Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-Present)

Historical Moments:
1992/93: With interest in Hockey picking up in the United States the NHL decides to add a team in one of the most unlikely place, Tampa, FL. Led by NHL legend Phil Esposito the city of Tampa had been lobbying actively for an NHL team hosting an exhibition game at the Suncoast Dome in 1990 that drew a record crowd of 25,581 to see Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins take on Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings. The Lightning would begin play with a people with a solid pedigree running the team as Phil Esposito was named club president and Terry Crisp who only a few years earlier led the Calgary Flames to a Stanley Cup was named coach. During the preseason the Lightning would get wide attention as goalie Manon Rheaume became the first woman to play in an exhibition game as she stopped 7 of 9 shots in one period during a September 23rd exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues. What started out, as publicity stunt would become extended as Rheaume was signed to play for the Lightning's top minor league club in Atlanta. However, she would never be called up to play in a regular season game. Playing at the Expo Hall at the old Florida State Fairgrounds the Lightning would get off to a rousing start in the regular season, beating the defending Campbell Conference Champion Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 led by Chris Kontos, who netted 4 goals. The Lightning would comeback to earth a bit finishing last in the Norris Division with a 23-54-7 record, which was considerably better the their expansion partners the Ottawa Senators.

1993/94: After a season in tiny Expo Hall the Lightning sign a 2-year deal to play in the Suncoast Dome, which was renamed Thunderdome for the occasion. In their first game in the Thunderdome the Lightning would lose 2-0 to the expansion Florida Panthers as a record 27,227 fans watched. The Lightning would go on to draw a NHL record 805,901 fans over 41games for an average of 19,656, despite finishing in last place in the Atlantic Division behind the expansion Panthers with a record of 30-43-11.

1994/95: The momentum of the Lightning establishing a large fan base is disrupted as the NHL season is delayed by a 4-month lockout that wipes out nearly half of the season. The Lighting would go on to finish the lockout shortened season by finishing in 6th place with a record of 17-28-3.

1995/96: The Lightning would take a huge step forward in their 4th season as a late surge gets them into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history as they beat on the defending Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils for the final playoff spot with a record of 38-32-12. After splitting the first 2 games on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Thunderdome was jam packed with 25,945 fans screaming as Alexander Selivanov scored the game winner in overtime to give the Lightning a 5-4 lead. However, the Flyers would recover and win the next 3 games to take the series in 6 games.

1996/97: After one year in a tiny Exhibition Center, and three years in a spacious converted baseball stadium, the Lightning finally get a true arena of their own as they open the Ice Palace on October 20th by beating the New York Rangers and Wayne Gretzky 5-3 in front of a sold out crowd of 19,500. However, the Lightning would be major disappointment on the ice as they finished in 6th place with a disappointing record of 32-40-10.

1997/98: With one of the Lightning's top scorers John Cullen missing the entire season while receiving chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a former of cancer, the Bolts would struggle immensely finishing in last place, as original Coach Terry Crisp is fired and eventually replaced by Jacques Demers who would also go on to replace Phil Esposito as General Manager as the Lightning post an NHL worst record of 17-55-10.

1998/99: John Cullen would make an inspirational return, by playing in 4 games, and retiring to become an assistant coach with the Lightning. However, not even the inspiration of Cullen could halt the Lightning's struggles as they finished in last place in the newly formed Southeast Division with a 19-54-9 record that was even worse then the expansion Nashville Predators.

1999/00: The Lightning continue to play lackluster hockey as they finish in 4th place with a miserable record of 19-54-9-7, as only 2 players Vincent Lecavalier (25) and Fredrik Modin (22) even manage as many as 20 goals.

2000/01: The Lightning continue to have no spark as they finish in last place for the 3rd time in 4 years with a terrible record of 24-47-6-5, as the team only manages to have 3 players score more then 20 goals, as Brad Richards (21) joins Fredrik Modin (32) and Vincent Lecavalier (23).

2001/02: The Lightning celebrate their 10th anniversary by missing the playoffs for the 9th time in franchise history with a 3rd place 27-40-11-4 record. However, along the way there were several glimmers of hope, as Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin had a stellar season with a 2.32 GAA, while shining at the All-Star Game. Nicknamed the Bulin wall, Khabibulin held the North American team scoreless in the 3rd period while the European team came back and won the game. However, voting for the All-Star MVP had been done early and Khabibulin was denied, even though he was clearly the game's MVP.

