As they wait for the draft and free agency, the Tampa Bay Lightning social media team has a little free time to kill so they’ve fired up their awards campaign for the 2022-23 season on Twitter.
It’s #Bolts Twitter Fan Awards szn. ⚡️
We’re handing out awards to our squad and, for being the best fans ever, prizes for you!
Cast your votes in the categories below by replying to the Tweets in this thread for your chance to win a 2022-23 Reverse Retro jersey.
Rules:… pic.twitter.com/CLWEJnhA2a
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) June 20, 2023
There are six categories to pick and fans who vote have a chance to win a 2022-23 Reverse Retro jersey. The categories are:
Best Goal
Best Hair
Most Fashionable
Best Recharge Moment
Favorite Block Party Guest
Best Moment
It’s a nice mix of fun and self-promotion (Recharge and Block Party are both produced by the Lightning) and a solid way to relive some of the better moments of a season that didn’t quite turn out the way any of us wanted.
For me, personally, the best moment of the season was an easy one – Steven Stamkos’ 500th goal:
The day after we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Lightning drafting him, let’s acknowledge the fact that it wasn’t the easiest journey for him to get to 500 and beyond. Not only was there the pressure of being anointed the franchise savior before he even put on the uniform, but the fact that he battled through multiple serious injuries made his accomplishment truly remarkable.
Add in the fact that the only player that has been with the franchise longer (Alex Killorn) assisted on the goal and that his good friend Victor Hedman was on the ice when he scored it only added to the good times.
He finished the season with 515 regular season goals in his career and we know he has at least one more season left in the Lightning blue and white. With the way he’s been producing over the last few seasons it wouldn’t be a surprise if he found a way to stick around on a team-friendly contract for a couple of extra seasons to see if he can become the 21st member of the exclusive 600 goal club (maybe 22nd if Sidney Crosby beats him to the mark).
Lightning / NHL News
Tanner Jeannot Goal of the Year [Raw Charge]
Things didn’t go quite the way the Lightning or Jeannot wanted after they picked him up at the deadline. The good news is that he should be around for a couple of years to provide some more highlights.
Lightning partner with Sixthman to announce ‘Bolts on Board’ Cruise [Lightning]
If you’ve ever wanted to hang out on a big boat for four days with Tampa Bay Lightning alumni, well now is your chance. The team is partnering with Sixthman, a company that specializes in setting up unique fan-experience cruises, to offer Bolts fans a chance to sail from Tampa to Key West to Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas on a four-day cruise that will feature interactions with former players like Dave Andreychuck and Brian Bradley, as well as founder Phil Esposito while on board.
Register today and the first round pre-sale begins on Tuesday, June 27.
The Athletics 2023 ‘salary-cap era’ NHL franchise rankings [The Athletic]
Whatever hockey staff is left at The Athletic put together their semi-annual rankings of the best franchises in the salary-cap era of the NHL. The Bolts finished second to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
One word for every NHL team’s 2022-23 season [Bleacher Report]
“Tampa Bay Lightning: Twilight”
I can’t really disagree with Sara Civian’s one-word summary. The Bolts are entering the twilight phase of their greatest generation. Can they cap it off with one more Cup before The Core skates off into the sunset?
Philadelphia Flyers unveil new jerseys [Broad Street Hockey]
I saw the Tweet, looked at the photos, and wasn’t sure exactly what was different as they look like the Flyers uniforms. Apparently there is a different shade of orange? Good for them?
Buffalo Sabres re-sign Zemgus Girgensons [Die by the Blade]
The 29-year-old forward signed a one-year contract worth $2.5 million to stay with the only team he has ever played for in the NHL. He is also the longest-tenured player on the Sabres roster, which goes to show how much turnover they’ve had in the last few seasons.
