Stadium Series to Tampa<\/a>, was: Can Tampa handle an outdoor game?<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a question many thought would have us worried about the ice \u2014 but it turns out the real challenges Sunday were for those in the stands today.<\/p>\n
As fans saw temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s, Tampa clearly knew the NHL needed hockey weather for Sunday\u2019s game between the Lightning and Bruins at Raymond James Stadium.<\/p>\n
Fans arrived at the fan fest outside of the stadium starting at 1 p.m. Sunday, bundled up with plenty of layers to warm themselves ahead of cheering on their team inside the stadium.<\/p>\n
Some fans practiced their own shots, while others jumped around at a concert. Some even participated in a human claw machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think about the boys and how they’re gonna play really hard tonight, and I knew that if they’re gonna play as hard as they are today in our first Tampa Bay Lightning outdoor game, I had to show out here too,\u201d said Barbara Skopalova, who participated in the claw machine.<\/p>\n
The chilly temperatures didn\u2019t deter faithful Lightning fans from supporting their team in a one-of-a-kind experience at the home of the Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s great hockey weather,\u201d Skopalova said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a hockey state, baby. We\u2019ve got to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Bruins fans who made the trip from Boston were pleased to see the weather, saying it reminded them of home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHome-ice advantage,\u201d one Bruins fan said. \u201cThat’s what it becomes now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bolts fans will hope a little cold doesn\u2019t play too much into Boston\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was hockey weather in Tampa for Sunday\u2019s game. TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The question, since the NHL announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-140172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-headlines","10":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}