• Are you ready for some hockey? Lightning and Hurricanes open seasons in Raleigh

    By Rich Shulman

    As someone who grew up playing hockey on frozen lakes, the idea of NHL teams from Florida and North Carolina is still a bit hard to process. Picnics on the grass and shinny in the parking lot? I don't think so.

    Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

    Liz Owens Courtney, Michael Courtney and Chris Brasfield tailgate at the RBC Center prior to the season opener between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes on October 7 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

    Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

    Nick and Steve Bond of Burlington, North Carolina play some hockey in the parking lot prior to the season opening game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Center on Oct. 7 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

     

     

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    Go BOLTS!

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  • Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning takes a puck to the face

    Elsa / Getty Images

    Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates off the ice after being hit in the face with a puck in the second period of Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Bruins during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 27, in Boston, Massachusetts.

    Elsa / Getty Images

    Stamkos returns to the game after being hit in the face with a puck.

    By Jim Seida

    Stamkos was only out of the game for five minutes of play before he returned wearing a full cage face shield in place of the visor he had been wearing.  Boston beat Tampa 1-0 to go to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1990.