‘A Call to Charms’: The mementos fueling the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup run
Which is quite a request, given how superstitious everyone is during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
They called it “A Call To Charms.” The Lightning collected everything from jewelry to dolls to jerseys to a cardboard cutout of Bernie Lomax from the film “Weekend at Bernie’s,” and had fans place the items inside a large, transparent lightning bolt. At home games, the good luck charms are displayed in the concourse of the 300 level. The bolt is packed into a trunk and travels with the team when it hits the road.
The fans who submitted their trinkets were spotlighted on the Lightning’s official website. They include:
Raymond Bonn, “Barry the Stress Relief Cow” — “During the five-overtime game [in 2020], he got trotted out and we just started squeezing. Of course, coincidentally, the moment he was squeezed, Brayden Point scores the overtime game-winning goal. Barry is a legend now,” Bonn told the Lightning.
Stanton Family, “Lightning Tikis” — The family created a Lightning-theme tiki heading into the playoffs, watched the team win the Cup, and then felt obligated to do one again this season for good luck.
Paul Driscoll, “Nikita Chiquita shirt” — Driscoll ate a plum before every Lightning playoff game in 2020. In 2021, he switched to bananas. To honor the return of star winger Nikita Kucherov from surgery, he created a T-shirt with the Russian star as a banana that read “Nikita Chiquita.”
RJ & Luly Martin, “Plastic Goal Light” — “It was my mom’s. She was a huge Lightning fan and she passed away three years ago. It just means a lot to be able to share our luck with the team, and now that she’s still a part of the Lightning,” Martin told the team.
So far, the Lightning have lived a charmed postseason life, advancing to the 2022 Eastern Conference finals — further than any of the previous five teams that attempted a three-peat since the early 1980s.