Electric Company

Official Review by Jim Dietrich, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

The 2011–2012 season has been one of many changes for the Tampa Bay Lightning, both on and off the ice. It's an overall mentality adjustment preached from the second-year owner, Jeff Vinik, after he purchased the team from the warring duo of Oren Koules (most famous as the producer of the "Saw" franchise) and Len Barrie, both of whom disagreed on just about everything having to do with the team, including whether or not to trade longtime team superstar Vinny Lecavalier to the Montreal Canadiens. Their in-fighting spread into the locker room and onto the ice, so when Vinik seized control of the team, he was determined to clean up all the venom left behind.

The first season of Vinik's tenure, 2010–2011, included a surprise run deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, barely losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. Eager to capitalize on this newfound sense of camaraderie and euphoria, 2011–2012 was determined to be the season of no return.

First and foremost, their logo and colors have changed from the old black, dark blue, and white of the last 19 seasons (though the logo went through some retooling throughout that timeframe) to bright blue and white with a cleaner-looking, wordless logo. Then, the Forum was scheduled for an overdue facelift, with the main additions discussed later in this review. And lastly, to coincide with the renaming of its naming rights holder, the St. Pete Times Forum (née Ice Palace) was no more, now replaced by the Tampa Bay Times Forum on January 1, 2012.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

Food & Beverage    5

There are just as many food places to choose from as before, and that definitely isn't a problem by any means. Latin cuisine (Mr. Empanada, Cafe 401) is most prominent, but definitely will not be alone with two cheesesteak kiosks, an Outback Steakhouse, a Gordon Biersch (whose specialty is microbrews, garlic fries, and just all around awesomeness), and a mom-and-pop pizzeria, Angelito's Pizza, that happily bucks the trend of the chain pizza you find in most other venues.

My favorite, however, is the BBQ Nachos kiosks located on both the 100 (lower) and 300 (upper) concourses. A simple concept of the standard-issue round nacho chips and fake, yellow queso cheese is turned on its head here as, for around $8, you can get freshly cooked pulled pork, brisket, or turkey thrown on top with your choice of 4 types of barbeque sauces. Messy? Yes. Epic? All kinds of yeah!

Also available are four specialty clubs and restaurants that offer all different types of experiences. Basically put, you will leave satisfied, even if your team loses.

The only small nit that I have is there's no stand that offers what its counterpart in Orlando, the Amway Center and former Lightning home, Tropicana Field, both offer today; the unlimited-refill cup. Thirsty people are willing to shell out a few extra bucks for endless refills and thus, the vendors gain more chances to upsell them on other items. What really seems like a win-win for everyone is woefully neglected.

Atmosphere    5

New in this year's edition of the revamped Forum is quite possibly the two most uniquely-awesome editions to any venue in America: Between the Pipes and electricity.

Let me explain. Though Florida is not known as a hotbed for Canada's Pastime, it is home to a region that received a lot of Northerners who love and respect hockey, and impart their knowledge on their neighbors, each developing a love for this game, and continuing the cycle by telling their friends and loved-ones. So, with this hockey knowledge now permeating through the Tampa Bay area, something just seemed missing from its home, something uniquely hockey. And since the Amway Center was built with its famous "OZONE" party area, the idea was born.

Behold! The 63-pipe hockey organ!

Situated in the southern end of the rink in the upper deck, the pipe organ has enough power to scare even the Phantom of the Opera away. Its bone-shattering, yet beautiful, sound resonates from the 63 pipes that are transposed with an LED "Tampa Bay Lightning" sign (in the new team font, of course), able to produce any color imaginable. In fact, the pipes themselves are lit by similar LED lights, causing a display of audio/visual excellence; the best use, though, of both the LEDs and the organ is for "The Star-Spangled Banner", where the lettering and pipes light up in red, white, and blue, while organist Ray Horsley plays our national anthem in all its grandeur — until about halfway, then he stops. The crowd, who by this time, is singing in-unison, fills in the rest and get even louder once the organ stops. Why more sporting events don't encourage spontaneous shows of patriotism like this is beyond me.

Below this beautiful behemoth is "Between the Pipes", a bar/party area that overlooks the rink and is open to the public.

Also added to the Forum this year, and what I teased about earlier, are thing probably not found anywhere else, because frankly, they just don't make sense anywhere else in the sporting world. About 30 feet (maybe more) into the center of the arena from the upper deck in the northwest and southeast corners of the building are these odd-looking rings attached to long cylinders. If you look closely, you'll see how there are two tiny spikes coming out each side, seemingly pointing to black chains that appear to serve no purpose.

Think again. Those, my friends, are real-life Tesla coils, providing the actual lightning to the Lightning's goal celebrations. Where else are you going to find something like those anywhere outside a laboratory, especially at a sporting event?

