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| Dave Andreychuk and Tim Taylor hoist the Cup outside Bennigan's Irish-American Grill and Tavern |
Once the Tampa streets littered with fans had been reduced to the littered residue of a celebration, and once the rally at the St. Pete Times Forum had evaporated into a city-wide glow, the Lightning decided it was time to take the Stanley Cup to the streets and meet more fans face to face.
It was boys' night out on Wednesday, June 9, and the Lightning congregated first at Hattrick's, a great sports bar just outside the Forum. Adorning the walls of the sports bar are some classic game-worn sweaters, including those from Guy Lafleur, Phil Esposito and Wendel Clark. A few of the guys insisted on eating the celebrated Shepherd's Pie while watching the big screen TV. Hattrick's is always bustling with hockey fans, and those there Wednesday night got a real surprise when they met their local heroes with the Stanley Cup.
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| Stanley draws a crowd. Clockwise from top left: Tom Mulligan, John Grahame, Brad Lukowich, Dave Andreychuk, Ben Clymer, Tim Taylor, Vincent Lecavalier, Chris Dingman, Dan Boyle, Darryl Sydor, and Cory Stillman. |
Four limousines pulled up to the curb and took the players and the Cup to another club, where management had reserved a special area and cordoned it off for the champions. After a short while, the boys weren't quite as excited about their special reserved area when the toilet overflowed and forced them to move to another area.
It was close to three AM and many of the boys had made their way home when a few troopers decided to continue their romp with the Cup. Tim Taylor suggested they visit a nearby Bennigan's Irish-American Grill and Tavern to get something to eat before patting the dirt down on another night of celebrating. The remaining celebrants piled into two cars and whipped over to the restaurant to chow down on some Oh Baby backribs.
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| Brad Richards reads the inscriptions on the Cup, which will soon include his name come October. |
By 4:30, and now ready to head home, a local policeman offered to give the Stanley Cup a special escort to the hotel. Strapped into the back seat like a child, the Stanley Cup rode back to the hotel, driven by Tampa's finest, and awaited the next day's adventure.
On Wednesday, the Stanley Cup Journal takes you backstage to watch the appearance of four Lightning victors and the Stanley Cup on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.'
Kevin Shea is the Hockey Hall of Fame's Manager of Special Projects and Publishing.
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