Sports
Hurricane Milton: Tampa Bay Lightning home opener vs. Carolina Hurricanes postponed
Saturday’s game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Tampa Bay Lightning at AMALIE Arena in Tampa has been postponed due to Hurricane Milton’s effects on the region, the NHL announced Thursday.
The game will be made up on a date to be announced.
The game was set to be the home opener for the Lightning and the second of a home-and-home with the Hurricanes.
After the Lightning’s final preseason game against the Nashville Predators on Monday was canceled, the team was forced to evacuate to Raleigh, North Carolina, ahead of Friday’s season opener against the Hurricanes.
Two weeks ago a number of Lightning players experienced property damage after Hurricane Helene affected the area.
“We barely recovered from the last [hurricane] before it starts again,” said Lightning captain Victor Hedman. “It’s tough, but we’ve still got to prepare for Friday. … It’s obviously hard, but we’ve got to be business when we’re at the rink. But it’s going to be worse for those people who are going to be affected.”
Hurricane Milton has already affected the sports world in Florida. The Jacksonville Jaguars announced their flight to London for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears will leave later than originally planned. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to fly out to New Orleans earlier than scheduled ahead of Milton making landfall. The college football game between Memphis and South Florida in Tampa was pushed back from Friday to Saturday afternoon.
The roof at Tropicana Field, home of MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, was quickly destroyed on Wednesday. Fortunately, none of the “essential personnel” in the stadium were injured and the team said it will take time to assess the entirety of the damage.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we expect to be able to assess the true condition of Tropicana Field,” the Rays said in a statement. “In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement to secure the building. We ask for your patience at this time, and we encourage those who can to donate to organizations in our community that are assisting those directly impacted by these storms.”
Officials said that at least 10 people died in Florida as tornadoes touched down from Hurricane Milton. Over 3 million homes and business are without power as Milton was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Thursday.
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