Lightning de Tampa Bay

The Lightning de Tampa Bay is a professional team of Hockey of the National league of hockey.

History

Entered the LNH : 1992 - 1993

Arena : St Pete Times Forum (capacity: 19.500), known in the past under the name of Ice De luxe hotel
Colors of the uniform : Black, white, blue and money
Logo : A circle transpierced by a flash with the inscription " Tampa Bay"
Participations in the finales of the Cut Stanley : 2004 (gaining)

History of the frankness

See also: Seasons of Lightning de Tampa Bay

Beginnings

When Tampa was seen allotting a frankness in the LNH in 1991, the direction of the team started by recruiting high-speed motorboats. The new frankness engaged star of the Bruins of Boston of the Années 1970 Phil Esposito as president and managing director, his brother Tony, a legendary goalkeeper which had played mainly for the Blackhawks of Chicago, as chief of the minor operations and Terry Crisp (which played for the Flyers of Philadelphia when they gained two Coupes Stanley in the middle of the years 1970 and led the Flames of Calgary to a Cut in 1989) to be the first trainer chief.

A group of St Petersburg (carried out by the future direction of the Whalers de Hartford: Peter Karmanos and Jim Rutherford) was also had a presentiment of but lost because Esposito were the “window” of the group of Tampa Bay. However, in a sign worrying of the things to come, the American partners of Esposito withdrew themselves a few months before the first season of the team, and it had to recruit a consortium of Japanese businesses directed by Kokusai Green, owner of a course of golf, to keep the frankness.

Phil Esposito tried at the beginning to recreate the electric mystic of Bruins of the years 1970; it thus engaged his former companion of line Wayne Cashman as assistant trainer and the former welfare man of Bruins John “Frosty” Foristal as welfare man of the team. The team tested many players during the camps of drive with in particular Manon Rhéaume, which became the first woman to play a match with a team of the LNH, making the first of her two appearances in part of exhibition against the Blues of Saint-Louis on September 23rd, 1992. At twenty years, it is the first woman to be taken part in a match of the one of the four professional sports more in sight in North America.

Lightning made its first appearance on the ice on October 7th 1992, playing in small the Expo Hall of: 11000 seats with the Florida States Fairgrouds . They have surprised the team visitor, Blachawks of Chicago, 7 goals to 3 with four goals of little known the Chris Kontos - a prowess which no player of Lightning could renew thereafter. Lightning was at the top of Norris division for one month, with Kontos which marked at an intensive pace and a revealing season of Brian Bradley, before wavering to finish in the last place. Their 53 points at the time of this first season were however the best total ever carried out by a team of expansion of the LNH, and the 42 goals of Brian Bradley gave optimism for the following season; it will be a record of team until the season 2006-07 when Vincent Lecavalier exceeded it with a top in career of 52 goals.

The following season saw Lightning moving with the Florida Suncoast Dome (a building initially designed for the Baseball) with St Petersburg, which was modified for hockey and famous “ Thunderdome ”. The team recruited the guard Darren Puppa, the left winger marker Petr Klima as well as the growing old marksman Denis Savard. The acquisition of Puppa had as a result an significant improvement of the number of conceded goals, whereas Savard had already exceeded its apogee and that Klima was not with height of the hopes because of its defensive failures. Lightning finished the season in last place of Atlantique division. Another disappointing season followed in the season shortened by the lockout of 1995.

Great success with the complete failure

At their fourth season, in 1995-96, with Bradley always leading the team to the level of the goals, the player of second year Alexander Selivanov, author of 31 goals, and the defender Romance Hamrlik (the first choice of fishing out of the history of the team in 1992), which carried out a great season, the Bolts finally qualified for the eliminatory Séries. Even if the team lost at the time of the first turn in six parts against Flyers of Philadelphia, that remains one magic season for the partisans of Lightning. : 28183 spectators present at Thunderdome at the time of the match of April 23rd against Flyers represent the record of multitude for part of the LNH, a record which was beaten only in 2003 with Edmonton.

