Lace up the boots and break out the Stammer sweater.
Hockey season is back.
And the one team in this town that has remained a consistent pressure bomb of peak sports moments, unrivaled excellence and overall immaculate vibes kicks the entire NHL season off at Amalie Arena Tuesday night.
The Lightning’s GAME ONe celebration ahead of its 5:30 p.m. matchup with Nashville is loaded with festivities throughout Ford Thunder Alley and Water Street. So much so that a failsafe game plan must be put in place in order to get you out of the office and into an unforgettable afternoon of Tampa Bay Lightning hockey. The mayor has already approved our PTO requests for October 10, giving us a full send to get started early. Welcome to the official pregame guide to GAME ONe.
12:00 p.m. – Pregame Meal
Where: Downtown Tampa/Water Street/Channelside
Every good game day needs a nutritional anchor to propel your next ten-or-so hours. A power lunch. A meeting of the minds. A Reservoir Dogs breakfast. GAME ONe’s is best enjoyed at any number of top-level establishments within walking distance of Amalie Arena. The destination depends on strategy and desires an adequate setting for team building. Looking for a quick meet-up on your way into the big show? Sparkman Wharf or Sail could be the move. Keeping all things Lightning and on-theme for the day? Hattricks Tavern and Yeoman’s are two of the best sports bars in the neighborhood. Feeling sky-high for Opening Night? We won’t hold you back from shucking a few oysters and popping a bottle on the rooftop of The Edition. You only get one GAME ONe a year.
1:30 p.m. – Arrive at GAME ONe Celebration
Where: Ford Thunder Alley
The Bolts’ blown out block party starts at 1 p.m. and features live music and food & drink specials throughout the day. Local soul man Kristopher James has rocked stages from the Arts Club to Gasparilla Music Festival and touts a band of some of the best instrumentalists in town. He’ll be performing on Water Street from 1 to 3 p.m. Back in Thunder Alley you can find a multitude of vendors dishing out $4 dogs, burgers and domestic beers along with dynamite specials from the Culinary Gods at Loli’s Mexicans Cravings and Wicked Oak Barbecue.
The Publix Plaza Kids Zone will also be rocking with a face painter and balloon twister (the classics never go out of style). And for those in the market for fresh Bolts merch, the Tampa Bay Sports Store will open at 12 p.m. sharp with new collection drops for the 2023-24 season.
To top it all off, special prizes, future Lightning tickets, concert tickets, autographed memorabilia and more will all be available to win throughout the afternoon on the Tampa Bay Lightning App. But you must be in attendance to win.
2:30 p.m. – Lightning Arrive at Blue Carpet Walk
Where: Ford Thunder Alley
In case you haven’t caught it over on social, the Lightning are renowned for arriving to games and team flights as if they’re strolling into page 55 of next month’s Esquire. So if handsome athletes dressed in finely tailored Italian suits is your thing, the Blue Carpet Walk is a sartorial can’t-miss.
3:15 p.m. – Grammy Award-Winning Artist Big Boi Performs
Where: Ford Thunder Alley Stage
He is the legend Daddy Fat Sax. Sir Lucious Leftfoot. Chico Dusty. General Patton. Hot Tub Tony Francis. Cooler than a polar bear’s toenails.
Big Boi.
One of the most iconic artists of a generation and one-half of Outkast—the only hip-hop artist ever to win "Album of the Year" at the GRAMMYs for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—takes the stage at 3:15 p.m. for a righteous dose of hits before hockey. It’s not often one gets an opportunity to catch an artist of this caliber for free. If you happen to look into the crowd Tuesday and see a tall man in a suit waving his tie around like a helicopter to “ATLiens,” feel free to say hello. I’m harmless.
4:15 p.m. – A So Fresh, So Clean Beverage
Where: Cigar City Taproom or 3 Corners Pizza
After a performance as monumental as this, you’ll need a decompression situation to hit the reset button. A brief moment and conversation to switch gears back into hockey mode. The newly opened 3 Corners Pizza and Cigar City Taproom are great places to do so, with the former boasting a full bar and the latter offering an optimal view of Parrotfish rocking back on Ford Thunder Alley Stage from 4:20 to 5:30 p.m.
5:30 – Puck Drop
Where: Amalie Arena
The boys are back and are as rested and ready as ever to put the league on notice:
The Bolts still have the juice.
Minor Vezina-winning goaltender setback? Sure. [wipes sweat from forehead] But losing an all-star for a few months hasn’t stopped this team from making a run in the past. And it won’t stop the Thunder from turning it up to 11 when the Tesla coils fire Tuesday night.
Postgame Celebration
Where: Cigar City Brewing Taproom
The game was amazing. The Bolts won, you bought a new hat at the team store, your crew got on the jumbotron twice (!!) and Nikita Kucherov smiled and waved at you directly after scoring the game-winning goal.
Now it’s time for the postgame celly. And an early puck drop means plenty of time for #afters. The official landing spot is right back outside at Thunder Alley and Cigar City Brewing Taproom with more discounted drink specials and live music. The unofficial landing spot is wherever your proverbial hockey spirit takes you. The Bolts are so back.
