According to Kevin Weekes, the Sunshine State will be potential hosts to the Battle of Florida, between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. Raymond James Stadium has been identified as the possible spot the teams will be battling it out in.
The Panthers under Joel Quenneville and Andrew Brunette's leadership have won the battle in 2020-2022. No surprise as the team won the President's Trophy last season, but currently seems to suffer that same curse that follows each team. When it comes to the playoffs, however, Tampa Bay under Jon Cooper has won both series.
The only problem with this announcement is the NHL has struggled on multiple occasions to have quality ice in Florida arenas, so how on earth are they going to do it outdoors? Last season the NHL has a near disaster when their Lake Louise game had to be pushed back hours due to ice conditions.
Not to mention Raymond James Stadium seats nearly 66,000 fans, is there anywhere near that kind of interest in an all Florida matchup? Given last week's All Star Game, I'd say no.
