PORTLAND, Maine — The blow of the Boston Bruins loss Monday in St. Louis hit fans harder than Torey Krug in Game 1. The bright side though is for the few fans who own sports bars and potentially have three additional Stanley Cup Final games to plan for.
"You want them to win every game," said Lance Meader, the owner of Rivalries in Portland. "As a business owner, there is always that silver lining of getting that extra game or two if they do happen to lose."
The Bruins and the Blues face-off on Thursday night. Meader is looking forward to a week where there will be 'more big nights.'
“It will be the perfect storm on Sunday, where it’s the last Old Port Fest; the weather is going to be great and that night we will cap it off with a Bruins Stanley Cup game,” Meader says.
In Lewiston, Gridiron Restaurant and Pub is gearing up for the games, quite literally. There are $10 'Wicked Strong' t-shirts on racks between tables. Co-owner Kimberly Martin says the bar doesn't give you the boot until the final whistle.
"We keep our staff here a little bit extra because we usually close at 10:00 o’clock," said Martin. "We have to increase how many people we have on staff in the kitchen and out front.”
Martin increased the food deliveries, 10 additional kegs and a total of 40 pounds of potatoes. Something she has had to do frequently with the number of championships Boston sports teams are pulling in this year. "Now the Bruins need to take it."
“You kind of have to wait to see how the series progresses before you write the schedule before you order-in extra food; or extra beer, or liquor," Meader says. "It’s definitely a waiting game.”
Owners are fronting the overhead costs before the puck even drops.
“Thousands, and thousands [of dollars]… hoping to bring extra money in by the thousands,” laughed Martin.