History of The Lightning

This franchise was founded by Phil Esposito, however the company funding him threatened to pull out of the deal unless they were given ownership. That eventually happened. When Tampa was awarded an NHL franchise in 1991, the team's management brought in star power before they had any players. The new franchise hired 1970s Boston Bruins star Phil Esposito as president and general manager; his brother Tony, a legendary goaltender who'd played mainly for the Chicago Blackhawks, as chief scout and 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 Cup in 1989, to stand behind the bench. A St. Petersburg group was reportedly better-financed and only lost out because two Hall of Famers, the Esposito brothers, were the "faces" of the Tampa-based group that originally won the team. However, in an ominous sign of things to come, Esposito's American partners backed out a few months before the season, and he had to recruit a consortium of Japanese businesses headed by golf course owner Kokusai Green in order to keep the team. Phil Esposito initially attempted to recreate the mystique from the powerhouse Bruins of the 70s; he hired former linemate Wayne Cashman as an assistant coach, former Bruin trainer John "Frosty" Forristal as the team's trainer, and the inaugural team photo has him flanked by Cashman and player Ken Hodge, Jr., son of his other Bruins' linemate. The team turned heads in the preseason when Manon Rheaume became the first woman to play in an NHL game of any kind. It was against the St. Louis Blues, just an exhibition game. Rheaume would never take the ice for a regular season game. The Lightning first took the ice on October 7, 1992, playing in Tampa's tiny 11,000-seat Expo Hall. They shocked the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 with four goals by little-known Chris Kontos — a scoring mark unmatched by any Lightning player. The Lightning shot to the top of the Norris Division within a month, behind Kontos' initial torrid scoring pace and a breakout season by forward Brian Bradley, before faltering to finish in last place. Their 53 points in 1992-93, however, was one of the best showings ever by an NHL expansion team, and Bradley's 42 goals gave Tampa Bay fans optimism for the next season. The following season saw the Lightning move to the Florida Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg, which was reconfigured for hockey and renamed "the Thunderdome." The team picked up goaltender Darren Puppa, left-wing goal scorer Petr Klima and aging sniper Denis Savard. While Puppa's play resulted in a significant improvement in goals allowed, Savard was long past his prime and Klima's scoring was offset by his defensive lapses. The Lightning finished last in the Atlantic Division. Another disappointing season followed in the lockout-shortened 1995 season. Still, the Lightning appeared to be far ahead of their expansion brethren, the Ottawa Senators. In marked contrast to the Lightning, the Senators showed almost no sign of respectability in their first four seasons.

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