![]() ![]() Owner Art Williams labeled Lecavalier the “Michael Jordan of Hockey” on draft day, and it’s hard to go anywhere but down from there. Our deep dive on captain, who overcame doubters from inside and outside. How evolved into a complete player – and champion. “I’m just more proud of the fact that I probably proved a lot of people wrong” ![]() 1 pick in 2008 - and has lived up to it as the face of the franchise. Stamkos came to Tampa with ample hype - the “Seen Stamkos?” billboards welcoming the No. And Stamkos has the championships to back up the numbers, winning two Cups. He recently reached the rarefied air 500-goal milestone. Stamkos has pretty much all of the team’s main offensive records, including career goals and points. Louis said Stamkos has surpassed him as the greatest player in franchise history. (Note: All stats are from the players’ Lightning careers only.) There’s their inaugural pick, defenseman Roman Hamrlik, some ’04 Cup winners and plenty of members of the current group.Įsposito and I went back and forth on a few choices, but he felt comfortable enough for one pick. This lineup could look different in another five years, of course, but it’s a pretty good blend of the three decades in Tampa Bay hockey history. I reached out to former beat writers like Damian Cristodero and Tom Jones, both of whom covered the team for the Tampa Bay Times. I even asked for opinions from video coach Nigel Kirwan, the only staff member who has been here all 30 years. But how much?Īs I did for that project, for this story I polled key figures from the team, past and present, from Esposito and their first All-Star, Brian Bradley, to 2004 Cup general manager Jay Feaster, coach Jon Cooper and Victor Hedman. ![]() My first attempt at an all-time team four years ago came before this run of championships, so you knew it’d have to change. Tampa Bay’s first group, the 1992 expansion team, played in a bit of a different era, too. How do you not have recency bias after watching the “golden age” of Lightning hockey, with the current core group going to three straight Stanley Cup Finals and winning two Cups. “Because everybody will be in the moment, not what happened in the past.” “I honestly think this is very difficult,” Esposito said. For an all-time lineup, who would have better insight than Esposito? He is the Lightning founder and has seen it all. ![]()
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