes us to a whole other place entirely. The next wedding takes us all the way to Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
In case you haven’t guessed already, or you haven’t seen the amazing hashtag #MeetTheHedmans, the next Tampa Bay Lightning player to take the massive leap into Holy Matrimony is Lightning defenseman, Victor Hedman. Hedman officially tied the knot with his girlfriend Sanna Grundberg.
Tampa Bay Lightning Public Relations Director Brian Breseman posted a picture of the Wedding Party (at least the groom’s side) on his Instagram Page. Needless to say, there are a lot of familiar faces in this one photo.
The next image we found was thanks to the glorious #MeetTheHedmans hashtag. Below is an absolutely beautiful picture of the newly minted Mr. and Mrs. Hedman.
There is no denying these two make one incredibly beautiful couple. The good news for Lightning fans is with Victor Hedman signing an eight-year contract extension, fans will have plenty of opportunities to get to know the new Mr. and Mrs. rather well.
Oh, we forgot to mention something rather important. Congratulations to Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ondrej Palat and his wife Barbora celebrated their one-year anniversary this weekend in Paris, France. There is no denying these two are blissfully in love.
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So…what’s next for these two newly married Tampa Bay Lightning stars? Well, the 2017-18 hockey season, for starters. However, who know….maybe next season we’ll be effectively stalking the hashtag #BabyWatch? Is this in the cards for either couple? Who knows? At the very least, it will be an interesting journey.