Tampa Bay Lightning Fans Code Of Conduct
The 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs are a heated time of the season, but there is a code of conduct that Tampa Bay Lightning fans should always stick to.
There is no denying the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs are an intense time of the season. There are eight teams in each conference fighting for the opportunity to defeat their opponents and move one step closer to their ultimate goal; raising the Stanley Cup high above their heads. While there is almost always an increased level of tension on the ice, sometimes it’s not the players that garner the negative attention.
As some of you may know by now, Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider passed away early last week at the age of 83 after a battle with cancer. On Monday night, which was the Flyers’ first game back at the Wells Fargo Center in their first-round series with the Washington Capitals, the Flyers paid tribute to their late owner. One of the giveaways that evening were light-up Flyers bracelets.
One day, the teams in the NHL are going to learn to not give away items that could potentially be turned into projectiles during a heated series like the one between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the story. The people over at SB Nation posted a video from the game that shines a rather unfavorable light on the Philadelphia Flyers fans.
Late in the third period, the Flyer would find themselves down 4-1 to the Capitals. If you have watched a single moment of the series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings, you know how much the intensity on the ice increases when a team finds themselves with their backs against the wall and only so much time left on the clock to make their move.
Just past the halfway point in the third period, Flyers left wing Pierre-Edouard Bellemare laid a hard, and rather dirty, hit on Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov. As Orlov remained down on the ice attended to, Flyers fans decided this was the proper time to start throwing their light up bracelets down on the ice. One of those bracelets even hit Orlov from behind.
You would think once players from both sides of the ice, like Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Flyers alternate captain Wayne Simmonds pleaded with fans to stop throwing things at the ice that things would calm down a little bit. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. Things got so out of hand the referees decided to take matters into their own hands and assessed the Flyers with a Delay of Game penalty.
That’s right…the team was punished because of the actions of their fans. Can you imagine if something like this were to happen to the Tampa Bay Lightning. How embarrassed would you be knowing that you caused your team to go down a point because of something you could have avoided with a little bit of common sense? Unfortunately for the Flyers, this is exactly what happened with Ovechkin sunk the puck in the back of the net on the preceding power play.
We’re not going to stand here on our soap box and say the Tampa Bay Lightning’s fans are not above reproach. There was an incident that occurred a couple of years back where fans were throwing their Thunder Clappers onto the ice. Thankfully, the incident didn’t get quite as out of control as the one above; however, it is still unacceptable behavior for a fanbase.
Given the amount of physicality, cheap shots, and no-calls that have gone on over the course of the first round series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings, there is no reason to believe the emotions will be calming down anytime soon.
We don’t believe the Bolts Nation as a whole would ever do anything quite as disgusting as the actions we’ve seen before; however, there is no denying there is always a few bad apples in every bunch. We understand emotions run high during a series like this one, but we implore all of you here in the Bolts Nation to consider the ramifications of your actions before acting like the Flyers fans did on Monday night.
Despite the rivalries between teams in the NHL, there is a certain code of conduct one should abide by, and chucking things at the ice while a player is being attended to by medical staff, on a night the team is paying tribute to their late owner, is not exactly a part of that code of conduct.
Next: Jason Garrison Helped Off the Ice After Blatant Slash (Video)
In other words, to make a long story short, as the series heads back to the Amalie Arena on Thursday night for Game 5 (and potentially 6) of the series, feel free to scream at the refs all you want and talk an appropriate amount of smack to the opposing team, but please refrain from acting like fools and causing the team much more harm than good in the long run.
As we step off our soapbox for the time being, make sure to stay tuned to Bolts By The Bay all night along as we bring you all the latest action from the Joe Louis Arena tonight as the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Detroit Red Wings in Game 4 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.