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The following season saw the Lightning shift to the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, as well as move into the Florida Suncoast Dome (a building originally designed for baseball) in St.

Bradley's 42 goals gave Tampa Bay fans optimism for the next season it would be a team record until the 2006–07 season. This was, at the time, one of the best-ever showings by an NHL expansion team. However, it buckled under the strain of some of the longest road trips in the NHL-their nearest division rival, the Blues, were over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away-and finished in last place with a record of 23–54–7 for 53 points. The team rose to the top of the Campbell Conference's Norris Division within a month, behind Kontos' initial torrid scoring pace and a breakout season by forward Brian Bradley. They surprised the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, winning 7–3 with four goals by little-known Chris Kontos. The Lightning played their first regular-season game on October 7, 1992, in Tampa's tiny 11,000-seat Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Louis Blues, and stopped seven of nine shots. She played for the Lightning against the St.

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The Lightning played their first preseason game in September 1992 against the Minnesota North Stars, and then turned heads later that preseason when Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play in an NHL game, which also made her the first woman to play in any of the major professional North American sports leagues. In 1991, Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester announced that a company of which he was a director would raise millions of dollars in investments in the Lightning, but his plans were unsuccessful and he was later convicted of wire fraud. The inaugural team photo has him flanked by Cashman and player Ken Hodge, Jr., son of his other Bruins' linemate. Phil Esposito also hired former teammates from the Boston Bruins of the 1970s, including former linemate Wayne Cashman as an assistant coach and former Bruin trainer John 'Frosty' Forristal as the team's trainer. Terry Crisp, who played for the Philadelphia Flyers when they won two Stanley Cups in the mid-1970s and coached the Calgary Flames to a Stanley Cup in 1989, was tapped as the first head coach. Phil Esposito assigned himself president and general manager, while Tony became chief scout. Phil Esposito fronted an ownership group that was later awarded an NHL franchise in 1992. The Esposito group would win the expansion franchise on December 6, 1990, and name the team the Lightning, after Tampa Bay's status as the 'Lightning Capital of North America'.

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In contrast, the Esposito/Kokusai Green group was one of the few groups willing to pay the full $50 million expansion fee up front.

Although it appeared on paper that the Karmanos/Rutherford group had more financial resources, it only wanted to pay $29 million before the game began. One of the Esposito group's key backers, the Pritzker family, backed out a few months before the bid, to be replaced by a consortium of Japanese businesses headed by Kokusai Green, a golf course and resort operator. Petersburg-based group fronted by future Hartford Whalers/ Carolina Hurricanes owners Peter Karmanos and Jim Rutherford, and a Tampa-based group fronted by Phil Esposito and his brother Tony, both members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Two rival groups from the Tampa Bay Area decided to bid for a franchise: a St. In the late 1980s, the NHL announced it would expand. Jon Cooper has served as head coach since March 2013, and is the longest-tenured active head coach in the NHL.įranchise history Early years (1992–2000) Bringing hockey to Tampa The team is owned by Jeffrey Vinik, and the general manager is Julien BriseBois. They also reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2015 and in 2022. The Lightning have won three Stanley Cup championships: 2004, 2020, and 2021. They play their home games at Amalie Arena in Downtown Tampa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida.

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