When you think of Florida, you probably do not think of ice or cold and you probably definitely do not think of hockey. But down in Tampa Bay, Florida, the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning have been skating its way into fans’ hearts and competing as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference since 1992. The initial owners were brothers Phil and Tony Esposito and they hired Terry Crisp as the first head coach. The first season was a bit rough against some of the more established teams but forward Brian Bradley was able to lead the team to a respectable rookie season. Although they went on to finish last in their division for the next season, they were showing some respectability in their attempts. 1995 was short lived with the NHL lockout but just one season later, the Bolts had finally made it to the playoffs.

In 1995-96, it marked the first season Lightning fans would see their newly beloved team get a taste of the playoffs. The team went down in six games in the first round but it gave the franchise and fans something to be excited for. Bradley, Alexander Selivanov and Roman Hamrlik were starting to come together as the leaders for the team. But just as the team was seeing some momentum, a series of injuries in the 1996 season led to their demise for seven years as they missed the playoffs and became one of the weakest teams in the league. During this period, Bradley was forced into retirement along with John Cullen, and Daren Puppa. Crisp was fired in 1997 and was replaced by Jaques Demers. The franchise was having serious financial woes for many years due to poor ownership and a hodgepodge at the top until Art Williams bought out the team and tried to restore them. But just a year later, he sold the team. After a few more years of flip flopping between coaches and four straight 50-loss seasons, the Bolts saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

In 2002-03, some of the team’s core players started to come into their own. With the efforts of Vincent Lecavalier, Fredrok Modin, Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards, Nikolai Khabibulin, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Dave Andreychuk, the team won their first Division Championships and earned home ice advantage for the playoffs. They unfortunately lost in the second round to the soon to be Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils. History repeated itself the following season and they saw themselves in the semifinals in the 2003-04 season. But this time they swept the Montreal Canadians in four games. They went on to win the Conference Finals and receive their first berth into the Stanley Cup Championships. With excellent performances by all members of the Lightning, the Bolts went on to win in seven games and bring their first Championship back to Tampa Bay. The following year was the 2004-05 NHL lockout and just a year after that, Tampa Bay barely made the playoffs in ’06 and ’07. Things got worse for the team and since ’07, they have yet to even be close to making the playoffs. Fans of Tampa Bay and franchise officers hope that the Tampa Bay Lightning can once again make it back to the Finals and bring home another Championship.