TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2007-08 Florida Blue Cup against the Florida Panthers, three games to one, after Tampa Bay skated to a 3-1 victory on March 27 night at the St. Pete Times Forum. The Florida Blue Cup, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, is awarded to the team with the best record in the season series at the St. Pete Times Forum. During the game Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida presented the Lightning Foundation with a check for $20,000 for the Fit Families for Life program which benefits sixth grade students from Academy Prep in Tampa and their families.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, in association with the Lightning Foundation and community partner Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, sponsored “Fit Families for Life”. This innovative new program, focused on helping families make significant changes in exercise routines, eating habits and general wellness, kicked-off on Tuesday, January 15 at Academy Prep Center of Tampa.
“We would like to thank Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida not only for making the Florida Blue Cup possible, but perhaps more importantly, for being such a good community partner of the Tampa Bay Lightning,” said Ron Campbell, President of the Lightning and the St. Pete Times Forum. “We have jointly touched the students at Academy Prep in Tampa in a very positive way with the Fit Families for Life program and we look forward to continuing the partnership and the good works for many, many years. In the end, combining our joint sources to positively affect others is the most important thing.”
Fit Families for Life is a nine-week program in which students learned about exercise, nutrition, and cooking and applying it to their daily lives. The program featured guest speakers including nutritionist JoAnn Loiselle and Tim Arem of T-Bone Productions International, who will promote fitness and host a Nordic walking workshop. Other sessions featured representatives from the YMCA, “Let’s Eat!”, Tampa General Hospital, MORE HEALTH, Inc and Monarch Training and Consulting.
Throughout the program students created healthy meal and personal exercise plans, as well as took field trips to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and the Tampa YMCA. Participants and their families participated in the program together through recipe sharing, family fitness, family healthcare plans, and cooking activities.
In November, 65 students and parents from Academy Prep Center for Education in Tampa and 35 students from Academy Prep, St. Petersburg received free running shoes through the program. Sixty of the students participated in the one-mile Fun Run at the Lightning’s annual Reindeer Run. Parents are being encouraged to begin walking or running with the students.
The Lightning capped this year’s Florida Blue Cup victory Tuesday night as Jeff Halpern had a goal and two assists while Karri Ramo made 34 saves on 35 shots. Michel Ouellet and Filip Kuba also added goals for Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay outscored the Panthers, 10-6, in the inaugural Florida Blue Cup series, including 4-1 in the first period. The Lightning held Florida to one goal in three of the four games, with the lone exception being Tampa Bay’s 3-2 loss on February 2, a game the Lightning led for nearly 30 minutes.
The Lightning opened the series with a 2-1 win on October 10 as Chris Gratton scored the game-winner. Tampa Bay won its second consecutive game, 3-1, on November 7 as Martin St. Louis beat Tomas Vokoun in the first period for the game-winner. The Lightning dropped their only game of the series February 2 as Florida squeaked out a 3-2 win at the St. Pete Times Forum leading up to last nights victory to secure the 3-1 series win.
The Lightning penalty killing unit excelled in the series, killing off 14 of 15 Panther man-advantages (93.3%) in the four games. Former Panther Gratton, despite missing the final game due to injury, led Lightning with three goals in the series while fellow former Cats Dan Boyle and Kuba combined for a goal and three assists.
With the series win, the Lightning evened the all-time home series to 17-17-6 in 40 games against the Panthers. Tampa Bay won the season series on a tie breaker as each team won four games but the Lightning held a 24-23 goal advantage. |
