DENVER, Colo. — ABC Action News sports anchor Kyle Burger spoke with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s team chiropractor Dr. Tim Bain of B3 Medical. Dr. Bain has been working with the Lightning for over a decade.
How did you get involved with the Tampa Bay Lightning?
Dr. Bain: “When I got into chiropractic, I started with kids and families. I’ve always been around hockey my whole life, played hockey, and reffed with a guy who came to the Lightning as a fan development guy. He introduced me to Tommy Mulligan. That’s how I got involved with the Lightning. It’s been an amazing run to get these two Cups and have a chance for a third.”
What is your role to get the players back on the ice quickly after an injury?
Dr. Bain: “We do a lot of soft tissue work, we do a lot of flushes, muscles energy work. Some of it is just reassuring them they have to use their pads (to block shots). I say to Mac (Ryan McDonagh) every game, block shots, use your pads. Now we add the forwards into it so it’s pretty fun to do those things and see that they are actually using their pads.”
“We’re up early, we’re at the rink all day. We go back to the hotel, we get a little dinner. They feed us well here, so that’s kind of nice. We’re working tonight until one or two in the morning just making sure everyone is ready to go and 100 percent. That’s the most important thing.”
Coming off a game one loss, is there a player that rallies the team to bounce back in game two?
Dr. Bain: “This is our third year here, it’s been a different guy each time. The first year was obviously Patty (Pat Maroon). It was a real big deal for us. It started way before the bubble. It started when we were in Sweden. We’ve had new guys come in, we’ve had young guys come in, on a game to game basis, someone different steps up. That’s the really cool thing about the team value. We really are a team. It could be the newest guy, someone that’s a veteran and not won one, or has won one. It’s fun to see how they all pitch in.”
Players have playoff superstitions, do you or the staff also have superstitions?
Dr. Bain: “I wouldn’t call them superstitions. They are more like patterns. Some people call them superstitions. We’ve got a ton of them. Some of our trainers have more than our players. It’s about timing. It’s getting into the pattern and making sure your timing is correct. You do the same thing at the same time and say the same thing even if the guy is not there. I put my left shoe on before my right. I think it’s more about making sure we do things the same way each time so we don’t mess something up so someone else that has something that gets out of whack. Everything we do is about timing, especially the way this team plays — fast and with good timing.”