Lightning claimed the marksman Dino Ciccarelli of the Red Wings de Détroit during the intersaison of 1996 and it did not disappoint, marking 35 goals in 1996-97, with Chris Gratton marking 30 goals moreover. The team took a good departure in their new arena, the Ice Palace (called today St Pete Times Forum) and the hopes were good for a new qualification in eliminatory series. Unfortunately, the wounds struck: Sudden Puppa of the evils of backs which prevented it from playing more than 50 parts between 1996 and its retirement in 2000. Bradley was also wounded, playing only 49 parts in the three following seasons. The center John Cullen developed a cancer which finally could be cured. Decimated by these wounds and these diseases, Lightning missed little the eliminatory series. It will have to be waited seven seasons before Lightning returns in series.

The majority of the high-speed motorboats of Lightning of the first seasons are not there any more in 1998 because of autonomy and of the exchanges makes by Esposito. Lightning passed the end of the Années 1990 in the last places of the LNH. Crisp was returned after eleven parts in 1997-98 and was replaced by Jacques Demers. Although Demers had directed Red Wings in the years 1980 and had led the Canadian of Montreal to a Stanley Cut in 1993, it was unable to improve the fate of the team. Lightning lost 55 parts in 1997-98, 54 in 1998-99, 58 in 1999-2000 and 53 in 2000-01, becoming the first team of the LNH to have four consecutive seasons of 50 defeats.

A major factor of their decline was Kokusai Green. Rumors started to circulate as of the second season of the team according to whom Lightning was at the edge of the bankruptcy and the team belonged to an organization of pure money laundering the organized crime, the Yakuza. The Internal Revenue Service inquired into the team in 1995. Even at the time of her first participation in the series, the team was in deficit and Kukusai Green wanted to sell. The majority of the exchanges of Esposito came because it had received the order to cross in the register of the personnel to make the team gravitational on the market.

As from 1997-98, Green refused to spend the least centime for the team. It was late on its payments of the debtors like on the federal taxes during the last months of its possession. In the review of 1997, Forbes magazine declared that Lightning was the worst frankness from all the professional major sports, with an astronomical debt of 236% of its value. Although Ice Palace was built for hockey and that Lightning was the only major tenant, Forbes declared that the team would not make income for the 30 next years. Finally, in 1998, after having lost more than 100 million dollars in six years, Green sold the team with the business man of insurance Art Williams. With this purchase, Williams acquired a difficult financial position.

Williams knew very little of it about hockey, but it immediately injected 6 million additional dollars in the wage bill of the team for revirer the situation. It ensured publicly that Esposito were sure, but returned them after two parts at the time of the season 1998-99. Demers became the managing director of the team just as the trainer. Williams was regarded as inefficient and was an easy target for his colleagues of the LNH, which called it “Jed Clampbett” behind its back because of its accent of the south of the United States and of its sights of fundamentalist Christian. With the autumn 1999, Lightning lost 10 consecutive parts to begin a springtide without series. Several blame Williams for this fall. He named the player of second year Vincent Lecavalier captain, a promotion without precedent for a player at only his second season in the LNH.

Return to respectability

In spring of 1999, Williams had seen some enough. He had not attended a part for some time because “this team broke her heart”. He lost 20 million dollars at the time of the season 1998-99, nap which he thought of spending in five years.

Williams sold the team for 115 million dollars - 2 million less than it had paid for the team one year before - with Bill Davidson, the owner of the Piston of Strait, which had also had the Vipers de Détroit of the international Ligue of hockey, now late. Davidson had been one of the candidates for the team in 1998, losing vis-a-vis Williams.

Davidson remained with Détroit, but Tom Wilson was appointed president of team to control the direction with the daily newspaper of it. Wilson immediately returned Demers, which in spite of its best efforts and its paternal attitude towards Vincent Lecavalier, was unable to overcome the damage of the possession of Kokusai Green. Wilson persuaded the managing director of the Senators d' Ottawa Rick Dudley to resume work as managing director of Lightning. Dudley took along the trainer of Vipers, Steve Ludzik, like new trainer. Dudley and Ludzik had helped Vipers to be one of the best franknesses and had gained the Coupe Turner at only their third season with Détroit.

