By now, the Tampa Bay Lightning should have been comfortably in their New York City hotel rooms in preparation for Thursday's matchup against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center.
Mother Nature had other ideas, however.
Northeast snow storm rearranges Bolts' travel plans
Tampa Bay will now fly to New York a day late thanks to Winter Storm Toby
A powerful nor'easter slamming the East Coast all day Wednesday cancelled the Bolts' flight to Newark, which was scheduled to depart Tampa at 10:30 a.m. The storm system closed public schools in New York City Wednesday and is expected to dump somewhere between a foot to 18 inches of snow before heading out to sea.
The Lightning will try again Thursday morning to get in the air. Their current itinerary has them arriving in New York around 1 p.m., just six hours before puck drop in Brooklyn.
Traveling to an opponent's city the day of a game is common in the preseason when teams typically bus straight from the airport to the arena, play the game and return home, all in a span of less than 12 hours.
It rarely, if ever happens in the regular season though.
"It brings us back to September," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "It's something that to be honest probably every player in this league, most every player in this league, has gone through this whether playing in junior or the American League. It's a lot of day travel. It's not something that's common for obvious reasons, but just as recent as the preseason we do this all the time. Ultimately, it's about getting there safe and understanding there's a storm up there. It's just weird being a Florida team and having to deal with winter weather as an obstacle, but it happens."
The Lightning were scheduled to practice at the New Jersey Devils' Prudential Center practice facility once they landed in Newark. Instead, they convened at the Ice Sports Forum at noon and held a training session in Tampa.
"It's nothing we can really do anything about," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said after practice. "We got the news this morning and just got ready for practice. Back in juniors, pretty sure guys were used to traveling and playing. It won't be too big of an issue for us. Get another night's sleep at home in your bed and we'll get on a plane early tomorrow and get ready for the game."
The Lightning have a veteran group, so dealing with travel delays shouldn't be an issue for the group. Hedman, however, suggested some of the younger players might be better prepared to handle the unique situation since traveling and playing on the same day is common practice in juniors and the American Hockey League.
"We might be able to get some tips from them instead," Hedman joked. "Everyone has done this before. It's nothing new. It's been awhile, just make sure to get the body going as soon as we get off that airplane tomorrow."
In the comfort of their own practice facility, the Bolts prepared for a tough two-game road trip featuring a pair of teams in the Islanders and New Jersey Devils fighting to get into the postseason.
"We don't really focus too much on who we play," Hedman said. "We've got to get ready for the playoffs and we've got to play our game and play with the same desperation and tenacity like we did in the third period (against Toronto). That's going to be a key for us on this short road trip."
CALLAHAN UPDATE: Cooper said Ryan Callahan, who sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of Tampa Bay's 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Toronto on Tuesday and did not return, will not accompany the team on the road trip and is being re-evaluated.
"We'll have to see what happens," Cooper said. "It was encouraging he was here today and was feeling much better. He'll take a few games off here and probably re-evaluate next week."
Callahan was injured when he was dragged to the ice by the Maple Leafs' Josh Leivo. He rose to his feet holding his right chest/shoulder area and immediately headed down the tunnel and into the locker room.
Callahan sat out eight games in mid-December with an upper-body injury but has been relatively healthy all season after missing 64 games last season because of a lingering hip issue.
