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For the fans

By Times staff

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 5, 2001

TELEVISION: Seventy Lightning games will be shown locally. Fifty games will be on the Sunshine Network, with another 20 produced by Sunshine and shown on the Lightning Hockey Network. Rick Peckham enters his seventh season as the play-by-play announcer and will be joined by analyst Bobby "Chief" Taylor, entering his ninth season. Erin Andrews joins as rinkside reporter. Most telecasts will be preceded by a half-hour pregame show. Lightning Weekly will air on Sunshine at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Oct. 10. WFTS-Ch. 28 will broadcast the All-Star game Feb. 2, regional games on a schedule yet to be determined and part of the Stanley Cup final. ESPN and ESPN2 will broadcast 102 league games throughout the season with ESPN focusing on Wednesday nights, attempting to emulate Hockey Night in Canada. The Lightning are not scheduled for any national broadcasts.

RADIO: John Ahlers returns for his third season as the Lightning play-by-play voice on WDAE-AM 620. Former Lightning general manager Phil Esposito enters his second season as analyst for home games. Broadcasts begin with a 30-minute pregame show and end with a 30-minute postgame show. WDAE also will air a two-hour Lightning Hockey Night at on Thursdays when the team doesn't play.

WEB SITES: The Lightning's official Web site is www.tampabaylightning.com. The Times has a special Lightning area on its site, www.sptimes.com/Lightning. The NHL site is www.nhl.com with links to each team's site. The players association site is www.nhlpa.com.

FAN CLUB: Call (813) 814-BOLT for information or check the Web site at www.boltfan.com.

About the Ice Palace

Click for larger map

ADDRESS: 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa.

DIRECTIONS: See Getting there and parking: 19,500 for hockey.

FOOD/DRINK: Fans may not bring food and drink into the arena, but concessions are available. Also, the XO Club is a special season ticket level with food and drink included and Shots at Channelside is a sports and entertainment bar on the west side of the building.

CAMERAS: Still cameras are allowed as long as they don't have detachable lenses. No video cameras.

SMOKING: It is prohibited in the building, but smoking is allowed outside exits behind section 126/128, behind section 212 and behind section 326/328. Fans can exit and re-enter the building during events at those areas.

AUTOGRAPHS: Players enter and leave through Gate D. Some stop to sign autographs before and/or after games.

POWER PLAY: THE ENTERTAINMENT ZONE: The area opens two hours before home games on the main plaza west of the Ice Palace. It allows fans to show their form in activities such as a hockey slapshot and a bungee run.

Down on the farm

MINOR LEAGUES: The Lightning has two minor league affiliates, the Springfield (Mass.) Falcons of the American Hockey League, which it shares with Phoenix, and the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the East Coast Hockey League.

JUNIORS: The Lightning holds the rights to many amateur players in the Canadian junior leagues, the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. These players may be signed at a later date.

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