25 Moments That Swung Lightning History 

The Lightning celebrated their 2,500^th game in franchise history this week, the fourth-most successful team to do so with 1,162 wins.

The milestone also arrived on quite the week, you may have heard, with the Bolts acquiring Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from Seattle in a midseason deal that fastened the Lightning into an ambitious Stanley Cup playoff race.

Time will tell if bringing home Tampa Bay’s most coveted dolly cart enthusiast will pay off. But the buzzworthy deadline got us to reminiscing. What are some of the benchmarks, moves and moments that most deeply impacted the trajectory of the franchise, and even the league at large? The influential moments that, in hindsight, shaped the best of times for the Bolts?

There are a multitude of turning points throughout franchise history that come to mind, but we landed on a select group that weigh heaviest in the “What if this doesn’t happen?” sentiment. The focus here was off the ice, with the exception of a few that were undeniably tethered to fate.

Narrowing this sort of list down to 25 was a chore for the ages. And it’s especially tasking when you consider that probably no one in the comments will provide their input, or tell us the things we missed, or attempt to shoot this list into the sun.

Without fail, here are 25 moments that swung Lightning history.

September 12, 1990 – A franchise gets its name

As far as team names go, the Tampa Bay Lightning is objectively up there, especially for a sport as inherently dynamic as hockey. So it seems wise to include founder Phil Esposito’s announcement of Tampa Bay’s first-ever NHL franchise name off the rip.

In the earliest stages of the organization, alternative team names were said to include the Oceanics, Gators and Pelicans. Turns out, those were mostly a ruse. Before they were even awarded the team, Esposito attended a barbecue at friend and local lawyer Bennie Lazzara’s house, when one of Tampa’s notorious thunderstorms rolled in.

“At that time, Lazzara’s mom, who was 84 or 85 at the time, she comes out the back door and she hears us talking about the name and says, ‘You ought to name the team the Lightning,’” Esposito told the Lightning in 2017. “And I turned around and I went, ‘That’s it. That’s the name of this team.'”

No word yet on when Mrs. Lazzara's statue will be dedicated in Thunder Alley.

October 9, 1993 – A rivalry is born at the Thunderdome

The Bolts kicked off their second NHL season in the hockey-baseball hybrid arena that was the Thunderdome (now Tropicana Field). A then-NHL record 27,227 people were in attendance to watch the first-ever matchup between the Lightning and the Panthers, cementing a Sunshine State rivalry that’s since reached “4 Nations Throwdown” levels. Hockey is a beautiful game.

June 27, 1998 – Bolts set their Stanley Cup future in motion

At the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, the Bolts selected Vincent Lecavalier with the first overall pick. With their next pick, a third-rounder and 64^th overall, the Bolts drafted fellow center Brad Richards. The two would go on to become centerpieces of the Lightning’s 2004 Stanley Cup championship team. Lecavalier became the first 1,000-gamer on his way to Tampa Bay icon status. Richards took home a Conn Smythe Trophy and is now enshrined in the Lightning Hall of Fame.

July 31, 2000 – Lightning sign undrafted winger Martin St. Louis.

The Bolts nabbed St. Louis after the University of Vermont grad scored 20 points in 69 games in his first NHL action with Calgary. Of course, we all knew then that he would go on to skate in 972 games for the Bolts, log 953 points, win a Stanley Cup, and etch himself in the Hockey Hall of Fame. His No. 26 hangs in the rafters at AMALIE Arena. Not a bad call by then-GM Rick Dudley.

January 6, 2001 – Entering our Torts Era

Outspoken skipper John Tortorella was hired as the fourth head coach in Lightning history midway through the 2000-2001 season. In a little over six seasons, Tortorella coached Tampa Bay to four straight playoff appearances, including a Stanley Cup Final and a Jack Adams Award in 2004.

February 10, 2002 – Jay Feaster announced as new GM of the Lightning

Before Julian BriseBois, before Steve Yzerman, it was Feaster who served as the architect of the inaugural Stanley Cup champions and playoff-winning era from 2003 to 2007. Feaster would also go on to select one of the most coveted athletes in the history of Tampa Bay in 2008. I believe we’ll get to him later.

