Posts About "Jeff Vinik"
Tampa Bay Is Ready to Shine for 2018 All-Star Game
June 2nd, 2017 The return of the NHL All-Star Game to Tampa Bay has been a long time coming. When Tampa last hosted the All-Star game back in 1999, the sport was still in its infancy in the city. At the time, no one knew if hockey would find a long-term foothold in the football-centric town. The Lightning organization had weak ownership, were on...
How Vinik Is Building the Lightning and the City of Tampa
October 22nd, 2016 The Tampa Bay Lightning are ranked No. 1 in the 2016 ESPN Ultimate Standings — a list that includes 122 franchises from across the NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB. The top spot was earned after a No. 3 ranking for the team in the 2015 edition. The honor is national recognition of the rise the organization has taken on and off the ice since...
Lightning Set to Honor Lecavalier's Legacy
October 18th, 2016 The Tampa Bay Lightning will honor Vincent Lecavalier when the team plays the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. It's a fitting way for the organization to honor Lecavalier's 14-year career with the Lightning — one in which he grew up as an NHL star alongside the Lightning and would become a Stanley Cup champion. It's a welcome...
Building the Lightning: Vinik's Vision Coming to Life
May 10th, 2016 “The best decisions aren’t always the easy ones.” The age old adage is often passed on to kids from parents, but it also is a phrase that many general managers in the National Hockey League can identify with. In a league currently made up of thirty teams, and with the salary cap tied to league revenues, the discipline and...
The Lightning Are Here to Stay
October 4th, 2015 The 2015-16 season will be the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 20th in the National Hockey League. It’s true. The team was established in 1992 and, well, do the math from there; here’s the part where you feel old. You recall the Bolts’ first moment of real relevance in drafting supposed-stud Vincent Lecavalier. But we digress. The...
Jeff Vinik, Lightning’s Extraordinary Owner
July 15th, 2015 On February 5, 2010, the NHL approved the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning from a partnership known as OK Hockey to a former hedge fund manager by the name of Jeffrey Vinik. The sale price was reported to be approximately $170 million. In his first press conference as new owner of the Lightning, Vinik said “I will do everything in...
Tampa Bay Lightning: Sticks of Fire
May 18th, 2015 History Lesson Part One In the 16th Century, the Calusa Indian Tribe inhabited the West and Southwest Coast of the Florida Territory. Legend has it that in the native language of the Calusa tribe, TANPA, which was later changed to Tampa translated to the words: STICKS OF FIRE. Perhaps the Calusa noticed in the summer months during...
Jeff Vinik's Plan to Revitalize Tampa
March 9th, 2015 Amalie Arena Updates From the day Jeff Vinik took over ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning he has gone out of his way to rebuild the arena and now Tampa Bay's waterfront. Unlike other southern teams, the Lightning have proved themselves to be a real contender in the race for the Cup, and having one of the nicest arenas in the...
The New Home of Hockey in the South
January 28th, 2014 Can hockey ever become big in the south? It is a question that has been asked for decades. With the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers, and other teams such as the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars continuing to struggle with attendance, the topic has become increasingly important. One team, and one city have set out to prove that...
Compliance Buyouts Will Forever Change the NHL Landscape
June 28th, 2013 NHL teams are currently committed to 49 long-term contracts totaling over $2.8 billion.
10 Reasons Why the Tampa Bay Lightning are Better than Your Team
November 16th, 2011 Un-entertaining. Ruinous to hockey. A shameful resurrection of infamous 'Dead Puck'-era play. Yup, the Tampa Bay Lightning's 1-3-1 defensive system has provoked some venomous claims, particularly in the wake of last week's bizarre play by the Philadelphia Flyers in Tampa - hockey's drama queen and NBC analyst Mike Milbury was so...
The Tampa Bay Lightning's New Look Isn't Skin Deep
September 25th, 2011 The Tampa Bay Lightning's new uniforms are generating buzz in the hockey world, but the re-worked sweater is only the most obvious element of the Lightning's organizational transformation. Here are five key changes you need to know about. New Ownership The transformation started with Jeff Vinik. Prior to the now 52-year-old...
Steven Stamkos Free to Negotiate Offer Sheets, Salary Cap System to be Tested?
June 28th, 2011 It's not often that a Rocket Richard Trophy winner hits the open market. Last summer, Ilya Kovalchuk earned $100m after testing the waters of free agency (as well as the limitations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement). But no player since the lockout has ever entered restricted free agency with a resume like that of Tampa...
