As Tampa stirred this morning there was so much excitement surrounding the start of the Lightning’s season. The home opener is sold out. News crews were positioned at Amalie Arena for their morning broadcasts and a look at some of the changes to the building since the last time the puck dropped in June. One of the changes were updates to the division, conference and Stanley Cup banners that have hung in the rafters for the last decade. For an organization that has spent the last few years getting in touch with their past, this move is a needle scratch. Change can be good but this one seems more than a little off base.
Here’s your first look at the re-designed Stanley Cup banner. It now fits in better with the others. @TBLightning pic.twitter.com/nwtYcCH0dP
— Charley Belcher FOX (@CharleyBelcher) October 8, 2015
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There’s been a lot of updates to the Lightning over the last couple years. For the most part these have been for the better. Jeff Vinik and Steve Yzerman have done an incredible job transforming a floundering franchise. Renovations to the arena itself have made it one of the finest venues in the league. They have employed cutting edge technology to make the game day experience second to none. New uniforms and color scheme give the team on the ice a classic look. These have all been wonderful additions that needed tweaking.
Another important initiative over the last several years was giving a sense of history to the team. The Lightning are a young franchise in comparison to some across the league. It’s been wonderful seeing past players back at games and being able to recognize them for their contributions. When the new third uniforms were announced last season the tag line was “Back in Black”, the color the Bolts had worn for most of their existence. There have been very concerted efforts to make the past part of the present which is why the changes to the banners are so puzzling.
Yes, the new banners are more uniform. Apparently they create better sight lines in the building. But they’re not the ones that were won by great Lightning teams of the not so distant past. One of the greatest moments in team history was seeing that Stanley Cup banner raised to the rafters. They had lost a season and a legitimate chance to defend their championship to the lockout. It was different. It was big and it was beautiful. Now it’s gone, replaced by a swath of fabric in colors that couldn’t be found on the uniforms of the team that won it.
Change can be cool. We’ve seen a lot of examples of that recently with the Bolts. Embracing and celebrating history is also cool. The new banners are all alike. They may be more classic and resemble some hanging in hallowed arenas around the league. The Lightning do so many things well. This isn’t one of them and disrespects the history they’ve tried so hard to highlight. Bad show, Bolts. Bad show indeed.
(Photo by/ Getty Images)
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