Featuring:

Otto Somppi

Jonne Tammela

Ryan Lohin

Taylor Raddysh

Libor Hajek

Brett Howden

Yanni Gourde

With Special Guests:

The Tampa Bay Lightning Roster

Brendan Gallagher

****

Otto Somppi, Jonne Tammela, Ryan Lohin, Taylor Raddysh, Libor Hajek, Brett Howden and Yanni Gourde all exit their bus. They find themselves standing at the edge of Thunder Alley, staring up at the famous NHL hockey arena named Amalie.

Jonne begins walking forward. "Come on guys, let's check this place out! It looks really cool! Cooler than Yanni in a Syracuse Crunch jersey!"

"Watch it, Tam Tam," Yanni scolds playfully.

"Oh, shoot," Brett's annoyed voice comes. "Do you see my hair?" He holds his phone up, trying to look at his reflection in the screen and fix his 'messy' hair. "Oh, this is not how a first rounder should look...they're going to judge me!"

"Howdy, it looks fine," Ryan responds.

"It looks better than Yanni's that's for sure!" Jonne boasts.

Yanni spins to him. "Are you done being a jerk?"

Jonne shrugs his shoulders and looks at Otto, who is looking down at his feet, keeping quiet. "Hey, Somps, you okay man?"

Otto looks up and nods his head, before looking back down.

"Rads and Haji are you both good to go?" Yanni asks. "As the oldest of this group, follow me. If you follow Tam Tam, you'll get lost. I can't wait for you to meet Vladislav Namestnikov, you both are going to be best buds, I can tell."

"Vladdy, they call him Vladdy and I know. Vladdy is one of my idols!" Jonne exclaims. "Though Somps here, is more like a Kucherov."

Otto looks up and grumbles something to Jonne angrily in Finnish. Jonne doesn't catch what he says and shrugs. Otto follows up with a soft spoken, "We go in?"

Libor pipes up finally, "I don't know about you, but I am excited to meet Ondrej Palat and Sustr! They are my idols!"

"MagikHajek speaks up!" Jonne exclaims.

"Alright Tammy, that's enough from you," Taylor comments. "Come on. Let's get in there already!"

Yanni rolls his eyes and guides them to follow him. They all walk up the slope, passing by the statute and under the "Welcome" sign, coming to the three signature yellow lightning bolts, where a group stands.

"OMG! It's Steven Stamkos, the captain!" Brett exclaims. "My hair looks fine now, right?"

Steven Stamkos steps forward from the group, dipping his head. "Welcome to Amalie Arena, boys."

Behind him the rest of the roster stands, including: Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Andrei Sustr, Braydon Coburn, Jason Garrison, Slater Koekkoek, Nikita Nesterov, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jonathan Drouin, Alex Killorn, Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, JT Brown and Cedric Paquette.

Otto ducks behind Jonne, who tries to look at him and mutters to himself in Finnish.

"Hey, Somps, it's just the Lightning. They drafted you, what's wrong man?" Jonne says.

Nikita Kucherov steps forward and walks over to the shy Otto. "Hey, I like score goals. Do you?" He puts on a bashful smile.

Otto looks at him. "I--yes!"

The other Bolts begin to mingle with the players. The familiar face of a blond player steps passes Yanni, patting him on the shoulder and then comes up to Jonne and Otto, who is slowly relaxing and talking with Nikita. He halts and taps Jonne on the shoulder, smiling largely.

"Jonne Tammela, right?" the blond questions.

"Vladdy?" Jonne gasps. "Namestnikov?"

Vladdy winks at him. "I am he."

Jonne walks away with Vladdy, the two deep in conversation and laughing with one another, while Otto and Nikita talk. Eventually the Lightning players part ways with the prospects at the commands of Steven.

"Shall we go inside?" the captain of the Lightning asks, gesturing with one hand to the grand building to his right.

The prospects all look to the left and nod.

Everyone, prospects and Lightning players, head into the arena, through the McDonald's Ticket Office, following Steven. They soon find themselves walking through blue paint walls toward the locker room, where they all enter and bunch together in their groups inside.

Leaning against Vladdy's stall is a Nexus One hockey stick, which stands out. Vladdy spots it and cusses to himself. "Forgot to put Yzerchuk away. Oops." He gives a sheepish smile to Steven, who looks at him with a hard look.

"Great, Vladdy, now I gotta explain Yzerchuk to them," Steven growls.

"You gotta explain your mom to them!" Drouin's voice teases with a snort.

"Oooh! Cookie!" Nikita exclaims, reaching out toward a plate in Ondrej's stall.

"Dammit Kuch!" Ondrej grumbles as the Russian takes a chocolate chip cookie from the plate and stuffs it into his mouth, moaning with delight. "That was mine..."

"If out, it Nikita's!" Nikita announces. "I gets all cookies!"

"What's Yzerchuk? Sounds like Yzerman and Andreychuk had a kid?" Taylor questions.

"Ha! Yzerchuk is my special stick, guys! He's important to know about, because he helps us out! Watch this," Vladdy explains, brushing past Steven, who rolls his eyes and heaves a sigh. The blond snatches his stick and holds it in the center over the 'N'. He then holds it out before him horizontally and shouts out, "In Yzerchuk we trust!"

He thrusts it into the air as it transforms, making Otto, Jonne, Libor, Ryan, Brett, Yanni and Taylor all gasp in shock and awe.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Vladdy inquires. "He's great for zapping Brendan Gallagher when he gets too close for comfort, right guys?" He glances over at his friends.

"Gallagher?" Yanni questions. "Who's Brendan Gallagher? Why do you wish to zap him? What does he do?"

Vladdy lowers Yzerchuk, which gradually morphs back into the hockey stick. "10 minute lifespan basically and Gallagher...Gally is a wicked, mean jerk from the Montreal Canadiens." He looks at Steven, nodding at him.

"Tampa doesn't like Montreal too much. I guess you'll learn that soon enough. They like to pick on Vladdy a ton," Steven explains as Vladdy puts Yzerchuk back in place and walks back over toward the group and his captain. "Thankfully the Hockey Gods are on our side and we've been able to hold our own against those cheaters."

"Will they be mean to us?" Libor asks in a thick Czech accent.

"I'm not sure. You should be prepared though in case they do. They have a guy named Radulov, who is a dirty bastard basically. Think of any player you've come across who's gotten under your skin or on your nerves or pissed you off. Now times that by ten and that's Radulov!"

"And for me, Brendan Gallagher!" Vladdy tacks on.

Jonne sees something shiny catch his eye, while Steven is explaining the Montreal dislike to them. He steps back, out of the room and into the hallway. Suddenly it begins to flash like a light being turned on and off.

He turns back to see the others engrossed in the story and everyone not paying attention to him. He slips out and walks down the hall, curious as to what the light is. He reaches the intersection and makes a right, heading toward the ice.

Before he can reach the tunnel that leads to the ice, he is ambushed from behind by two people. Jonne fights back, kicking one of the people in the shins, before his arms are snatched and yanks behind him roughly.

"Who are you?" Jonne attempts to ask. 

"My name is Brendan Gallagher." 

"Brendan Gallagher? Uh oh..." Jonne trails off, his heart racing in his chest. It's the guy who torments Vladdy!

"Wait a sec, you're not Vladdy!" Gallagher's voice snarls. 

"I'm Jonne Tammela! HELP!!" Jone screams out, before he is slammed into the wall and knocked unconscious. 

To be continued...