Tampa Bay makes another move this summer
If this keeps up, we will all remember this as the summer of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Here’s a quick summary of what has gone down so far:
The new ownership group with eight members is announced. They bought the team from Bill Davidson, owner of the Detroit Pistons.
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced its new eight-man ownership group this morning, bringing together a team of leadership which will combine its extensive resources and diverse backgrounds to take control of the Lightning, the leasehold rights to the St. Pete Times Forum and approximately 5.5 acres of adjacent land in downtown Tampa’s Channelside District. The group, led by Hollywood producer Oren Koules and former NHL player and current real estate developer Len Barrie, expects to close on its purchase from Bill Davidson and Palace Sports & Entertainment on June 30.
“This is a great day for Tampa Bay and for the Lightning,” said Koules. “There is a wonderful foundation for hockey in this community; a great fan base and a former Stanley Cup winning team led by Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Our group’s primary goal is to win hockey games and compete for championships on a regular basis. And we look to further develop the community foundation Palace Sports has established in Tampa Bay.”
The Lightning make the No. 1 overall selection in the 2008 NHL Draft by picking Steve Stamkos, a player projected as a Steve Yzerman-caliber player.
The new owners are determined to turn this team around as quick as possible providing a strong framework for their new top draft pick.
Koules and Barrie, the primary investors in a group purchasing the Lightning for $206 million, have vowed to be “shockingly aggressive” in free agency to upgrade the roster and surround No. 1 draft pick Stamkos with players who can help him be successful.
These new owners announce Barry Melrose, the face of the NHL on ESPN for 12 years, as their new head coach.
Melrose estimates he watched about 90 percent of Tampa Bay’s games on TV last season. What he saw was a team that lost its zest under the hard-driving Tortorella, who led the club to its only Stanley Cup title four years ago.
The Lightning not only missed the playoffs for the first time since 2002, they finished last in the NHL with a league-worst 31-42-9 record.
“I think what happened here is just a group that lost their passion in the second part of the season. That’s why you win,” Melrose said. “You out-work other teams, you out-want other teams. When you lose that fire and lose that passion, it’s very hard to compete in the NHL.”
A day later, it comes out that the new ownership is working towards a $77 million, nine-year contract with Vinny Lecavalier, who they hope will eventually become a team executive as Steve Yzerman has done.
Owner Oren Koules on Thursday said he sees Lecavalier working as a team executive after he retires.
“We absolutely do,” Koules said. “We’ve already talked to Vinny about it. When we talked, we talked about lifestyle, about how long he wants to live here. He wants to retire here when he’s done, and he wants to be part of this.
“We look at Stevie Y as the exact model of what we want to do with Vinny.”
The team then acquires the negotiating rights to two Pittsburgh Penguins, Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone.
Yesterday, Malone signs a $31.5 million, seven-year contract with the Lightning. Later that evening, the Lightning picked up the negotiating rights to Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild. We’ll have to wait and see if the two sides can actually come to an agreement.
With Gary Roberts almost certainly in the fold as well, the Lightning made another bold overture Sunday evening, acquiring the rights to Brian Rolston from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a conditional draft choice in either 2009 or 2010. Rolston is arguably the second most attractive forward available in free agency after Marian Hossa because of his age (35), consistency (three consecutive years of 30 or more goals), versatility (can play either right wing or centre) and ability to anchor the power play, with a devastating point shot.
Once again, the Lightning’s new co-owners, Oren Koules and Len Barrie, made the announcement. In a statement jointly attributed to both men, they said: “We are trying to prove after making our deal with Pittsburgh yesterday, we will work feverishly to improve the Lightning team for the 2008-09 season. We believe getting the Lightning a head start in the negotiating and signing process can help us secure the players we are targeting. Nothing is guaranteed here, but we hope to have a chance to get another quality player in a Lightning uniform sooner rather than later.”
What will happen next? Who knows, but it certainly looks to be an exciting summer for Lightning fans.
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One Response to “Tampa Bay makes another move this summer”
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July 1st, 2008 at 12:06 am
They better pay some attention to whether all those high-priced egos can play together as a team. Remember all that money the Rangers spent and all those dysfunctional teams they got out of it?