TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — When the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time since before World War II, Jon Cooper could not bear to watch the joyful aftermath.
"I’m looking away from the whole thing," he said.
Not this time. Tampa Bay became the first team to celebrate a Cup championship-clinching win on home ice since the Blackhawks in 2015.
Cooper's team was on the losing end that year, dropping the series in six games. Even after winning it all in 2020, Cooper vividly remembers the feeling of watching Chicago players celebrating the team's first Cup-clinching win on home ice since 1938.
“There’s that excruciating minute or two you have to afford the team to celebrate,” Cooper said. “I think that’s just a poignant moment in sports when that happens, out of respect, and then the respect the captain has on the winning team to rally his troops to get in the handshake line.”
That was captain Steven Stamkos' job last fall when Tampa Bay beat Dallas, even though he didn't play in the clinching game. He got the job again Wednesday night and then handed the Cup first o veteran defenseman Victor Hedman as some 18,000 fans cheered in a packed Amalie Arena.
Until this year, every clincher in the final since 2015 has been on the road or at a neutral site.
Pittsburgh won at San Jose in 2016 and at Nashville in 2017. Washington became the first NHL team to party with the Cup in Las Vegas in 2018. St. Louis blew a chance to win at home before winning in Boston in 2019, and then of course Tampa Bay did it in an empty arena in Edmonton last year.
The rare chance to do this is perhaps one reason
“Let me tell you, I think any fan of any team if you gave the option to win the Stanley Cup or take your chances, I think the fan base would have loved if we had come home with the Stanley Cup,” Cooper said after a
Veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh took comfort in going home to “a place you’re familiar with, with a fan base that’s going to be behind” the Lightning. Over 17,000 fans were allowed inside Amalie Arena, a far cry from none in Edmonton and the 3,500 in Montreal.
“Our fans have been unbelievable all season through the ups and downs, so to go back to Amalie and play for our fans is always is always pretty special," center Anthony Cirelli said.
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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
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