RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning players and coaches expressed concern for their community after Hurricane Milton made landfall along the west coast of Florida overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
The Lightning were evacuated to Raleigh on Monday and have been practicing here ahead of their season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Friday (7 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNP).
Tampa Bay's scheduled home opener against Carolina at Amalie Arena on Saturday was postponed by the NHL on Thursday; a makeup date will be announced as soon as it can be confirmed.
“Everybody’s minds aren’t probably where they should be,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Thursday. “There’s a lot going on at home, whether it’s family, friends, houses, cars -- what it’s going to look like. Pretty much everyone on our team doesn’t have power yet.
"So what is it going to look like when we get back in a couple days? There’s a lot of concern for everybody there. That’s our home, and it’s going to be drastically different than when we left.”
Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, Florida, roughly 65 miles south of Tampa, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Many of the Lightning players and staff brought family to Raleigh to avoid the storm, and spent Thursday morning trying to get updates from back home.
“The first reports we got for my own sake and a lot of my teammates is that their houses are in pretty good shape,” Tampa Bay captain Victor Hedman said. “But a little bit south of us in Sarasota and Bradenton, there’s a lot of damage, and there’s been a whole lot of tornados throughout the state of Florida that cost people lives, so it’s a tough day for us Floridians.”
Forward Jake Guentzel, who signed a seven-year, $63 million contract with the Lightning on July 1, was able to relocate his family to North Florida for a few days to stay with relatives. He received word Thursday morning that their new home did not suffer major damage.
“I got a picture this morning, and everything looked pretty good. I don’t know too many details yet,” Guentzel said. “It was tough not knowing. I don’t have cameras outside the house yet, so it was kind of tough not knowing what’s going on.”
Cooper said he feels his players have done a good job focusing on the season opener, despite the concerns.
“In the end, it’s a work trip, and we’ve got to be ready for tomorrow night," he said. "Hopefully today we took another step forward.”
Hedman feels his team will be ready despite the days of anticipation and concern.
“It’s been a very stressful two days, not knowing what’s going to happen,” Hedman said. “It’s tough. We’re humans. I’ve been there for 15 years and it’s been my home. It’s tough to put that aside. But we’ve got to focus on the game tomorrow and hopefully get to go home and help out down there.”
