Bolts react to announcement that Amalie Arena won't host fans

Saturday morning, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced fans would not be permitted inside AMALIE Arena to attend Lightning games, or Toronto Raptors NBA games, through at least February 5, CEO Steve Griggs saying it was a decision the team made internally without direction from local health or government officials because of recent rises in cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations across Hillsborough County and west central Florida.
That means the Lightning won't have fans in the stands for at least the first eight home games of the season, although one of those home contests and likely two will probably be postponed as the Dallas Stars announced they won't be able to start the season until at least January 19 because of a Covid outbreak in their training camp (the Lightning are scheduled to host the Stars Jan. 17 and 19).

Tampa Bay is certainly used to playing in front of an empty arena. All 25 of its games inside the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs had nobody in attendance other than support staff and a handful of media. The Lightning thrived under the unusual circumstances, going 18-7 in the postseason, never losing back-to-back games and winning the franchise's second Stanley Cup.
"On our side, we know what it's like," Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said.

Still, there was optimism within the team about the possibility of having fans, even in a limited capacity, when they opened the regular season January 13 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Raptors were one of a handful of NBA teams permitting limited numbers of fans at home games inside AMALIE Arena at around 25 percent of the venue's capacity.
The thought was the Lightning would allow similar numbers of fans for NHL games, but, for now, those plans are on hold.
"I was looking forward to playing in front of some of our fans," Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said. "…We've just got to make sure everybody's safe in our community, this country, Canada. If that's what's best for people for their safety, that's what it is."
The Lightning had planned on raising their Stanley Cup championship banner Wednesday against the Blackhawks. Now, it's unknown if the team will go through with the ceremony in front of an empty arena or wait until fans can be in attendance to enjoy. That decision will likely come in the next couple of days.
"That's going to be tough especially because it's kind of a landmark night with the banner raising," Cooper said. "You're kind of hoping people can be in there to see that."
Cooper knows Lightning fans have been clamoring to welcome the championship team back inside the arena after having to watch on TV or listen on radio to the team's remarkable playoff run. And the players want to feel the energy the fans provide that's given them one of the best home-ice advantages in the League.
Cooper's message to the fans is be patient, and soon enough, things will be back to normal, or at least close to it.
"For them not to be there, it stings for them and we understand that because we love playing in front of the fans," he said. "But knowing that this isn't going to last forever and hopefully this doesn't go the whole year, at some point during the year we are going to have fans."
Other quotes of interest from Saturday's training camp session
Mikhail Sergachev on potentially joining the top power-play unit and taking over Nikita Kucherov's spot in the right circle:
"It's a lot different, especially for me. I played there so little and obviously I'm no Kuch but I have some skill. I just have to work at it every practice. I'm going to get a chance to play there, I have to make sure I'm ready. The dynamics are we have threats up top: Heddy, Stammer and me on the right side. I've just got to make sure when I have the puck it's good. I've got to shoot one timers. I'm pretty sure Heddy and Stammer will figure it out."

Jon Cooper on what he likes about having Mikhail Sergachev on the top power-play unit:
"Nothing is set in stone. We've been moving guys around all through camp. The one thing about Sergy, he's got a big-time shot. He kind of gives you a threat from both sides with him in there. But, you've got to weigh that against the benefits of another unit. Sergy's pretty prolific up top. It could end up being a situation where sometimes he's on the one unit and we switch him in game. We're still working on this. Tomorrow will give us a little better indication when we work on it tomorrow and then we'll just have to go from there. The good news is Sergy's on the power play. The bad news is we don't know which unit he's going to be running or if he's going to be on both."
Jon Cooper on if he'll rotate Alex Volkov and Mathieu Joseph on the fourth line right wing or if he'd like to have a set guy there:
"To be honest, we're looking, it's steps, right? Who's going to be on our team? Who's going to be on our opening day lineup? Who's going to be on our roster and who's going to be on our taxi squad? And it's all, there's so many moving parts, which in a perfect world, if nobody would get hurt and you could have the same 18 skaters and two goalies playing every single night, that would be great. But it is yet to happen. And so, will guys be going in and out? Is there some uncertainty on some spots? No question, but that doesn't even sit here and say, hey, well this group of players, it's not like they're untouchable. Everybody's fighting for spots. Everybody's fighting for ice time. Everybody's fighting to have a definitive role on the team. The one thing I like is that everybody knows each other. Everybody's been around. The one year we don't have a bunch of new guys come in and it's a get to know you type scenario. In this sprint not marathon of a season, I like this group we have. But to sit here and label guys in spots, we can't do that yet. But in a perfect world would love to. But you know how it is, it just doesn't work out that way."