Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena holds about 19,092 for hockey and is located in downtown Tampa near the Channelside district. The Lightning won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 - the 2020 championship was played in the Edmonton bubble during the pandemic, the 2021 title was celebrated in full. The core of Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevskiy built one of the more entertaining teams in the salary cap era and the fan base in Tampa became genuine hockey country during the championship run.

Thunder Alley, the plaza outside Amalie Arena along Channelside Drive, fills with fans before and after home games. The area has bars and restaurants built for game-night traffic. Sparkman Wharf on the waterfront about a quarter mile south has outdoor food vendors and bars in a harbor setting that work especially well for Tampa's weather. The Channel District neighborhood around the arena has developed significantly in the last decade and the walkable dining options before a game are solid. Florida weather means pregame patios are viable for most of the season.

Getting to Amalie Arena is easiest by rideshare or the free Downtowner shuttle that circulates around downtown Tampa. Parking exists in the surrounding garages but the traffic on game nights heading out of downtown can be slow.

Find Lightning tickets through Evil Tickets and see what home games are on the Amalie Arena calendar this season.