The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning may not first come to mind when talking about the great rivalries in sports, but don’t tell that to Ryan Lomberg.
Lomberg won a Stanley Cup last season with the Florida Panthers and then signed as a free agent with the Calgary Flames, who he broke into the league with back in 2017. But even though he plays in Calgary now, the Battle of Florida still weighs heavily on his mind.
With the Flames in Tampa on Thursday night to play the Lightning, Lomberg was asked about his feelings on returning to the sunshine state to play against a team that he battled against in the Atlantic Division for several years in a pregame interview.
And in doing so he dropped one of the iconic f-bombs that you will ever hear in a pregame interview.
“I f–king hate these guys”
Ryan Lomberg telling us how he really feels about the Lightning 😳 pic.twitter.com/4YjNFv8yqY
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 28, 2025
“I like the palm trees and the sunshine but I f—ing hate these guys,” Lomberg exclaimed.
How about that for some honesty! At least he didn’t get hit in the face with a puck like Buffalo Sabres analyst Rob Ray before dropping the f-bomb. It’s hilarious that he was reminded that he was on live television and that it totally unfazed him, he even had an extra chuckle about it. But it’s that sense of rivalry and pure unadulterated hatred for the opposition that makes hockey so charming though, right?
Unfortunately for Ryan Lomberg and the Calgary Flames, he could not channel that energy effectively on the ice as the Lightning got the last laugh with a 3-0 victory in a shutout.
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