September 11, 2002 – The immortalized captain

38-year-old forward Dave Andreychuk was named the seventh captain in Bolts history heading into his 20^th NHL season. The eventual hockey hall-of-famer and Thunder Alley effigy brought in a sage locker room presence that inspired Tampa Bay’s talents to reach their true heights. He would play four seasons for Tampa Bay, picking up 129 points in 278 games, captaining the franchise to its first Stanley Cup.

June 5, 2004 – The goal heard ‘round the bay

On the brink of elimination in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Lightning dragged the Flames into double-overtime in Calgary. 33 seconds into the fifth frame, season on the line, Marty St. Louis beat Miikka Kiprusoff from below the left circle, forcing a Game 7 back in Tampa Bay. The Bolts would finish the job in the finale, winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history with more than 20,000 in attendance and 10,000 more in Thunder Alley.

June 20, 2008 – Seen Stamkos?

With the first overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the Lightning selected 18-year-old center Steven Stamkos from the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League. Stamkos would arrive on the scene in no time, taking home his first of two Rocket Richard trophies in just his second season. Stammer would also grow to become a staple in the community and the greatest captain in franchise history, notching two Stanley cups and 1137 points to his name. He remains one of three players to play 15 seasons or more in a Tampa Bay uniform, along with Ronde Barber and Victor Hedman.

June 26, 2009 – The Need for Swede

Of course, Stamkos’s longtime running mate was selected the very next year. The Bolts selected defensive prodigy Victor Hedman second overall in the 2009 NHL draft. Simply put: the Bolts don’t have back-to-back Cups without Heddy. The current-day captain anchored a defense that would propel him to Conn Smythe greatness in 2020. He remains the Lightning’s regal champion and elder statesman, joining Stamkos and Lecavalier to form hockey’s most wholesome 1,000-game club.

February 5, 2010 – Jeff Vinik buys the team—and brings in a hockey legend

The Bolts needed some juice following a late-2000s dry spell. And they got it in a new owner and a hockey Hall of Famer.

A franchise transformation ensued following Vinik’s purchase of the Bolts, including a new team uniform system, a new primary logo and a new GM in Steve Yzerman. In Yzerman’s nine years constructing the club, the Bolts qualified for six postseasons, won two division titles, captured a conference title in 2015 and finished with 100+ points five times.

February 4, 2011 – The Vinik family announces Lightning Community Hero program

A five-year, $10 million charitable commitment launched the renowned Community Hero program upon Vinik’s takeover of the team. Since its inception, the program has celebrated more than 590 Heroes and distributed more than $32M to hundreds of unique non-profits throughout the Tampa Bay area.

June 24, 2011 – A GOAT draft heist

Can you imagine an AMALIE Arena without the low bellows of “KUUUUCH” throughout all these years? On second thought, don’t do that.

The steal of the 2011 second round is, to put this as straightforward as possible, the greatest offensive playmaker to ever lace them up for Tampa Bay. In due time, the Lightning’s all-time leaders page on hockey reference dot com is going to be barrage of Nikita Kucherov. I’m thankful I got to see it up close.

June 22, 2012 – Draft your Big Cat

The most decorated goalie in the Lightning archive was taken with the 19^th pick in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft. It didn’t take long for the Bolts to realize they had one of the best netminders on the planet sitting behind Lightning great Ben Bishop. Once Vasy earned full-time starting duties, the team leveled up as their goalie rose to Vezina prominence.

March 25, 2013 – The Jon Cooper Show

Following the dismissal of head coach Guy Boucher, Syracuse Crunch coach Jon Cooper was promoted to be the eighth head coach of the Bolts. The AHL’s top coach would find success in the NHL immediately, leading the Bolts to their then-best season in points (108) and wins (50) in 2014–15. Cooper is now more than 900 games into his Lightning tenure as one of the most decorated and beloved coaches in Tampa Bay history.

