Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning will play in their first playoff home game since April 22, 2007, when they were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils in six games. (Tampa Bay goalie in that game? The immortal Johan Holmqvist, of course.)
So the Bolts are making the most out of this opportunity in Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins with some fan appreciation.
First off, they're issuing fuzzy blue playoff beards to fans that request a coupon for them on Facebook (see it here), which is a really keen idea. Not only because it shows team spirit, but because it acknowledges that a deep playoff run may not produce a large amount of scraggly face foliage -- having a Paul Mara during June in Tampa Bay doesn't seem like the most comfortable grooming option.
More importantly for those attending and playing in the game: The Lightning are giving out these "rally drums" to the first 15,000 fans who enter the arena.
The Pensblog had an image of a rally drum from earlier this season, and the Lightning sent over the one above for tonight's Game 3 percussionists. The St. Pete Times believes the drum sounds "as if it will be louder than the ThunderStix planned for Game 4." We believe that officially places these drums somewhere ahead of ThunderStix but well behind vuvuzelas on the player annoyance scale.
What do you think of the drum giveaway? Cool? Lame?
Laugh if you will at this plastic trinket … will you still be laughing when Steven Stamkos conjures his offense through the power of the drum technique, Daniel-san?