Police called after Bolts’ fans yell ‘shoot’ at TV

Neighbours obviously not hockey fans

WASHINGTON • Police were called to a Tampa residence Wednesday evening after neighbours heard loud noises, including cries of, “Shoot! Shoot!”

Fortunately, it turned out to be just Tampa Bay Lightning fans yelling for their team to take a shot on net.

The incident occurred during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final, in which the Lightning are squaring off against the Dallas Stars in Edmonton. According to reports, Devon Garnett and a pair of unidentified friends were watching the game when Tampa Bay defenceman Victor Hedman handled the puck in the Lightning’s offensive zone, when they alarmed some people living next door.

“I wanted Hedman to shoot the puck, so I screamed, ‘ Shoot! Shoot!’” said Garnett (via WFLA).

Minutes later, deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff ’s Office turned up saying they had received a call regarding a potential domestic disturbance.

“So they came to the door and thought there were guns in the house,” said Garnett, 26 (via the Tampa Bay Times). “We’re like, ‘ Nope,

DID THEY NOT KNOW THE LIGHTNING WERE PLAYING?

we’re just screaming for Steven Stamkos.’”

Plenty of Lightning fans were excited about Stamkos, the longtime captain of the team who made his first appearance since surgery in March. The 12th-year centre, a six- time all- star, scored on his first and only shot before leaving the game early with an injury.

Tampa Bay is looking for its first Stanley Cup since 2004 and the second since it began play in 1992. Dallas, which began play in the 1967, is also aiming for its second championship, which would be its first since 1999.

With a Cup final win, the Lightning would give Tampa just its third championship in one of the major leagues, including a Buccaneers’ Super Bowl win in 2002. Yet not everyone in the Florida city has caught Lightning fever. “Who would call the cops? Did they not know the Lightning were playing?” he wondered.

“Four deputies responded and discovered there were no domestic problems at the apartment in question,” a Hillsborough County Sheriff ’s Office spokesperson said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times. “It was a roommate screaming at the TV in regards to a Lightning game.”

Once apprised of the cause for the commotion, the deputies “completely understood and just laughed it off,” Garnett said. He also said that for future games, he would yell, “Shoot the puck!”