TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger joined host Gino Reda on TSN’s ‘Insider Trading’ on Thursday night. Dreger noted on the show that the NHL was concerned about the championship celebrations held by the Tampa Bay Lightning this week, and that the league had contacted the team.

Dreger said, “I think we all saw the video evidence of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrating like it’s 2019, not like it’s 2020. And your point is well made. On any other year, any other celebration involving a Stanley Cup Champion, as long as you keep it between the lines, is going to be okay. But from a health and safety perspective, I think we can call agree this doesn’t look very healthy or very safe in the world of a pandemic. So the National Hockey League did reach out to the Tampa Bay Lightning to question some of that behavior.“

It was just three short months ago that the Lightning had to shut down their facilities during training camp due to several positive tests on the team.

As for the league contacting the team after the celebrations have already taken place, that’s somewhat laughable and pointless, as the “cow has already left of the barn” at this point. However, it should be noted that the league would likely look bad if they didn’t make any kind of statement about the celebrations.

Ultimately , the decisions made regarding the celebrations are the total responsibility of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the City of Tampa and the state of Florida, and not the responsibility of the league.

By Jon Sorensen