Lightning Parade 2021: Route, Date, Schedule, TV Info and More
July 8, 2021
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced Thursday they'll hold a Stanley Cup championship boat parade on the Hillsborough River, which can be viewed from the Tampa Riverwalk, on Monday at 11 a.m. ET.
After the parade, the celebration of the team's second straight NHL title will move to the city's Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park at 2 p.m. ET, with musical performances featuring Vo Williams and Big Boi.
Bally Sports Sun will provide television coverage of the event for fans who can't attend.
"Fans are encouraged to spread out on both sides of the river along the full route," the team wrote. "No outside boats will be allowed to participate in the parade as fans are invited to watch via land."
The format is similar to September's event, in which the Lightning held a boat parade followed by a championship celebration at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium after winning the 2020 title.
Perhaps that event provided some good mojo for the Bucs, who went on to win the Super Bowl in February at Raymond James Stadium, becoming the first team in NFL history to do so on their home field.
The star-studded Lightning overwhelmed the upstart Canadiens in the Final. They won the first three games of the series and, after losing Game 4 in overtime, returned home to close out the series Wednesday night with a 1-0 victory.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, while the Bolts featured all of the top-five scorers in the NHL postseason, led by Nikita Kucherov with 32 points.
With three championship parades in the last 10 months, Tampa is the U.S.' current title town.