In Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning will have the opportunity to win their second straight Stanley Cup Title, but their championship celebration will be hampered once again by the absence of their loved ones.
Despite the fact that Game 4 might be a series-clinching game, Tampa Bay Lightning insider Joe Smith said on Saturday that the NHL and the Lightning have been unable to acquire special exemptions for family members of the players to travel to Canada for the game. This means that if the Lightning win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row on Monday, they will do so without their loved ones in attendance for the second year in a row.
The Lightning's last triumph came inside the NHL's bubble in Toronto, and, like this time, they were unable to have members of their families attend the great event. After another grueling season under the NHL's covid regulations, it would have been good to see the Lightning get their full reward for all their hard work if they could win Game 4.
It may seem insignificant, but for some of these families, the sacrifices made over the last two seasons have been monumental. Stamkos' struggles during the NHL bubble were previously documented; the Lightning captain left the bubble to be with his wife after she miscarried a pregnancy while he was with the Lightning. It's a terrible injustice that he won't get to share arguably the most important events of his career, both of them, with his wife.
