After a long awaited journey, the Lightning have won the Stanley Cup. For 15 years the Lightning have been in a championship drought, and finally they have brought the Stanley Cup home. 

   Led by Captain Steven Stamkos, the Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars in the hard fought 4-2 series. Stamkos, who only played for 2:47 in the playoffs in total, didn’t contribute much on the ice, but he had a huge impact off the ice. 

“I’ve watched these guys be so committed to what our end goal is, and to be part of it was a dream come true. I’m so proud of these guys to be able to share that moment with them”, Stamkos said In an interview with Tampa Bay Times. 

   The playoffs were all but normal this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic surrounding the globe, the playoffs were played in a bubble in multiple hub cities in Canada. The bubble lasted for 63 days and for those 63 days players were cooped up in a hotel room with no access to family members or outside civilians. For the two months, no fans were allowed into the arenas and there were no fan fest events amid the Stanley Cup Final. 

   In an interview with ESPN, Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who was sceptical of how playing without fans would work, said, “it didn’t feel like playoff hockey out there”. 

   Tuukka Rask shared the same thought as many players, but for the Lightning it was just ok. 

   As the Lightning were playing without fans, their main saying became “be the distant thunder.” In years prior, the saying would always be, “be the thunder,” but amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it was time for a subtle change. Many fans took this to heart in the Tampa Bay Area, with fans packing the watch parties every night in support of the home team. 

   With the way the year 2020 has been turning out, having the hometown Lightning win the Stanley Cup certainly shed some light on the year. The team battled through adversity and was able to bring Stanley home.