The Tampa Bay Lightning are an American professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Often referred to as the Bolts, [1] the team joined the NHL in 1992 as an expansion team, and have won the Stanley Cup championship in 2004, 2020 and 2021. [2] Having first played in the Expo Hall, [3] and later in the ThunderDome (now known as Tropicana Field), [4] the Lightning have played their home games at the Ice Palace, currently titled Amalie Arena, since 1996. The Lightning are owned by Jeffrey Vinik, Julien BriseBois is their general manager, and Steven Stamkos is the team captain.
There have been nine head coaches for the Lightning franchise. The team's first head coach was Terry Crisp, who coached for five seasons. John Tortorella, the only American to head coach the team, was the first Lightning coach to have won the Prince of Wales Trophy, [5] the Stanley Cup, [2] and to have been awarded the Jack Adams Award, all of which happened in the 2003–04 season. Steve Ludzik and Jon Cooper are the only two head coaches who have spent their entire NHL head coaching careers with the Lightning.
Jon Cooper is the team's current head coach, having been named to the position on March 25, 2013. [6] Cooper is the only head coach of the Lightning to win the Prince of Wales Trophy four times. [7] Under Cooper, the franchise won its second Stanley Cup championship in 2020 and third championship in 2021. Cooper is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season wins (480), playoff games coached (139), and the most playoff-games won (84).
# | Number of coaches [a] |
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins = 2 points |
L | Losses = 0 points |
T | Ties = 1 point |
OT | Overtime/shootout losses = 1 point [b] |
PTS | Points |
Win% | Winning percentage |
* | Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Lightning |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2022–23 NHL regular season.
# | Name | Term [c] | Regular season | Playoffs | Achievements | Reference | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | T/OT | PTS | PTS% | GC | W | L | Win% | |||||
1 | Terry Crisp | 1992–1998 | 391 | 142 | 204 | 45 | 329 | .421 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [8] | |
2 | Rick Paterson* | 1998 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [9] | |
3 | Jacques Demers | 1998–1999 | 147 | 34 | 96 | 17 | 85 | .289 | — | — | — | — | [10] | |
4 | Steve Ludzik* | 1999–2001 | 121 | 31 | 67 | 23 | 85 | .351 | — | — | — | — | [11] | |
5 | John Tortorella | 2001–2008 | 535 | 239 | 222 | 74 | 552 | .516 | 45 | 24 | 21 | .533 | Stanley Cup championship: 2004 [2] Jack Adams Award winner: 2003–04 [12] Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2004 [5] | [13] |
6 | Barry Melrose | 2008 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 14 | .438 | — | — | — | — | [14] | |
7 | Rick Tocchet | 2008–2010 | 148 | 53 | 69 | 26 | 132 | .446 | — | — | — | — | [15] | |
8 | Guy Boucher | 2010–2013 | 196 | 97 | 79 | 20 | 214 | .546 | 18 | 11 | 7 | .611 | [16] | |
9 | Jon Cooper* | 2013–present | 797 | 480 | 250 | 67 | 1,027 | .644 | 145 | 86 | 59 | .593 | NHL All-Star Game: 2018, 2019 [17] [18] Presidents' Trophy winner: 2018–19 [19] Stanley Cup championship: 2020, 2021 Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022 [20] | [21] |
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Amalie Arena in Downtown Tampa.
VincentLecavalier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre currently working as a special advisor of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and was a member of their 2004 Stanley Cup championship team. Lecavalier played seventeen seasons in the NHL between 1998 and 2016 and served as captain of the Lightning on two separate occasions prior to being bought out following the 2012-13 season and signing a 5-year, $22.5 million deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. He also previously played for the Los Angeles Kings.
John Tortorella is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tortorella was previously the head coach of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vancouver Canucks. He led Tampa Bay to the 2004 Stanley Cup championship.
The Prince of Wales Trophy, also known as the Wales Trophy, is a team award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL). Named for Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, it has been awarded for different accomplishments throughout its history.
Bradley Ray Richards is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Lightning, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings during his National Hockey League (NHL) career.
Stephen Paul Ludzik is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach who has worked as a television analyst for The Score television network. He played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres between 1981 and 1990. He later coached the Tampa Bay Lightning between 1999 and 2001, and also spent several years coaching in the minor leagues.
The 2000–01 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the Lightning's ninth season of operation. The club again failed to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
Jonathan D. Cooper is a Canadian–American professional ice hockey coach who is the head coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Cooper won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 as the Lightning head coach, and as of the 2023–24 season, is the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL.
Julien BriseBois is a Canadian ice hockey executive. He is the general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League (NHL) and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
Adam Dennis Erne is an American professional ice hockey winger who is currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the second round, 33rd overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.