Lightning Strikes Winnipeg

For the second straight year, NHL pre-season action is coming to Winnipeg. And, for the second straight year, the Tampa Bay Lightning are part of the equation. The announcement was made yesterday by True North Sports & Entertainment Limited – the same group led by David Thomson that has offered to purchase the ailing Phoenix Coyotes and move them back to the Manitoba capital where they were once known as the Jets. But so far, all the group has to show for its efforts is a pre-season game to be played at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre on September 22 between Tampa Bay and the Chicago Blackhawks. This, on the heels of last year’s matchup between the Lightning and Edmonton Oilers.

The involvement of the Chicago Blackhawks makes perfect sense. The team is, after all, the Stanley Cup Champions and its captain is Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, just like last year’s choice of the Oilers given their geographic proximity to Winnipeg. But the Tampa Bay Lightning? One could chalk it up to a purely random choice, if not for the fact that: (a) there is no obvious connection, geographic or otherwise, between the cities of Tampa Bay and Winnipeg; (b) the Lightning aren’t exactly the league’s most stable franchise from a financial perspective; and (c) this is the second consecutive year that the team has been chosen to travel to Winnipeg. In fact, the Lightning have played more pre-season games in Winnipeg in recent history than they have in their own city – last year saw the team play three road games and four neutral site contests. So what could all this mean?

Is it possible that David Thomson is hedging his bets? If his bid for the Phoenix Coyotes ultimately fails, does his back-up plan involve the Tampa Bay Lightning? Is he using the pre-season as a test to see how the team resonates with Winnipeg hockey fans? Or is all of this pure coincidence – the work of an over-imaginative hockey blogger running out of ideas for his site? Only time will tell. Nonetheless, the decision to have the Lightning travel to Winnipeg is just another piece of evidence pointing to the demise of professional hockey in the American sunbelt. As if we needed more evidence . . .