The Surprising Start of the Tampa Bay Lightning 3
When the Tampa Bay Lightning left the tepid waters of the old Southeast Division for the harsh seas of the new Atlantic, many pegged them to fail. The Southeast was frequently the weakest division in the NHL, and Tampa Bay hadn’t even finished first since their Stanley Cup winning season in 2004.
Naturally, the outlook was grim as they headed north to play with perennial powerhouses Boston, Montreal and Detroit, who had freshly arrived from the West. Add on the upstart Ottawa Senators and surging Toronto Maple Leafs and you’ve got a recipe for many more years of struggling.
To many, the window on Tampa’s postseason hopes was already closing. Struggling to find a suitable franchise goaltender had stifled much of the offensive power that the Bolts brought to the table, and the defense had been porous. GM Steve Yzerman replaced head coach Guy Boucher with Jon Cooper, a somewhat unexpected choice as he used to be a corporate lawyer. Yzerman also bought out captain Vincent Lecavlier’s contract and let him walk to Philadelphia, where he signed with the Flyers. It was looking like this would be the start of another rebuilding season, and maybe even more big names would be traded out of Tampa.
