John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
With the 2013 NHL season getting ready to begin, the Tampa Bay Lightning are kicking off their 20th Anniversary by unveiling the franchise’s Top 20 hockey personnel.
Voted on by fans this past offseason, the list includes three current Lightning players. Of those, two were part of the teams 2004 Stanley Cup championship team. There were also eight other members of that Cup-winning squad. Others that made the list played a key role in growing the franchise during the past 20 years.
Among those honored are first-overall draft picks Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Roman Hamrlik. Lecavalier leads the Lightning in goals, assists, points and games played while Stamkos, the youngest, was practically a shoo-in given his success since being drafted.
Winger Martin St. Louis also made the list, along with fellow 2004 Cup winners Brad Richards, Dave Andreychuk, Dan Boyle and Nikolai Khabibulin to name a few. Though undrafted, St. Louis had the biggest goal in team history during the 2004 Cup Finals as he scored just mere seconds into double overtime of game six against the Calgary Flames, forcing a winner-take-all game seven at home two nights later. Meanwhile Richards, now a member of the New York Rangers, captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP that same year.
Others on the list include current Rangers and former Lightning coach John Tortorella, who leads the team in wins with 239, along with founder Phil Esposito, former general manager Jay Feaster and the team’s first coach, Terry Crisp.
Those chosen will be featured on the team’s video display board this season. For a full list of players selected, please feel free to visit the Lightning website.