April 3, 2013 – Bolts trade for Bishop

Yzerman’s most impactful deadline deal brought goalie Ben Bishop in from Ottawa in exchange for forward Cory Conacher. The move is considered one of the best midseason trades in Tampa Bay history. It provided the Bolts with a Vezina finalist, a year-in-year-out playoff contender and, years down the road, a prized mentor for future netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.

November 25, 2013 – Marty 1K Magic

After a pregame ceremony honoring Marty St. Louis for his 1,000^th NHL game, the Bolts legend went on to net two goals and an assist in a 5-0 win against the Rangers. In the same contest, the Lightning debut a rising 20-year-old rookie who, on his very first shift, scores his first NHL goal. His name is Nikita Kucherov.

March 6, 2014 – Comeback Captain

In a dramatic return to the ice after recovering from a serious leg injury, Stamkos is introduced to AMALIE Arena as the new and 11^th captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stammer’s turn with the C is still widely regarded as one of the NHL’s most revered captaincies of the quarter-century.

September 11, 2018 – Ascending the front office throne

Julien BriseBois was named the seventh GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning after Steve Yzerman steps aside to a senior advisor role (and eventually the Detroit Red Wings),. With JBB at the helm, the franchise finally reached the mountaintop for the first time since 2004, thanks to several savvy midseason moves along the way. The Bolts have never missed the playoffs under his regime, reaching postseason action for six consecutive seasons at the time of this writing.

November 8, 2019 – Bolts go global

The Bolts’ two-game sweep of the Sabres in the NHL’s Global Series put the Lightning arsenal on full display on the international stage. The jaunt to Victor Hedman’s home country also proved to be a turning point for the locker room, as several players have since called the trip a bonding moment for the eventual champs.

February 24, 2020 – Bolts trade for Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow

Has there been a bigger sparkplug trade in Bolts history? As easy as it is to look back on any team’s midseason transactions with nausea, this one delivered a unanimous thumbs up. Both players came alive in big moments for the Bolts, highlighted by one of the most absurd goals in Lightning playoff history.

August 11, 2020 – An epic start to a legendary run

In Game 1 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bolts fans survived several bouts of high blood pressure as the Lightning toppled the Blue Jackets 3-2 in five overtimes—the fourth-longest game in NHL history. Brayden Point’s game-winner—his second goal of the game—ended an incredible 150:27 of ice time in an exhausting game that very much felt like the winner would go on to win the series. You could argue that Pointer’s saving grace of a goal spawned not only a postseason for the books, but one of the most memorable two-year runs in Bolts history.

September 30, 2020 – A Boat Parade is Born

Alright, so maybe a parade didn’t necessarily alter the franchise timeline. But as far as victory celebrations go, none have been more influential than the Bolts’ 2020 boat parade. Upon arriving home from their 2020 Stanley Cup victory, the Bolts staged a celebration of legendary Tampa Bay proportions, mapping a boat party from the port up to Riverside Heights. Hundreds of boats joined the party and thousands of fans lined the channel and Hillsborough River to get a glimpse of the Stanley Cup. The City of Tampa would never look back, returning to the boat parade for both a Bucs Super Bowl win and yet another Lightning Stanley Cup.

May 10, 2021 – Breaking NHL ground

On the final day of the 2020-2021 regular season, the Lightning made history by starting the first-ever, all-Black NHL line. Forwards Daniel Walcott, Gemel Smith and Mathieu Joseph comprised the landmark trio that took the ice during one of the most culturally significant years of the 21^st century. They remain the only all-Black starting line in league history as of this writing.

January 8, 2025 – Lightning announce Stadium Series at Ray-Jay

Fire the cannons—for a Lightning power play goal? The Bolts and Bruins will take it outdoors for the long-discussed arrival of the NHL Stadium Series on February 1, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The landmark event, coinciding with the Panthers hosting the Rangers in the Winter Classic, could serve as a boon for the sport down south. and could potentially go down as one of the great hockey achievements in Florida history.