Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle's house sustained $300,000 damage after an electrical fire broke out while he was playing in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals across town Tuesday night.
'They told me after the game that `Your house is on fire,' '' Boyle said Wednesday. ``I thought it was some kind of a joke, but it's reality. Sometimes being a player in the playoffs you think you're superhuman, but this makes you realize you're not.''
No one was at Boyle's two-story south Tampa home when the fire started in the wall of the game room, according to Tampa Fire Rescue. The fire quickly spread up an outside wall and into the attic, damaging about one-third of the house.
''My folks were down for two months up until the playoffs so I can be thankful they weren't there, or I wasn't there sleeping at night, or it could have been a lot worse,'' Boyle said.
Firefighters told Boyle they were watching the final minutes of the Lightning's 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames when the fire was reported. They arrived at 10:39 p.m. and had the fire under control in about 20 minutes.
Boyle, who got a limited amount of sleep Wednesday, said, ``They're trying to keep my mind on hockey but, obviously, it's not on hockey right now.''
