With three kids at home, Lightning Dir of Partnership Development CHRIS POTENZA spends most of his weekend coaching basketball games for his two boys or at the skating rink supporting his 13-year-old daughter, a competitive figure skater. Whether it is taking the kids out for some frozen yogurt or getting beat by his 10-year-old son in NHL 2K, he spends his downtime at his Westchase, Fla., home with his wife and children. Potenza: “When I am not working on weekends it is a lot of family time. Since we moved to Florida from Minneapolis, we are still completely enamored with the weather. It is nice to be outside in shorts during this time of the year. We do a lot of outside stuff, so this weekend I will probably head over to the beach and inevitably get sucked into some video games or a Nerf war with the kids." Here, Potenza tells THE DAILY what he and the family have planned for this November weekend.
ISLE OF MIGHT: My father is coming into town -- that doesn’t happen as often as I would like -- so I’ll get a chance to tour him around Tampa. He’s been here a couple of times, but not since I’ve joined the Lightning and not since we’ve moved into our new house. Saturday night is a big game, Lightning vs. Islanders, which is funny because it will be the first opportunity that my dad has had to come and see the Lightning. I grew up on Long Island at a time when it seemed like the Islanders were bringing home every Stanley Cup. My dad was a big Islanders fan when I was a kid, so it is kind of ironic that his first Lightning game is against the Isles.
ONE OF THE REGULARS: There are a bunch of local restaurants, which is cool. There is a coffee place called The Grind that makes a phenomenal breakfast. It’s super cheap, really warm in there and the food and coffee are great, so we typically try to get there on Saturday. There is a local restaurant in Westchase called Surf Shack, which is just a cool beach-themed place that has the absolute best fish tacos I have ever had. Having three kids, we are a long way from the kind of nightlife we used to have, but typically we will drop in to the Bud Light Party Deck after a Lightning game. It is really cool because it overlooks the city and it is a nice to unwind. I have two favorite places on the road. From a bar standpoint there is a place in Scottsdale, Ariz., called the Rusty Spur, which is my favorite bar in the entire world. From a restaurant standpoint, if I am back in Minneapolis, I like Seven: Steakhouse, Sushi.
HOME SWEET HOME: Both my wife and I travel a lot. She travels a lot for her job that she is really good at. I work at the arena, we both put a lot of hours in, so on Sunday I try to spend as much time as I can with my kids. We do a lot of exploring on the weekends here. Recently, my wife and I had a chance to get away and spend the weekend in St. Pete, which is only 30 minutes from where we live. We stayed in a hotel called The Vanoy and spent the weekend experiencing the great restaurants, grabbing some drinks waterside and walking the town. It was a nice opportunity to relax and really appreciate the place that we live.
I AM IRONMAN: On Sunday I would like to relax. I will try to get some exercise in. I am only two years removed from doing the Ironman triathlon, so I try to stay in shape. That is what originally brought me down here; I came to Florida originally to work for the Ironman triathlons. I usually get out for a decent-size run on weekends, six, seven, eight miles, and then a shorter one as well. So I’ll probably get out for a run, spend some time trying to organize my life a little bit and get ready for the week with the kids and of course I will watch some football. A lot of it is organic games that break out in the neighborhood with the kids which are great. I am allergic to chores, I break out in hives. We share the responsibilities altogether. I am not the most handy guy in the world, but we’ll spend Sundays reorganizing and making sure that we’ve got lunches packed for the week, making sure the kids’ homework gets done and the house is picked up to the point that we’re okay for the week.
WATCH THE THRONE: I am a binge TV guy; I feel like I never get a chance to watch as much as I would like. So if I can steal a little bit of time, I will try to catch up on some shows. Typically, right now I am trying to work my way through “GAME OF THRONES” when I can or catch up on “HOMELAND.” My go-to magazine is Wired magazine. On my nightstand I will usually have a business book that I am reading. Right now it is a book by CARMINE GALLO called “TALK LIKE TED,” which is about the TED Talks speakers and how they prepare for presentations. I also try to keep up on what my kids are reading so that we have stuff to talk about. I will try to blow through one of them so that we can sit around the dinner table and talk a little bit about what they are into.
