HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Stanley Cup party is on in Tampa Bay.

Fresh off securing its second Stanley Cup Championship (and first since 2004) in team history, the Lightning players, coaches and staff arrived back in Tampa Tuesday afternoon after a flight from Edmonton, Canada. 

Once back in Tampa, players were reunited with their families - whom they haven't seen in more than two months. 

What You Need To Know

  • The celebration kicks off on Wednesday at Riverwalk

  • There will be a boat parade on Hillsborough River

  • Then there will be a celebration at Raymond James Stadium

  • RELATED: Tampa Bay Lightning Win Stanley Cup!

Now, the team is celebration the Cup win with the Bay area. 

The City of Tampa and the Lightning will host a boat parade Wednesday at 5 p.m. along the downtown Tampa Riverwalk. Fans are encouraged to safely gather along the Riverwalk, exercising proper social distancing guidelines, including the wearing of face coverings.

The team also will host a celebration at Raymond James Stadium Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. That event has sold out. 

Free parking will begin at 5:30 p.m. and stadium doors open at 6:30 p.m. All Social Distancing guidelines for Raymond James Stadium will be in effect.  

TAMPA BAY IS TITLETOWN

The triumph of winning the NHL championship in a bubble was certainly no less sweet for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Brayden Point scored his playoff-best 14th goal and the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 2-0 in Game 6 on Monday night to win finish off the most unusual NHL postseason in history, staged nearly entirely in quarantine because of the pandemic

But when they return home to Amalie Arena in Tampa, there will be an on-ice celebration with their families and Lightning staff.

But the celebration started earlier on Monday night, when Bolts fans realized the team would be taking the cup back to Tampa.

The fans at Thunder Alley just erupted when the Bolts won the Stanley Cup, with about 1,000 people were outside of Amalie Arena.

It's been 16 long years since the Lightning have brought the cup back home to Tampa;

just the second time in franchise history.

"I've been waiting for so many years. This is from like 12 years ago, I've been wearing this jersey. All the time. So, I love it. I'm excited," said fan Saverio Digioa.   

Ralph Parr agreed and shared his excitement.

"I'm absolutely fired up. This team has deserved this win, the Stanley cup win since 2015. We've been through injuries, we've been through I think it all and there's not one team right now that deserves the cup more than the Tampa Bay Lightning," he said.