2002/03: The Lightning came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, as they were unbeaten in the first 7 games on the way to a solid 7-1-2 record in October. In November the Lightning continued to play solid hockey as Captain Dave Andreychuk on November 23rd against the New Jersey Devils on the road became the 14th player in NHL history to reach the 600 goals scored milestone. In December and January the Lightning would struggle falling back to .500. However, in the 2nd half the Lightning made a strong push as they battled the Washington Capitals down the strengths for the Southeast Division Title. The Lightning with the diminutive Martin St. Louis scoring a team high 37 goals would go on to beat out the Capitals by 1 point for first place with a solid record of 36-25-16-5. However, they would not be done with the Caps, as they had to face them in the first round of the playoffs. Things looked bleak for the Lightning as they dropped the first 2 games at home to the Capitals while being outscored 9-3. As the series shifted to Washington the Lightning caught a break as they won Game 3 in overtime as Vincent Lecavalier scored in overtime on a 5-on-3 power play. The Lighting would go on to even the series as Martin St. Louis scored twice in Game 4. St. Louis would provide the spark again in Game 5 back in Tamp as he scored the game winner midway through the 3rd period. The Lighting would go on to win the series in 6 games as St. Louis scored the game winner in triple overtime as Nickolai Khabibulin made 60 saves as the Lightning savored their first ever playoff series victory. However, in the 2nd round the playoff tested New Jersey Devils would overwhelm the Lightning taking the series in 5 games. However, the Devils would need to win 2 of the games in overtime including Game 5 in triple overtime as Coach John Torterlla decided to start backup goalie John Grahame while facing elimination, who stopped 47 of 48 shots before being beaten by Grant Marshall midway through a 3rd overtime period.

2003/04: The Lightning got off to a fast start as they finished the first month of the season unbeaten through their first 7 games. The Lightning continued their solid play into November holding an 11-2-2-1 record on the 22nd. However over the next 6 weeks they would struggle falling out of first place in the Southeast Division as they struggled through December winning just 4 times. During the slump Coach John Tortorella tried a number of ways to recharge the Lightning benching Goalie Nickolai Khabibulin while calling out star Vincent Lecavalier, as they held a mediocre 16-15-6-1 record on January 6th. The moves would work as both played better and the Lightning caught fire in the second half losing just 5 games in regulation the rest of the season as the move seemed to spur on Lecavalier the rest of the season as he scored 32 goals while dishing out 34 assists. However doing even better was Tampa's mighty might spark plug Martin St. Louis who won the leagues scoring title with 35 goals and 56 assists earning him the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP, as the Lightning posted a Eastern Conference best record of 46-21-8-6. Winning the best record would also earn John Tortorella the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year. In the playoffs the Lightning faced the New York Islanders in the first round, after exchanging 3-0 wins at the St. Pete Times Forum the Lightning struck down the Islanders on the road winning Games 3 and 4 as Khabibulin stopped 61 shots in the two games. The Lightning would close the series out in Game 5 as Martin St. Louis scored netted the 3-2 winner in overtime. In the 2nd round the Lightning faced the tradition rich Montreal Canadiens, taking the first 2 games at home in dominant fashion winning both games 4-0 and 3-1. As the series shifted to Montreal the Lightning continued to roll taking a commanding 3-0 series lead as Brad Richards scored in overtime for a 4-3 win. The Lightning would go on to complete the rare sweep of the Habs with a 3-1 win to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Facing the Philadelphia Flyers in the conference finals the Lightning got off to a fast start taking the opener 3-1. However in Game 2 the Lightning struggled, badly losing 6-2. As the series shifted to Philadelphia the Lightning needed to rebound quickly and they did winning 4-1. However the Flyers would rebound to take Game 4 evening the series at 2 games apiece. Back in Tampa the Lightning would take back control of the series with a 4-2 win as Brad Richards scored twice. With a chance to close the series out in Game 6 in Philadelphia the Lightning and Flyers battled back and forth as the game went to overtime tied at 4. In OT the Flyers would score right away forcing a decisive 7th game at the St. Pete Times Forum. In Game 7 the Lightning would jump out to a 2-0 lead. However the Flyers cut it to 2-1 midway through the 2nd period from there they would rely on Nickolai Khabibulin to hold the lead as he stopped a total of 31 shots as the Lightning held on to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

