50 Fun Facts About Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning were founded as an expansion team in 1990 by a group fronted by which brothers?

Phil and Tony Esposito. Phil later admitted he did not have the $50 million expansion fee when he made his pitch; overseas investors he had only just met put up most of it.

Which Lightning goaltender won the 2019 Vezina Trophy?

Andrei Vasilevskiy. He led the league with 39 wins even though a broken foot cost him a month of the season, and two years later he was voted playoff MVP as the Lightning won a second straight Cup.

Who became the first woman in a major pro sports league by tending goal for Tampa Bay in a 1992 preseason game?

Manon Rhéaume. The 20-year-old from Quebec played one period and stopped seven of nine shots; the general manager had invited her to camp partly to get Floridians talking about hockey.

The Lightning's first regular-season game, in October 1992, was played at which venue?

Expo Hall at the state fairgrounds. With no arena ready, the club leased what one executive called a livestock pavilion, fitted it with about 10,000 seats and stayed a single season.

Which player scored four goals in the Lightning's first-ever game?

Chris Kontos. The journeyman scored four times in the 7-3 opening win and finished with 27 goals, yet that season was his last in the NHL; a year later he was winning Olympic silver for Canada.

From 1993 to 1996 the Lightning played in a St. Petersburg baseball dome renamed what?

ThunderDome. The Florida Suncoast Dome had been built for a baseball team that had not yet arrived, and it took its present name, Tropicana Field, only after the Lightning left.

A 1996 Lightning-Flyers game in St. Petersburg drew 28,183 fans, a record crowd for what?

An NHL playoff game. The rink was partitioned off inside a dome built for a baseball team that had not yet arrived, which is how 28,183 could get in for Game 4 of the first-round series.

The Lightning's first majority owner was a golf-resort company based in which country?

Japan. The firm was Kokusai Green of Tokyo, whose chairman, Takashi Okubo, went seven years as owner without once watching the team play; early in 1998 he had still never been to Florida.

Which insurance tycoon bought the Lightning in 1998, then sold at a loss a year later?

Art Williams. The Primerica founder paid about $117 million in 1998, lost some $20 million in his only season, and sold the club within a year for less than he had paid.

The Lightning drafted which centre first overall in 1998?

Vincent Lecavalier. The club's new owner, who admitted he did not know hockey, announced that the 18-year-old would be 'the Michael Jordan of hockey'; he led the league with 52 goals in 2006-07.

The Lightning hosted the 1999 NHL All-Star Game, the last for which legend, who retired that spring?

Wayne Gretzky. He announced his retirement that April, less than three months after the game in Tampa, and the NHL then retired his number 99 for every club in the league.

Which goaltender did the Lightning get from Phoenix in 2001, backstopping them to the 2004 Cup?

Nikolai Khabibulin. 'The Bulin Wall' had sat out a whole NHL season in a contract dispute with Phoenix before the March 2001 trade; three years later he posted five shutouts in the Cup run.

The Lightning beat which team in seven games to win the 2004 Stanley Cup?

Calgary Flames: Ruslan Fedotenko scored both goals in the 2-1 Game 7 win on June 7, 2004, giving Tampa Bay its first Stanley Cup.

Which Lightning player won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2004 with 26 playoff points?

Brad Richards. Seven of his 12 playoff goals were game-winners, a record; Tampa Bay traded him away in 2008, and in 2015 he won a second Cup by beating the Lightning in the Final.

Which undrafted Lightning winger won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross with 94 points in 2003-04?

Martin St. Louis. His first NHL club had let him go in 2000 after two part seasons; Tampa Bay signed him, and four years later he was the league's leading scorer and its most valuable player.

Which coach won the 2004 Jack Adams Award with Tampa Bay and later called its owners 'cowboys'?

John Tortorella. He had coached Tampa Bay for seven years and to its first Cup, but he was let go in 2008 after a 30th-place finish and said of the incoming owners that he had zero respect for them.

The Lightning were bought in 2008 by a group headed by a producer of which horror film franchise?

