A misunderstanding over a few Lightning fans’ passion for their team during the Stanley Cup final Wednesday night produced a scene in Tampa rife with cops and, in the end, comic relief.
Devon Garnett, a Bay area super fan of sorts recently profiled by the Tampa Bay Times, was watching Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final on Wednesday evening with two buddies. In one first-period sequence, when Victor Hedman controlled the puck in the Lightning’s offensive zone, the friends began screaming, “Shoot! Shoot!” at the TV.
Evidently, that prompted a neighbor to call police. Minutes later, a handful of Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies were at their doorstep.
“So they came to the door and thought there were guns in the house,” said Garnett, 26. “We’re like, ‘Nope, we’re just screaming for Steven Stamkos.’”
Sheriff’s office spokesperson Natalia Verdina confirmed Thursday morning that deputies were dispatched to the complex at 8:24 p.m. Wednesday. The caller said they heard someone yelling loudly in the apartment above.
“Four deputies responded and discovered there were no domestic problems at the apartment in question,” Verdina said in an e-mail. “It was a roommate screaming at the TV in regards to a Lightning game.”
With that, the cops went on their way, Garnett said.
And he and his pals (who didn’t wish to be identified) had a misunderstanding to pass along to posterity.
Once apprised of the actual cause for all the commotion, the deputies “completely understood and just laughed it off,” said Garnett. He also said that for future finals games, he would make sure to yell, “Shoot the puck!”
Tampa Bay is looking for its first Stanley Cup since 2004 and the second since it began play in 1992. Dallas, which began play in the 1967, is also aiming for its second championship, which would be its first since 1999.
Game 4 is Friday night.
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