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Lightning to visit White House to celebrate back-to-back Stanley Cups

lightning white house

TAMPA, FL - JULY 7: Ross Colton #79, Steven Stamkos #91, and head coach Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate in the locker room with the Stanley Cup after the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five to win the best of seven game series 4-1 during the Stanley Cup Final of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on July 7, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

For the first time since winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, the Tampa Bay Lightning will get a chance to visit U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington D.C. on Monday.

The Lightning will fly to D.C. and spend their off-day Monday as guests of the President during a ceremony on the South Lawn. They will head home that afternoon ahead of Tuesday’s game at AMALIE Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This will actually be the franchise’s first-ever visit the White House despite their three Stanley Cups. The 2004-05 NHL lockout prevented the team from celebrating their 2003-04 title and the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to the Lightning getting a chance to visit in the last two years.

The St. Louis Blues were the last Stanley Cup-winning team to visit the White House in Oct. 2019. Lightning forward Pat Maroon was part of that team but did not take part in the visit after having already signed with Tampa Bay.

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.