Spirited Tampa Bay Lightning fans in Manatee, Sarasota fired up for Stanley Cup Final

MANATEE -- Game 1 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Chicago Blackhawks is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday in Tampa, but it might take a shootout to determine this area's most spirited Lightning fan.

It could be Lisa Chittaro, assistant state attorney for the 12th Circuit Court, who flies a Tampa Bay Lightning flag in front of her house off Upper Manatee River Road and has worn a Tampa Bay Lightning lapel pin in court every day since the Lightning made the playoffs.

Might be Lynne Grief, vice president of trauma at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, who has a miniature Stanley Cup trophy in her Sarasota home with a tiny ThunderBug, the Lightning mascot, placed inside.

Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore is in the running, too. She once was named a Lightning Community Champion and split the $50,000 award between Manatee County Animal Services in Palmetto and services for the homeless.

All of these local fans and scores more are set for the ultimate in hockey fanaticism, the Stanley Cup Final.

"I have to watch the games alone in my house with no one talking so I can concentrate on the action," said Whitmore. "I knock

on wood before each game. I use my end table."

Grief said she is a 100 percent Lightning fan but she came from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, where she supported the Oilers.

Chittaro is also Canadian, growing up in Windsor, Ontario, where she followed the Detroit Red Wings.

"There is nothing like this," said Grief, who moved to Florida in 1995. "It took awhile to give up my loyalty to the Oilers but now I am Lightning all the way."

The emergency department at University of Alberta Hospitals where Grief worked as an assistant manager was where injured Oilers came for treatment.

"The Oilers had five Stanley Cups so they were a huge presence in the city," Grief said, speaking of titles in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. "We saw Wayne Gretzky all the time. I saw the Cup itself and the rings on the players."

Based on her hockey instincts, sharpened by years of watching the game, Grief said she believes Lightning goalie Ben Bishop can be the difference in the Cup finals.

"I like the fact that he is young and enthusiastic and engaged," Grief said. "He takes every goal he lets in personally."

For those who have never watched the Lightning, Grief suggests they either watch the game on NBC Wednesday or go up to Amalie Arena in Tampa and attend a watch party outside the arena.

"The game is incredibly fast and athletic," Grief said. "I don't mean to slight other sports, but you don't see any fat hockey players."

A ticket for the final can run about $600 or more, she said.

"We will go up to a watch party," Grief said.

Chittaro has season tickets so she is going to the Cup finals and she's plenty excited. Chittaro's boss, State Attorney Ed Brodsky, is also a Lightning fan with season tickets, Chittaro said.

"The whole State Attorney's Office is very, very much pro-Lightning," Chittaro said.

The team has supported the State Attorney's Office as well, producing public service announcements supporting animal welfare. Chittaro specializes in animal abuse cases as well as prosecuting fraud against the elderly.

Chittaro, like Grief, has a high hockey IQ, and is careful not to make predictions on the final.

"Hockey is very unpredictable," Chittaro said. "You never know what will happen. But the difference I see with the Lightning this year is the team effort. It's not one single person. They realize it takes a team. They have the drive and that's what brought them to this point. The State Attorney's Office is extremely proud of what they have accomplished."

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published June 3, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Spirited Tampa Bay Lightning fans in Manatee, Sarasota fired up for Stanley Cup Final."