The Tampa Bay Lightning are in the the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in a decade and, while that’s great news for Bolts fans, it stinks for Garth Brooks fans. The country music legend was forced to cancel all three shows he had scheduled at Tampa because of the series.
In a statement to fans, Brooks and his opening act, Trisha Yearwood, said that they would not be able to easily move their two Saturday, June 6 shows to Sunday without raising some safety concerns. Brooks’ team talked with NBC and the NHL about it, but the two sides couldn’t figure out a safe way for their crews to be moving in and out at the same time.
“This was a hard decision for everyone. We would like to thank Elmer Straub at Amalie Arena and Tod Leiweke with the Tampa Bay Lightning for working around the clock for the last 48 hours to find a remedy for the situation,” the statement from Brooks reads. “We personally know [NHL Commissioner] Gary Bettman and are very familiar with the League and its players, coaches, and staff…they are all stand-up people. We are convinced everything that could have been done was done to try to remedy the situation. Congrats again to the City of Tampa, good luck, and we will be watching the series!!!”
Brooks and his team have not rescheduled the tour dates and only offered refunds. The singer’s next dates are in Birmingham, Alabama on June 12 and 13. He doesn’t have any future Florida dates scheduled, although he was in the state in October when he played in Jacksonville.
The Lightning will play the Chicago Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup. The Lightning previously won the cup in 2004.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com