Grown men and women who never quite gave up on their hockey dreams laced up skates this week alongside actual Tampa Bay Lightning alumni, trading slap shots and locker-room banter at Benchmark International Arena. The occasion was the team's Fantasy Camp, a multi-day program that pairs adult players of every skill level with former pros for practices, games and nightly hangouts.
According to lightninghockeydevelopment.com, the 2026 edition ran September 18-21 at the arena, though a separate official player-registration page, lightningicehockeydevelopment.leagueapps.com, described the camp as taking place sometime in fall 2026 with exact dates still to be determined. Either way, the price tag was consistent across listings: $3,000 per camper, with proceeds benefiting the Tampa Bay Lightning Alumni Foundation and the Lightning Foundation, per the same lightninghockeydevelopment.com page.
As FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported, the camp brought together campers and Lightning alumni including Ruslan Fedotenko, Valtteri Filppula, Tyler Johnson, Brad Lukowich and Mathieu Garon, with campers taking part in team practices and games against those same alumni. Garon told the outlet the event is a chance to grow the team's relationship with the community.
Who Gets to Play, and What They Get
The camp is open to adults 21 and older at every skill level, according to lightninghockeydevelopment.com. Listings differed slightly on roster size — one capped the field at 36 skaters and six goalies, while the player-registration page put the number at 40 skaters and six goalies, both per lightninghockeydevelopment.com and lightningicehockeydevelopment.leagueapps.com respectively.
Every camper walks away with a personalized Fantasy Camp jersey, a Tampa Bay Lightning locker-room nameplate and official team apparel, the program's site notes. Confirmed alumni coaching this year's group, according to lightninghockeydevelopment.com, include Ryan Malone, Nate Thompson, Dave Andreychuk, Tyler Johnson, Mathieu Garon, Andre Roy, Glen Metropolit, Ruslan Fedotenko, Zenon Konopka and Braydon Coburn.
Three Days on the Ice
The structure mixes morning practices with afternoon games across Benchmark International Arena and TGH Ice Plex, building to a Fantasy Camp Championship Game on the final day, per lightninghockeydevelopment.com. Evenings are filled with activities involving Lightning alumni and special guests, the same source states. A separate listing on lightningicehockeydevelopment.leagueapps.com adds that participants are coached by various Lightning alumni throughout the camp.
The fantasy-camp concept isn't brand new for the franchise. Yahoo Sports' Canadian edition reported that the Lightning Fantasy Camp was set to return for fall 2026 at Benchmark International Arena. Last year's version, according to NHL.com, was marketed as an experience designed to immerse campers in the world of professional hockey and was pitched to seasoned players and hockey newcomers alike.
What Past Campers Got
The 2025 camp package, as detailed by NHL.com, included a contract-signing activity with Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois, lettered and numbered locker-room jerseys, an all-inclusive loft during a Lightning preseason game, and behind-the-scenes access to AMALIE Arena. That registration window opened on May 27, 2025, according to the same report.
For this year's crop of campers, the appeal is much the same: a few days of feeling like part of the team, with the added knowledge that their $3,000 buy-in supports the Lightning's charitable arms back home in Tampa.
