Fans are criticizing the Tampa Bay Lightning and the NHL after their attempt at turning a common inter-period game into a charity drive woefully missed the mark.
Sunday marked the latest installment of the NHL’s Stadium Series when the Boston Bruins played the Lightning outdoors at Raymond James Stadium – home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Between the second and third periods, the Lightning brought out Rob Higgins, the CEO of the athletic department at the University of South Florida. Higgins is a cancer survivor and was invited onto the ice and received a check for $100,000 – presented to him by Bucs icon Ronde Barber.
At this point, retired hockey star and ESPN commentator PK Subban came out and offered Higgins the chance to up the donation to $500,000. All Higgins would have to do is shoot a puck from the center circle and through a tiny opening in a board placed in front of the net.
Higgins’ shot missed to the left, but he was given a second chance. Pressure was added when current Bucs star Baker Mayfield came out – bringing Higgins’ dad in tow to watch on – and upped the donation to $1million.
But his second attempt in front of 65,000 missed to the right. Mayfield then announced that rather than the initial $100,000 promised, the NHL would instead donate $200,000.
The NHL is being criticized for a ‘classless’ display at the Stadium Series game on Sunday
USF athletics CEO Rob Higgins was brought out to receive a donation for cancer research
Higgins got the chance to increase the donation to $500k if he slotted a puck through this hole
Then, Bucs star Baker Mayfield (second right) brought out Higgins father (far right) to watch as his son attempted the same shot again, only this time for $1million. He missed a second time and the NHL ended up donating only $200,000 of the possible $1m to cancer research.
Fans eviscerated the NHL for what they viewed as a cruel marketing sunt where they brought out a cancer survivor and his father – who is also a cancer survivor – and then donated a quarter of the funds they were prepared to part with.
‘Just give him the million cowards,’ one user wrote on X.
Another comment read, ‘Way to make the cancer survivor feel like a loser! You had a million to donate so donate it. The whole ceremony was tacky.’
‘Who thought this was a good idea? Managed to make a $200k cancer charity donation look bad,’ another said.
One comment said, ‘This was absolutely out of touch, just classless. Lowering a $1 million charity donation by $800,000 because a cancer survivor missed a tiny, impossible target? Live on TV like that? The NHL should’ve built the widest net and asked dozens of survivors to score symbolically.’
‘Give them the $1M ffs. What is this nonsense?’ Canadian hockey content producer Drew Livingstone posted.
For what it’s worth, Higgins showed his gratitude with a thank you post to his personal X account and highlighted the charities the money was donated to.
As for the game itself, the Lightning came back from a 5-1 deficit to win 6-5 in a shootout over the Bruins.
