TAMPA — Prior to a home game during the previous season, Tripp “Trippy” Nugent entered the Lightning locker room and instantly captured the attention of everyone with his contagious smile and boundless energy.
As he battled cancer, the Lakeland kid soon became a part of the Lightning family. He participated in the Coop’s Catch for Kids paediatric cancer benefit last year while riding on Lightning coach Jon Cooper’s boat. As recently as January, while he was receiving treatment in Boston, he went to the Lightning practice. He even signed a deal for one day with the team on his December 2022 visit.
On Monday morning, the Lightning made Nugent’s passing public. He was seven.
Nugent was described by Cooper as “a special kid as I’ve ever met.”
“We’ve had a difficult 24 hours here,” Cooper remarked. It hurts so much that he’s not among us anymore. It is devastating.
Steven Stamkos, the captain of the Lightning, sent Nugent a video invitation to a home game versus Toronto in 2022 shortly after it was announced that he had an incurable brain tumour.
Along with his sister Lexie and parents Nick and Katie, he attended the Lightning’s morning skate and gave high fives to every player in the locker room. Additionally, Mathieu Darche, director of hockey operations, signed him to a one-day contract. He enthused the team before the game by performing the griddy dance, which caused the entire room to applaud.
During pregame warmups, the Lightning wore blue Team Trippy caps on the ice. During his postgame interviews, Alex Killorn wore the cap after winning the game with an overtime goal.
During the first Coop’s Catch event held since the epidemic last season, Cooper personally invited Nugent. And on 5 January of this year, despite being frail after treatment and using a wheelchair, he went to the Lightning’s practice in Boston.
Cooper remarked, “I can still see him like he’s right here.” Cooper remarked, “But he was listening to Thunderstruck and wearing a Stammer shirt when he left us.” And what a wonderful young guy he was, if that doesn’t say it all. Thus, the heart is undoubtedly a little weaker today.
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