TAMPA — The rally signs were everywhere before the start of the National Hockey League playoffs: all roads lead to Amalie Arena.
You couldn’t drive more than a few blocks through downtown Tampa this week before encountering a “Go Bolts’’ placard in anticipation of Wednesday night’s Game 1 of the National Hockey League playoffs.
Eight hours before the puck dropped between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and former Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk unfurled a team banner on the side of the Tampa Municipal Office at City Hall Plaza, with Thunderbug nodding in approval.