Tampa Bay Lightning mega-fan shows loyalty with sleeve tattoo of team, Cup

TAMPA, Fla. - One Tampa Bay Lightning fan is taking his love for the team to an extreme level.

Alexei Chelukanov is 41 and lives just outside Moscow. Chelukanov is having the faces of the entire 2020 Stanley Cup team tattoed on his arm.

“Stanley Cup has names of champions engraved on it so I feel like a Stanley Cup myself with the faces on it,” Chelukanov said.

The tattoo is only about a third of the way done. There are more faces, details, and an entire Stanley Cup trophy to add.

Chelukanov says his love for the team started during the playoff run in '96 and was cemented two years later.

“It was the 1998 draft when they selected Vinny [Lecavalier],” he said.

Chelukanov is also the founder of the Russian Tampa Bay Lightning Fan club. He says there are at least a dozen or more truly-dedicated Bolts fans in Russia and thousands of other supporters.

By the way, this isn’t his first Lightning tattoo.

“[Tattoos] should mean something personal, so the team means very much to me, actually,” he said.

As for the rest of Tampa Bay’s blossoming teams, “It would be great if all Tampa Bay teams will win the champions,” he said.