It still didn’t feel real to Douglas from his stall inside the Lightning locker room, one with his name and No. 42 crested above while a huddle of media members surrounded him with hopes of talking to the newest Bolt.
“I thought I was going…to focus more on schooling and not go pro right away, and now I’m sitting in the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room three years later,” Douglas said. "It’s really special.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper acknowledged Douglas’s wild week on Thursday morning, saying the organization was excited to add him to the fold.
"New team, first-ever NHL game, it's always an exciting time for any player. It's one of these games, players always remember who they played against in their first NHL game, but a lot of times they don't remember what happened in the game just because it's a bit of a blur. But it's a tough assignment for him because he's been in the city for like, three days, and now he's playing in his first-ever NHL game,” Cooper said. “So he's pretty pumped. We're pumped for him, and like I said, just (get) pucks in deep, go get it [laughs] and let the rest take care of itself.”
Hours later after watching Douglas begin his NHL career with a fight, Cooper said he didn’t mind that approach, either.
"That's a tough assignment. It's your dream to play in the NHL, and your first-ever game is on a brand new team, you're here like 72 hours. It's a home opener, your first game. And I don't know how long it took, but it wasn't very many seconds and you're getting in a fight in your first shift,” Cooper said. “I'm pretty sure the adrenaline was rushing, but I think the crowd appreciated it, and so did our team because the other guy going against him there, he's a big boy himself. So it was good on him. He had a positive impact."
Douglas already knew Lightning forward Conor Geekie, who spent three camps with Douglas as part of the Utah organization. Geekie had nothing but positives to share about his newest teammate on Thursday morning.
“You see it when he's just messing around, the way he shoots, the way he stickhandles,” Geekie said of Douglas’s talents. “Anytime you get picked up or you get traded for, I think you know they see something in you, and I see the skill. I see the shooting. He's 6’9”, but he can do a lot more than just the physicality.”
Douglas hasn’t had much extra time to relax or get too comfortable in Bolts blue. That won’t bother him at all as he continues to take it one (big) step at a time.
“I think the coaching staff and my teammates have been really, really cool in that sense and just making sure that I just go out there and take it all in and just do my best,” Douglas said prior to Thursday.
“At the end of the day, that's all I can do, so I'm just looking to get out there and not think too much and just do the best that I can and put a foot forward in the right direction.”
