Report: Lightning management gave players four days off and a private jet for golfing trip BEFORE playoffs

No doubt about it the story of the postseason so far, maybe the story of the entire 2018-19 NHL season, has been the epic collapse of the 128 point Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning, of course, bowed out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a stunning four game sweep by the eighth seeded Columbus Blue Jackets in a series that the Blue Jackets absolutely DOMINATED. 

A week and a half later and the Lightning and its fanbase are still looking for answers and trying to figure out just what the Hell happened…

Well… maybe you should have put down the sticks and prepared for the postseason, boys? 

According to NHL insider Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the Lightning went on a team funded golf and beach excursion in Miami just two weeks before the start of the postseason. Johnston was a guest on today’s episode of the Sportsnet produced Steve Dangle Podcast where he was asked, “What went wrong with Tampa?” Well…  check out this quote from Johnston at 1:26 of the episode:

“Tampa had done an unfortunate thing for all future teams. In the second last week of the regular season they had a four day break in their schedule and they gave the boys the plane and allowed them to go to Miami for two and a half days. Where they golfed and had some revelry and had the beach aaaaaaaaaand then they lost in four games.”

“I don’t think that’s why they lost, but it has removed the chance that that will ever be viewed as a good way to use time if you’re a great team. Now had they won the Stanley Cup, they would have been talking about how we bonded there and that was the refreshing thing we needed before the playoff grind. And every good team could have potentially had that glory in their life. But… they went and ruined it for everybody.”

Indeed they ruined it for everyone and, you know what, they ruined it for themselves. After a dominating first 95% of the season, why on earth would you take your foot off the accelerator in the season’s final two weeks? Head coach Jon Cooper openly admitted that his team wasn’t ready and hadn’t played “meaningful hockey” in weeks… who’s to blame for that? The players themselves? Partially sure, but whomever decided it was a good idea to go on a boys golfing trip BEFORE the playoffs needs to seriously give their head a shake. 

In any case, like Johnston says had the Lightning won the Cup we’d all be saying that the Miami golf and beach trip was a fantastic idea. As it is though, the Lightning choked and the optics of this situation do NOT reflect well on the team, its coaches and its management staff. Yikes.