TAMPA (WFLA) – The Tampa Bay Lightning are on the ice tonight facing the Montreal Canadiens, but some fans were concerned that might not happen.
According to the NHL’s website, the league has postponed 70 games this season due to COVID-19 related issues. The Lightning are currently down eight players and coaches due to COVID.
Jordan Kroeger brought tickets for tonight’s game months ago.
“It has been wild. We had some visitors in from out of state. We bought these tickets a couple of months ago. We weren’t sure the game would be happening tonight,” said Kroeger. “We’re glad we’re playing even though we don’t know who’s going to be suiting up.”
Kroeger believes that without some of the star players in the game, the sport is suffering.
“Especially when you have people traveling and this is the only game they are going to be going to this year. You want to see Andrei Vasilevskiy, you want to see the superstars playing so I think it hurts business,” he said.
Fans like Michael Baska believe the NHL is doing the best it can under difficult circumstances.
“When it comes to going to games, it’s really the atmosphere we look for in the middle of the season,” said Baska. “If it was more towards playoffs time, I think it would be a much bigger deal, but right now I think they’re really just doing the best that they can. “