Saw. Oren Koules, whose company made the films, bought the club with former player Len Barrie in June 2008; less than two years later they sold it for about $30 million less than they had paid.

The Lightning's 2008 promotional campaign around their first overall pick used what slogan?

Seen Stamkos? The multiplatform campaign introduced the 18-year-old centre to the region around the 2008 draft, and he repaid the hype in his second season with 51 goals, a share of the league lead.

Who last had a 60-goal season before the Lightning's Steven Stamkos in 2011-12?

Alexander Ovechkin, with 65 in 2007-08. Stamkos got his 60th on the last day of the season, and it won him a second Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's top goal-scorer.

Which Boston investor bought the Lightning during the 2009-10 season?

Jeff Vinik. The Boston hedge-fund manager, formerly of Fidelity's Magellan fund, agreed to buy the team in February 2010 and fired coach Rick Tocchet and GM Brian Lawton the day after the season ended.

Which Red Wings legend became the Lightning's general manager in May 2010?

Steve Yzerman: the longtime Red Wings captain was hired in May 2010, brought in coach Guy Boucher, and saw the club reach the 2011 Eastern Conference Final in his first season.

With the second overall pick in 2009 the Lightning selected which Swedish defenceman?

Victor Hedman. Taken one pick after John Tavares, he became the backbone of two Cup teams: his double-overtime goal knocked out Boston in 2020, and he was voted that year's playoff MVP.

Jon Cooper was hired as Lightning coach in March 2013 from which AHL club?

Syracuse Crunch: Cooper had led the Norfolk Admirals to the 2012 Calder Cup before the affiliation moved to Syracuse; he was promoted to Tampa Bay in March 2013.

Before he turned to coaching, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper worked in which profession?

Lawyer. He was a public defender in Michigan when a judge whose son kept goal for a struggling high-school team had him asked to coach it; he says talking to players is like convincing a jury.

The Lightning lost the 2015 Stanley Cup Final in six games to which team?

Chicago Blackhawks. Tampa Bay led the series two games to one, then lost three straight, two of them by a single goal and the last 2-0 in Chicago.

The Lightning's record-tying 62 wins in 2018-19 earned which trophy?

Presidents' Trophy. The prize for the best regular-season record brought Tampa Bay no reward: within two weeks it was the first winner ever swept out of the first round of the playoffs.

Which eighth seed swept the Lightning in the first round of the 2019 playoffs?

Columbus Blue Jackets: the wild-card Jackets won all four games in April 2019, outscoring Tampa Bay 19-8; the teams met again in the 2020 bubble, where Tampa Bay won in five games.

Which Lightning winger won the Hart and Art Ross in 2018-19 with 128 points, then a club record?

Nikita Kucherov. He set up 87 goals and scored 41, then saw his team swept out of the playoffs within days; five years later he beat his own record with 144 points.

The Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup in the Edmonton bubble by beating which team in six games?

Dallas Stars. With street parades ruled out by the pandemic, the team celebrated with a boat parade on the Hillsborough River, a custom Tampa's champions have kept ever since.

The Lightning repeated as champions in 2021 by beating which team in five games?

Montreal Canadiens. Ross Colton's goal won Game 5 1-0 in Tampa on July 7, 2021; the team's leading scorer in those playoffs had missed the whole regular season after hip surgery.

The Lightning's three straight Final appearances ended with a six-game loss in 2022 to which team?

Colorado Avalanche. Nazem Kadri, just back from thumb surgery, won Game 4 in overtime to put Colorado one win from the Cup, and two games later Tampa Bay's bid for a third straight title was over.

Who captained the Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup?

Dave Andreychuk. The 40-year-old captain lifted the Cup in his 22nd NHL season, after 1,597 regular-season games; only Ray Bourque had played more before winning his first.

Steven Stamkos left the Lightning as a free agent in 2024 to sign with which team?

Nashville Predators: unable to agree an extension before free agency opened, Stamkos signed a four-year deal with the Predators on July 1, 2024, ending 16 seasons in Tampa.

