tampa bay lightning ownership

Lightning history and site archives

20 years of Tampa Bay Lightning logos, which is your favorite?

John Fontana Aug 3 2012, 11:30a

20 years of Tampa Bay Lightning hockey has given fans three different marks as the team's primary logo.

A conventional disruption to the off-season

John Fontana Jul 13 2012, 5:17p

Sure, it's the off season, but it's a weird feelign to know that the Lightning are being temporarily displaced from the Tampa Bay Times Forum as the RNC takes control of the building on Sunday.

Is more OK Hockey coming to the NHL?

John Fontana Aug 17 2011, 6:14p

Former Lightning owner Oren Koules would like to get back into the game -- the game of NHL ownership. How you react to that news is subjective.

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Fanshot

"I'm not going to lie, we had a group in the running for this. We lost to Koules, and we lost to...

posted by John Fontana, May 23, 2010

"I'm not going to lie, we had a group in the running for this. We lost to Koules, and we lost to (current owner) Jeff (Vinik). We raised an awful lot of money. We had enough money to buy five franchises. I don't think we got outbid. I think (NHL commissioner Gary) Bettman thought Jeff was the right guy. And so do I.

"We were close (to buying the team). We were really close. We went to New York, met with attorneys and different people. We stopped short of Gary because we wanted to be absolutely sure before we got to him.''

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"I didn't want this team to move. I didn't like the way it was going. It was almost like Koules and Barrie were trying to run the team into the ground so they could move it. There was no way I could let that happen, not if there was one possibility I could stop it.''

— Phil Esposito, in an interview with St. Pete Times Columnist Gary Shelton

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I think that's what Mr. Vinik (new owner Jeff Vinik) will bring to this organization. He'll bring...

posted by John Fontana, Apr 23, 2010

I think that's what Mr. Vinik (new owner Jeff Vinik) will bring to this organization. He'll bring stability. He wants to do things the right way, and I think guys are excited about that.

— Vincent Lecavalier

Jeffrey Vinik's Modus Operandi

John Fontana Apr 19 2010, 8:30a

The sounds of silence dominate Jeffrey Vinik's search for a CEO for the Tampa Bay Lightning... And he wouldn't like it better any other way. While the media shares speculation-as-fact with readers, Vinik does what he does best: Operating in the silence with a plan that only he knows for sure.

Ownership: Unplugged. Lightning Q and A event tomorrow night

John Fontana Mar 4 2010, 4:09p

Live, tomorrow evening, is the fifth Lightning Unplugged session with new Bolts owner Jeffrey Vinik.

Raw Charge, a Tampa Bay Lightning community