It was 7:30 in the morning. The day after we beat Montreal to win our second Cup. I was at home, and everybody was there. Parents, kids, teammates, friends. Nobody had gotten much sleep. We were exhausted, but it was just one of those amazing nights. We were all sitting around, just sharing in the joy. Soaking in the moment. And my son Carter rolled out of bed. He came into the kitchen, and we made him a bowl of his favorite Sesame Street Alpha-Bits cereal to eat out of the Stanley Cup. I was looking at him and just thinking, like, Man. What a special moment this is….
It just kind of captured so much about what our time in Tampa has meant — how it became home. So how do you say goodbye to a place like that? To a city that welcomed you as an 18-year-old kid, to the only NHL team you’ve ever known, to a fanbase that’s been family? I don’t really know, to be honest.
I never thought I’d have to do one of these. It doesn’t quite feel real that I won’t be a Bolt this fall. But over the past few weeks, I’ve had this really deep sense of how lucky I was to be one for 16 years. So I just want to share some memories, and say some thanks to everyone who has been a part of this journey.
Back in ’08, if you had told me what the future held after I landed in Tampa … I don’t think I would have believed you one bit. But I was a kid. Like a, “call my dad from a Best Buy so I don’t pay too much for a phone” type of kid. For real, that’s one of my first memories in the city. I was walking up and down Dale Mabry Highway, in the middle of summer, in 100 degree weather, totally lost, looking for a place to buy a phone. Hoping that I’d get a good deal.
It’s so funny to me, you know, looking back on getting drafted and that whole summer. I didn’t know anything about Tampa, really. I knew it was warm and that they had some superstars from their Cup win a few years earlier. I was just excited to get down there, to get to work.
When I got down to Tampa … I was nervous. The very first time I walked into the rink it was for a press conference. I went in through the security entrance where we come in before practices, and I couldn’t believe it: There were hundreds of employees lined up all the way down the hall, clapping for me as I walked by. I’ll always remember how that made me feel, how welcome I felt. That’s really stuck with me. I felt connected to the organization right away. And that connection never left me.
The bond that the Lightning have with Tampa is a really special thing. It’s easy to just say that, you know? Every team thinks they have it. But down there, it’s been built up for years and years, and it’s real. I saw it right away with Vinny and Marty and the group of leaders we had in my first season. I was so starstruck seeing those guys. I’d watched them growing up. They ran some skates before camp started, and I remember being out on the ice, like, Ah, this isn’t Sarnia.… This isn’t the OHL. These guys were just different. Incredible players and outstanding leaders. They knew how to set an example. Marty was a fiery leader. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind if he thought it was going to make the group better. That was an important characteristic that was true of all the Lightning teams I’ve been on. We held each other accountable. And the fans held us to those same standards.