The Bolts' downtown Tampa arena opened in 1996 under what name?

Ice Palace. A newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times, bought the naming rights in 2002, then had to rename the building ten years later when the paper itself became the Tampa Bay Times.

The Bolts' mascot ThunderBug is what kind of creature?

A firefly. Americans also call fireflies lightning bugs, which is the joke in the mascot's name, and the insects are in fact a family of beetles that make their own light.

Who was the Lightning's first head coach, a two-time Cup winner as a Flyer?

Terry Crisp. He had already coached a Stanley Cup winner in 1989; in Tampa he stayed five full seasons with the expansion team before being fired 11 games into his sixth.

The Lightning's first playoff series win, in 2003, came after falling behind 2-0 to which team?

Washington Capitals: after losing the first two games at home, the Lightning won four straight, clinching in triple overtime in Game 6, then fell to New Jersey in round two.

The Lightning opened the 2008-09 season in which European country?

Czech Republic. The Lightning lost twice to the Rangers in Prague that weekend, and the first game was Steven Stamkos's NHL debut; two other NHL clubs opened in Stockholm at the same time.

Which ESPN analyst became Lightning coach in 2008 after saying he missed 'having a dog in the fight'?

Barry Melrose: the ESPN analyst left the studio to coach the Lightning in June 2008 and was fired 16 games into the season with a 5-7-4 record.

The Lightning's 2011 playoff run included a comeback from 3-1 down against which team?

Pittsburgh Penguins: the Lightning won three straight, including an 8-2 Game 5 rout in Pittsburgh and a 1-0 Game 7 there, to take the series.

Which goaltender backstopped the Lightning to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final?

Ben Bishop: he posted back-to-back 2-0 shutouts in Games 5 and 7 of the 2015 conference final in New York before the Lightning lost the Final in six games.

The Lightning traded Jonathan Drouin in 2017 for which defence prospect?

Mikhail Sergachev: the ninth overall pick of 2016 arrived in the June 2017 trade and anchored the 2020 and 2021 Cup-winning blue lines before a 2024 trade to Utah.

Injured captain Steven Stamkos played only 2 minutes 47 seconds in the 2020 playoffs; what did he do in that time?

Scored a goal. Back from injury for one game of the Final, he scored on his only shot of the whole postseason, did not play again, and lifted the Cup as captain days later.

Which forward lost the 2020 and 2021 Finals to the Lightning, then joined them and lost the 2022 Final as well?

Corey Perry. His luck did not turn after he left Tampa Bay: he reached the Final twice more with yet another club, in 2024 and 2025, and lost both times.

Which future star did the Lightning take 79th overall in the 2014 draft?

Brayden Point. The third-round pick scored 14 goals in each of the 2020 and 2021 playoff runs, leading both postseasons, and ended a five-overtime game in 2020 with the winner.

The Lightning's 2013 compliance buyout of their captain was made for what stated reason?

His contract's salary-cap impact: the captain's 11-year, $85 million deal ran through 2019-20 at about $7.7 million a season, and the general manager said the cap, not his play, drove the buyout.

Which other NHL franchise shares the Lightning's home state?

Panthers. The Florida Panthers arrived in 1993, a year after the Lightning, yet the two neighbours did not meet in a playoff series until 2021, when Tampa Bay won in six games.

Who became the Lightning's general manager in September 2018?

Julien BriseBois: the longtime assistant general manager was promoted in September 2018 when his predecessor stepped back, and assembled the rosters that won the 2020 and 2021 Cups.

Which Lightning forward, nicknamed 'Big Rig', won the Stanley Cup three years running from 2019, the first with another club?

Pat Maroon. His double-overtime goal in a Game 7 in 2019 sent his home-town club on towards its first Stanley Cup, and he then won two more with Tampa Bay.

Which Detroit Pistons owner bought the Lightning for $115 million in 1999?

Bill Davidson. It was his third attempt to buy the club; he ran it from Detroit through his basketball team's president, and in June 2004 his hockey and basketball teams both won league titles.