However, as that had been the case with Demers, the damage of the last seasons under Kokusai Green was too important so that Ludzik surmounts them, even with an exchange of talent of Strait with Tampa (a movement which finally condemned Vipers which left the LIH in 2001). It was replaced with the beginning of the year 2001 by the assistant of career in the LNH John Tortorella. The season 2001-02, the first complete one of Tortorella, saw some improvements. Whereas it finished far behind the eliminatory series, Lightning nevertheless showed some signs of life, marking more than 60 points for the first time since 1997. Tortorella withdrew in Lecavalier the rank of captain because of the difficulties of negotiations which had made miss the beginning of the season 2001-02 with Lecavalier.

Two seasons of dream - and the Cut stanley

With the season 2002-03, the young team of Lightning exceeded the hopes. The team then includes/understands in particular the guard Nikolai Khabibulin, Lecavalier, Martin Saint-Louis, Ruslan Fedotenko, Václav Prospal, Fredrik Modin and Brad Richards, under the direction of a new captain, Dave Andreychuk. All the season, Lightning fought with the Capitals of Washington for the first place in south-eastern division. They finished with 93 points, exceeding the bar of the 90 points for the first time of their history. They gained the division of a point, which gave them the advantage of the ice in their first series vis-a-vis Washington.

Lightning has demolishes Capitals in a series of six parts and was qualified for the semi-finals of conference for the first time in the history of the team. In the quarter-of-finale, Lightning gained only one part, losing vis-a-vis the future champions of the Coupe Stanley, the Devils of the New Jersey. But the return of the team in series rained with the partisans of hockey who suffered a long time in Tampa Bay.

The season 2003-04 saw Lightning dominating the conference of the east with 106 points, second in the league behind the Red Wings de Détroit, beating the record of the frankness from 93 points successful the former season.

Lightning crossed remarkably the season with very few wounds. During the first round of the series, Lightning eliminated Alexeï Yachine and its Islanders from New York in five parts thanks to the solid play of the goalkeeper Nikolai Khabibulin.

In the second round, Lightning faced the Canadians of Montreal, taken along by Saku Koivu. Lecavalier, Richards and Khabibulin led the team to a victory without fault in four parts. They made then vis-a-vis Keith Primeau and in Flyers of Philadelphia in the final of conference. After a series of seven firmly disputed parts in which no team could gain two matches of continuation, Fredrik Modin registered the goal gaining of the seventh and decisive part, gaining the championship of the conference of the east and leading Lightning to its first final of the Stanley Cut.

The adversary of Tampa Bay in the final round was the Flames of Calgary, carried out by Jarome Iginla. The final round also went until the seventh part, the decisive part being played Forum on June 7th, 2004. Ruslan Fedotenko was the hero of the seventh left, marking this time the two goals of Lightning in the victory from 2 to 1. Brad Richards, which collected 26 points, gained the Trophée Idiot Smythe; in the 31 parts during which Richards marked, Lightning did not lose only one of them. Tortorella gained the Trophée Jack Adams which rewards the best trainer. Only three years after having lost 50 parts, the team gained the Stanley Cut. Martin Saint-Louis carried out the team and the LNH with 94 points (its 38 goals placing it second with the number of goals behind the 41 goals of the Iginla trio, Rick Nash and Ilya Kovalchuk), and gained the Trophée Binder of Meilleur player of the league. Martin Saint-Louis gained also the Trophée To ballast B. Pearson given to the best player of the league elected by Association of the players of the LNH and finished with equality with Marek Malik, of the Canucks of Vancouver, for the trophy moreover and less.

Lightning had to wait one year to defend its title because of the '' lockout '' of 2004-05, but in 2005-06, it finished the season with only 92 points, last team qualified for the series, and lost vis-a-vis the Senators of Ottawa 4 parts with 1 in first round.

