It's where we first heard the term 'bubble' as it related to NHL teams competing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Lightning as well as the rest of the playoff teams were confined to the Scotiabank Arena rink, their hotel and the surrounding couple of blocks around the quarantined hotel that were fenced off so only players, coaches and staff could enter.
The experience was trying, especially as the days spent inside a hotel room added up. No outsiders were allowed inside the bubble. That meant family and friends had to watch on television from a far. But the bonds created between the players and staff during that ordeal continue to this day. And for the Lightning, it was especially memorable seeing as how they were the one team to come through it all hoisting the Stanley Cup once it was all over 65 days later.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was asked if he has good memories of the time the Lightning spent in Toronto in August of 2020.
"Yeah, great ones," he said, smiling.
Tampa Bay is back in Toronto under more normal circumstances tonight as it takes on the Maple Leafs in a regular season contest in front of fans at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. puck drop). The Lightning aren't lodging at Hotel X, where they stayed during their time in the Toronto bubble. But, Cooper said, they might swing by for nostalgia purposes. Next door to Hotel X is BMO Field, home of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts and Major League Soccer's Toronto FC. The Lightning spent a lot of the down time at BMO Field playing soccer, throwing a football or baseball around on the grass or just getting outside with the weather at its absolute peak in the northern city.
Later in that postseason run, the Lightning would say they were lucky to be in the Eastern Conference and start the journey in Toronto with the accommodations and the easy access to outdoor recreational activities, much easier than Western Conference teams that were confined to one area in Edmonton for the entirety of the playoffs without the benefit of an outdoor stadium nearby.
"There's definitely good vibes there," Cooper said. "A lot of fond memories of Toronto in Hotel X."
The last time the Lightning played in Toronto, there were no fans in the stands. Scotiabank Arena was empty, save for the players and staff and a handful of people from the NHL. They rotated locker rooms during their bubble stay, getting familiar with the four rooms available for teams.
Tonight, they'll be in the customary visitors room.
"We were in them all. The Columbus game I know vividly we were in the Leafs room for that one," Cooper recalled of the epic 5OT Game 1 victory in the opening round over the Blue Jackets. "I remember that vividly. It was that room, there was the visitors room, the Raptors room and then they had an auxiliary room in the back. We were in that one too. There was no bias. Even the Leafs were put in other rooms. They didn't get their room the whole time. You got to be in them all."
The coaches are typically placed in adjoining rooms to the visitors locker facility when they go on the road, but in the bubble scenario all the coaching staffs shared a facility.
"We were all in the suites underneath the stands, all the coaches from all the teams," Cooper said. "You weren't in the room, so it was a different type of setup. Most definitely different walking around that arena now, especially with fans back in the building."
The last time the Lightning were in Toronto under normal circumstances was also the final time things would be normal for quite a while. The Maple Leafs were the final team the Lightning faced on March 10, 2020 before the NHL season paused two days later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That day in Toronto, different protocols were already being undertaken as the world was just beginning to learn about the severity of the virus. Media were no longer allowed in locker rooms for interviews after morning skate and the game. Instead, a table was set up in a room where the players and coaches sat while the media were separated by an invisible six-foot barrier of space. A stack of hockey pucks on the table helped to prop up all of the media's microphones and recorders.
"What year was that? 2020?," Cooper said, shaking his head, "So much has gone on since then."
