BC-HKN–Stanley Cup-Boyle Fire, 1st Ld-Writethru,0543

Fire damages home of Lightning’s Boyle

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By ALAN ROBINSON

AP Sports Writer

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – 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 final 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.

“It’s a tough situation,” Boyle said. “I lost a lot of my belongings. The clothes are all gone. They told me six months from now everything will be back to normal. It’s just going to be a long summer, unfortunately, but it’ll be a lot better if we can win this thing.”

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.”

“Obviously, he’s a little shocked,” Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk said. “I guess anybody would be shocked if your house has caught on fire when you are not home. I think he settled down a lot better after we talked to him.”

Coach John Tortorella told Boyle not to worry because no one was injured and the damaged home can be rebuilt.

“It’s fine,” Tortorella said. “That’s just a bunch of wood burning. There’s no one hurt. There’s nothing serious that happened. His insurance will take care of it.”

Though Boyle’s house was heavily damaged, firefighters saved keepsakes such as photos, souvenir pucks and jerseys by moving them to other parts of the house.

“My first NHL goal was in a case; it’s going to be all right but it’s a little burnt up,” Boyle said. “That’s probably the biggest thing.”

There were no previous indications anything was wrong with the house, Boyle said. He also has a house in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that he bought while playing for the Florida Panthers.

“The house is 15 years old and had never had a problem but, for whatever reason, it decided to fire up last night,” Boyle said.

Boyle, 27, a native of Ottawa, has a goal and seven assists during the playoffs. He has 37 goals and 114 assists in 325 career regular-season games, and was a plus-23 with nine goals and 30 assists in a career-high 78 games this season.

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The Tampa bureau of The Associated Press contributed to this report.

AP-ES-05-26-04 1818EDT