Season 2006-07

During the died season, Lightning exchanged Fredrik Modin and Fredrik Norrena with the Blue Jackets de Columbus against the goalkeeper Marc Denis, to replace John Grahame, which had been used as goalkeeper in Lightning for the major part of the season 2005-06 and had signed with the Hurricanes of the Caroline. The free agent Johan Holmqvist will obtain finally the place of holder. The first half of the season 2006-07 was surging for Lightning, maintaining a card of 18 victories, 19 defeats and 2 defeats in the Prolongation S in the first months. January and February were better months, with 18 victories for 8 defeats, which gave Lightning in the race for the eliminatory series. The 14 parts of March were shared and on March 16th, 2007, Vincent Lecavalier beat the record of the frankness for the points in season, with 95 (finishing with 108). Lecavalier also beat the record of frankness for the goals, finishing with 52 goals in the first place of the league.

During March, Lightning and the Thrashers of Atlanta exchanged the first rank of south-eastern division. With chance, they could have exceeded Thrashers and again have become the champions of division for the third time of their history, but whereas Lightning loses vis-a-vis the Panthers of Florida, Thrashers beat the Hurricanes of the Caroline to gain the title. For Lightning, that meant that it was to be satisfied with the seventh place in the conference of the east with a card of 43 victories 33 defeats and 5 defeats in prolongation (93 points).

Lightning was eliminated from the competition of the series on April 22nd (4 part with 2), after a defeat from 3 to 2 in residence vis-a-vis Devils of the New Jersey in the quarter-of-finale of the Conference of the East.

Players

With the temple of famous the

Current alignment

Dated November 25th, 2007

Guards

Defenders

Attackers

Captains

Not to forget

Withdrawn numbers

Choice of first round

  • 1992 : Romance Hamrlik (1st) on the whole)
  • 1993: Chris Gratton (3rd) on the whole)
  • 1994: Jason Wiemer (8th) on the whole)
  • 1995: Daymond Langkow (5th) on the whole)
  • 1996: Mario Larocque (16th) on the whole)
  • 1997: Paul Mara (7th) on the whole)
  • 1998: Vincent Lecavalier (1st) on the whole)
  • 1999: No
  • 2000: Nikita Alexeev (8th) on the whole)
  • 2001: Alexander Svitov (3rd) on the whole)
  • 2002: No
  • 2003: No
  • 2004: Andy Rogers (30e) on the whole)
  • 2005: Vladimir Mihalik (30e) on the whole)
  • 2006: Riku Helenius (15th) on the whole)
  • 2007: Logan MacMillan (19th on the whole)

Better markers

Trophies

Cut Stanley
  • 2003-04

Prince de Galles

  • 2003-04

Trophy Art Ross

  • Martin Saint-Louis, 2003-04

Trophy Bill Masterton

  • John Cullen, 1998-99

Trophy Idiot Smythe

  • Brad Richards, 2003-04

Trophy To ballast B. Pearson

  • Martin Saint-Louis, 2003-04

Trophy Binder

  • Martin Saint-Louis, 2003-04

Trophy Jack Adams

  • John Tortorella, 2003-04

Trophy Lady Bing

  • Brad Richards, 2003-04

Trophy More and less

  • Martin Saint-Louis, 2003-04 (with equality with Marek Malik of Canucks of Vancouver)

Trophy Maurice Richard

  • Vincent Lecavalier, 2006-07

Record of the frankness

Individual

  • More goals in one season: Vincent Lecavalier, 52 (2006-07)
  • More master keys in one season: Brad Richards, 68 (2005-06)
  • More points in one season: Vincent Lecavalier, 108 (2006-07)
  • More minutes of penalty in one season: Enrico Ciccone, 258 (1995-96)
  • More points in one season, defender: Hamrlik novel, 65 (1995-96)
  • More points in one season, recruit: Brad Richards, 62 (2000-01)
  • More victories in one season: Nikolai Khabibulin, 30 (2002-03)
  • More washings in one season: NIkolai Khabibulin, 7 (2001-02)

Internal bonds

External bond

  • Official site of Lightning

Be-X-old: ТампаБэйЛайтнінг Simple: Tampa Bay Lightning

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