How cool is that?

After all of that, it now seems trivial and useless to even mention that AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" still blares through the speakers when the Bolts' players come to the ice. Last year, that was the highlight of the night; this year, it's an afterthought.

Neighborhood    3

Downtown Tampa, for all of its corporate lifeblood, is a wasteland after the rat race ends at 5pm. Other than the Channelside entertainment complex and miscellaneous — albeit widely-scattered — restaurants, there is nothing to do in Downtown. The same problem that plagues Raymond James Stadium with a lack of a walkable neighborhood is more prominent here, though not because it's less pedestrian-friendly. Sadly, it's quite the contrary; an area as walkable as Downtown should offer more options to do within walking distance than a purpose-built plaza.

If you're looking for a more lively experience, a streetcar will take you to the Ybor City party district from the Forum; after dark, Ybor (pronounced EE-bore) transforms from a family-friendly historic district into a wild, Bourbon Street-esque club scene. If that's not your style, and you're willing to drive, there are many entertainment options in the Westshore District in the far west portion of the city (immediately south of Tampa International Airport) or in Downtown St. Pete.

Fans    4

In their defense, the Lightning are not the same as they were last season. Despite all the beautiful changes to both their home and persona, something just isn't clicking on the ice, and it's starting to translate into the stands. However, I firmly believe that once the team starts winning again, they will pack the house. It might be kind of a fair-weathered approach, but they do love their team in Tampa Bay. They just love them more when they're winning.

Access    3

The biggest thing that makes this area world-renowned (Tampa Bay itself) is also the biggest curse of urban planning (useless space). There are only three bridges from St. Pete and the rest of Pinellas County to Tampa, and at rush hour they're all gridlocked. Once in Tampa, you have two expressways to Downtown, along with one or two surface roads. Take about 7-10,000 cars, along with everyone else trying to go home from a hard day's work, and you have a nightmare.

Mass transit? Fugettaboutit!

Once you somehow make it into Downtown, with nothing else going on parking is in large supply. You can either park at the Forum's garage for about $20, or you can park at any of the numerous garages, lots, and otherwise-attended areas for as little as $5.

After you get in the Forum, the bathrooms are newly refurbished and gleaming, and now green with waterless urinals. The lower concourses have also been overhauled with a good widening and relocation of certain kiosks; the upper concourse, however, is still as tight as ever.

There are only two escalators, though, and each one is at the opposite sides of the arena. Good luck guessing which one is going in the direction you are trying to go.

Return on Investment    5

Though the Lightning are not as good in 2012 as their miracle run in 2011, they will always entertain and make sure you get your money's worth. They may not have the Stanley Cup in their immediate future, but considering they've already had it once, they can take comfort in knowing they will probably have it again soon.

Also, this arena didn't become one of the world's busiest by skimping (especially with all the upgrades, which I'll go into further detail in the "Extras"), so you will always have a great experience, no matter why you're there.

Extras    5

So, besides the aforementioned awesomeness in both the pipe organ and Tesla coils, other upgrades to the facility include:

– widened lower corridors; – cushioned seats with drink holders for every single guest; – brighter house lighting inside the arena itself; – two removed suites per corner along the 100-level, instead opening to unique viewing areas, complete with high-top tables and seats; – an outdoor observation deck along the western side of the building, overlooking the Tampa skyline and Hillsborough Bay; and – a grand staircase as the main entrance to the building, also located along the western part of the building.

Those alone would be enough extras, but there's more that are holdovers from before, like the extra large Plaza connecting the garage to the main gate. There is always something going on — concerts, contests, and games — and plenty of room to do it. As well as the game being projected on the large garage wall for anyone in the Plaza to watch, ticket or not, the Plaza is home to a large yellow lightning bolt sculpture — a popular meeting point before and after the game — and a newly-dedicated statue to the team's founder, Phil Esposito.

Final Thoughts

Though it wasn't apparent to the general public when it was announced in 2010 that 2011 would bring renovations to the then-named St. Pete Times Forum, after seeing the care and hard work the team put into the taxpayer-funded stadium (note: all of the $30 million-plus put into the Forum was done by the team and them alone; no taxpayer money was used in renovations), the new owners showed us in just how bad shape the Forum really was. That they were willing to take a chance and pay for this without any other assurances from the city government is something lost in sports today. Personally, I think it's a gamble that's paid off.

The facility is now ready to compete with Amway Center, BankAtlantic Center, and AmericanAirlines Arena, and prove once again why it is was the Number One facility in the world at one point in the 2000s. And with a pipe organ of this magnitude, it's not afraid to shout it from the rooftops.