Tampa’s Slush Fun

Hulk Hogan screams “Are you ready?” into a microphone, then rips a T-shirt off his body, whipping 22,000 people into a frenzy.

A WWF cage match? Nope, an NHL pregame moment.

Public opinion is being expressed with a banner near the St. Pete Times Forum -- no, not the uncomplimentary one about President Bush, the smaller one just down the street that says “Go Bolts.”

A plea from a struggling hardware store? Nope, Tampa Bay Lightning hockey.

The ice is perfect, if you’re making pina coladas, a slushy treat in the sticky 90-degree heat.

A Tampa Bay Buccaneer tailgate party? Nope, the woeful status of ice surface for the Stanley Cup finals.

Hockey is a little different along the Gulf Coast.

While legions of Canadians have found common tundra with the Calgary Flames, Tampa struggles in its turn as a hockey hub.

The Lightning is making its first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals, trying to solidify its status as the area’s No. 2 professional sports team. That the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are No. 3 makes that a cinch, even after a Game 1 loss to the Flames.

“We’re just getting noticed more,” said Lightning defenseman Jassen Cullimore, whose team faces Calgary in Game 2 tonight. “You go to the grocery store and there’s people there that recognize you.”

While the Lightning is getting attention right now, everyone admits this is a football area, from Ybor City to Clearwater, and Cullimore was handed a little reminder of that Sunday.

“I had a couple young kids, probably about 7 or 8 years old, come to my door and ask me if I wanted to go play football with them,” Cullimore said, smiling.

Or as Tampa resident Jason Younk said, “Yeah, this will be a hockey town, for the next four months. Then the Bucs start playing.”

Still, this is the Lightning’s moment, even if it is a downsized version of the Canadian zeal.

The passion the Flames inspire up north is easy to spot. The postgame revelry along Red Mile in Calgary -- where Flame fans bare all, or, in the case of some women, nearly all -- has almost become a cliche.

Hockey passion in Tampa has to be sought out. The team, after all, couldn’t even sell out three of its first five playoff games this season. Only a couple banners in the downtown arena dangle in support of the Bolts, a sharp contrast from the sea of red in Calgary

“There is going to be a difference,” Cullimore said. “You go to Calgary, from what I’ve heard, and everyone is wearing Flames jerseys. Here, it’s Bucs country. I think slowly we’re working our way in there.”

Interest has sprouted and a raucous crowd turns out on game nights. A mixture of true believers and bandwagon jumpers can be found around the tent city that crops up outside the St. Pete Times Forum.

The day before each playoff game, there is a nuts and Bolts gathering to snag 200 tickets sold for $8. Tents, coolers, barbecue grills and even television sets are carted in for the vigil.

As the bandwagon unloaded, demand increased to the point where wristbands are handed out to the first 200 and a roll call takes place every two hours until midnight.

“I’m not really a hockey fan, but this is big,” said Tampa resident David Shearin, a tent-city dweller. “It’s the Stanley Cup finals. It’s like the Super Bowl. It’s an event.”

That event-like atmosphere has produced the antics, such as Hogan, who bellows and tears shirts before each Lighting home game.

The “Hockey for Dummies” approach, too often taken, hardly helps the city’s hockey reputation. A local paper ran a full-page graphic, called “The Hockey School,” which covered everything, including how to read a box score.

Such things lead many to say that the fervor is temporary, especially with the threats of a lockout next season. Carolina and the Mighty Ducks, both hockey outposts, made similar journeys to the finals, only to see the enthusiasm dip in disappointing seasons that followed.

Like those areas, hockey just isn’t part of the Tampa DNA.

“People in Tampa think that blue lines and icing are what you put on birthday cakes,” Tampa resident Mark O’Brien said.

The Stanley Cup “fever” in town is reduced to a case of the sniffles farther away from the arena.

Kenny Friscia, a bartender at Bern’s Steak House, an upscale restaurant, said the Lightning has momentary appeal, but he made it clear what sport ruled this town.

“Yeah, the Lightning is nice,” Friscia said. “But the Bucs are going to have a really good team this year. [Buccaneer Coach] Jon Gruden was in here the other night. What a great guy.”

This is the battle the Lightning has always faced and too often lost. The team hardly inspired devotion with four consecutive sub-60 point seasons from 1997-98 to 2000-01. The team played in front of only 58% capacity during the 1998-99 season. The Lightning sold out 13 games this season, but nine came in the last 12 games, when the gate was bolstered by latecomers.

“Tampa is a great sports town,” Lightning Coach John Tortorella said. “But you’ve got to make your own bed. You need to win.... The past two, three years, our fan base has grown. I think enthusiasm has grown.”

That depends on your perspective.

Alan Mendelman, who said he has been at every Flames’ road game for 16 years, made the trek south this week and chuckled when asked what he thought about the Stanley Cup fever in Tampa.

“I don’t know, I haven’t found it yet,” he said.