Lightning boat parade features blitzed Nikita Kucherov, beer, jet skis, Stanley Cup made of beer and, oh, beer

Whether or not it’s out of the Stanley Cup, someone’s drinking.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are hoisting their second Stanley Cup in as many seasons, and are celebrating as only teams in Tampa Bay know how: with an epic boat parade through the Hillsborough River in Florida.

The Lightning took to the water Monday to perform a celly of epic proportions after steamrolling the Canadiens in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, and they seemed to have a blast. Exhibit A: Nikita Kucherov.

The right winger is fully embracing his role as the heel of the NHL postseason, as he was recently seen sporting a shirt that read “$18M Over the Cap,” a reference to the Lightning’s controversial (but totally legal) maneuvering of the NHL salary cap this season.

Kucherov kept the fun rolling (or boating) into Monday’s boat parade, which resulted in a seemingly (read as: very) blitzed interview with a news reporter.

“Unreal, all the people right here, unreal,” Kucherov said. “Love them all. Let’s party hard. Our time, baby, back-to-back, that’s how we do it. …

“It’s an unreal team, everybody was playing hard. I wish we could keep everybody, but it’s a business. As of right now, let’s party hard, let’s enjoy it, we deserve it.”

(Editor’s note: Kucherov’s comments have been edited to remove drunken slurring.)

Kucherov ends the interview by dousing the reporter with a bottle of Budweiser. 

Lightning fans got into the fun, too. Some fans fashioned a Stanley Cup of their own made out of beer cans and a bowl …

… while the real Stanley Cup went on a personal ride on a Jet Ski, just as Lord Stanley intended.

Nice to see the Lightning and their fans party down after another romp through the playoffs. Water conducts electricity, after all.

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