Lightning mourn loss of 7-year-old fan Tripp Nugent
TAMPA — Last season, Tripp “Trippy” Nugent walked into the Lightning dressing room before a home game and immediately won over the entire room with his smile and enthusiasm.
The boy from Lakeland quickly became a member of the Lightning family as he fought cancer. He was on Lightning coach Jon Cooper’s boat for last year’s Coop’s Catch for Kids pediatric cancer benefit. He visited Lightning practice as recently as January in Boston, where he was receiving treatment. He even signed a one-day contract with the team when he first visited in December 2022.
The Lightning announced Nugent’s death Monday morning. He was 7.
Cooper called Nugent “a special kid as I’ve ever met.”
“It’s been a tough 24 hours for us here,” Cooper said. “For him not to be around us anymore, it’s gut wrenching. It’s heartbreaking.”
Shortly after Nugent was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, he received a video invitation from Lightning captain Steven Stamkos to attend a home game against Toronto in 2022.
He went to the Lightning’s morning skate with his family — parents Nick and Katie and sister Lexie — and gave high-fives to every player in the dressing room. And he was signed to a one-day contract by director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche. Before the game, he hyped up the team by doing the griddy dance, which drew cheers from the entire room.
The Lightning wore blue Team Trippy caps on the ice during pregame warmups. After Alex Killorn won the game with an overtime goal, he wore the cap during his postgame interviews.
Nugent was Cooper’s personal guest for his Coop’s Catch event last season, the first one held since the pandemic. And even though he was in a wheelchair weakened from treatment, he attended the Lightning’s practice in Boston this year on Jan. 5.
“I can still see him like he’s right here,” Cooper said. “But when he left us he was wearing a Stammer shirt listening to Thunderstruck,” Cooper said. “And if that doesn’t say it all, what a magnificent little boy he was. So yeah, the heart’s a little weaker today for sure.”
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