2003/04: In the Stanley Cup Finals against the upstart Calgary Flames the Lightning got off to a rocky start losing dropping the first game 4-1. The Lightning would rebound in Game 2 with a 4-1 win of their own. As the series shifted to Calgary the Lightning were thrown into an impossible situation as the Flames hosted the first Stanley Cup Finals game in Canada in a decade winning 3-0 as an overflow crowd at the Saddledome was loud through out the game. Facing the prospect of falling behind 3-1 the Lightning scored first in Game 4 on an early first period goal by Brad Richards from there it was up to Khabibulin as he stopped all 29 shots as the Lightning evened the series with a 1-0 win. With the series shifting back to Tampa the Lightning and Flames continued to battle in tough tight games as Game 5 went to overtime tied at 2. In OT the Flames would quiet the crowd at the St. Pete Times Forum winning on an Oleg Saprykin goal. Facing elimination the Lightning went back to Calgary facing elimination in front of a rowdy crowd. The game would go back and forth with Brad Richard scoring twice in the 2nd period as the second straight game went to overtime tied at 2. With the crowd roaring with every play the Lightning were in goal away from losing the cup as both teams were kept off the board in the first overtime. In the second OT it would not take the Lightning long as Martin St. Louis scored 33 seconds into the 2nd overtime to send the series back to Tampa for Game 7. In Game 7 the hockey world was focused on Tampa-St. Pete as the Lightning jumped out to a 2-0 lead on two goals by Ruslan Fedotenko. Trying to hold on the Flames made it 2-1 on a power play goal by Craig Conway in the 3rd period. From there the Flames threw everything they could at the net but Khabibulin stopped every shot as the Tampa Bay Lightning held on to a 2-1 win to win the Stanley Cup, as Brad Richards who scored 12 goals and had 14 assists won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP.

2004/05: The Lightning would not be able to defend their Stanley Cup Championship as the entire season would be cancelled by a lock out.

2005/06: Emerging from the lock out the Lightning had the Stanley Cup but they were nowhere near the team that won it as Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was not re-signed, while Captain Dave Andreychuk was 42 and a shadow of his former self. With John Grahame getting a bulk of the time in the nets the Lightning managed a strong October but hit a wall in November as 7 of 8 to start the month as the managed a mediocre record of 19-17-3 heading in to January. Eventually the Lightning would seek a change as Andreychuk was released ending a solid Hall of Fame Career. While Andreychuk was released Hart Trophy winner Martin St. Louis was unable to repeat his MVP performance as the Lightning stayed on the playoff bubble all season long. Eventually the Lightning would squeak into the playoffs as the 8th seed with a 43-336 record. However, the playoffs would be just a cameo appearance for the Lightning as they were quickly eliminated by the Ottawa Senators in five games.

2006/07: After a disappointing season, the Lightning traded Fredrik Modin and Fredrik Norrena, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for goalie Marc Denis. However, Denis struggled, as the Lightning got off to a mediocre 18-19-2 start. In January with Johan Holmqvist seeing more time in goal the Lightning, began to turn their season around winning nine games. The Lightning would also win nine games in February as they climbed up the Southeast Division standings. One play responsible for the Lightning's turnaround was Vincent Lecavalier who set a new franchise scoring record at 105 points, while leading the NHL in goals at 52. The Lightning would fall short in their late challenge for the division title as they qualified seventh in the Eastern Conference Playoffs with a record of 44-33-5. In the first round the Lightning faced off against the New Jersey Devils. After losing Game 1, the Lightning won two straight games 3-2, and had a chance to take a 3-1 series lead as Game 4 went to overtime in Tampa. However, the Devils would win the game on a goal by Scott Gomez to even the series. After being shutout on the road in Game 5, the Lightning came home needing a win just to stay alive. The Devils would get off to a fast start leading 3-1 early in the 2nd Period. The Lightning would cut the lead to one midway through the second, but in the last 30 minutes they could not beat Devils goalie Martin Brodeur as their season ended with a 3-2 loss.