TAMPA, Fla. - Braydon Coburn got his turn last night to stand and gaze toward the rafters of Amalie Arena as a black curtain was lifted and a banner was revealed. A little less than 24 hours earlier, his friend and former teammate, Kimmo Timonen, who is now retired, was at United Center in Chicago as the same thing happened.
For Coburn and the Tampa Bay Lightning, the banner read "Eastern Conference Champions," a feat Lightning coach Jon Cooper said was much more of an accomplishment than a disappointment.
Timonen, of course, was in Chicago to celebrate the unfurling of another Stanley Cup banner.