Many of us hockey fans view the Tampa Bay Lightning as a perennial contender now, a landing spot where free agents want to end up, a place where players take less to stay, and a team with a nice pipeline of players that should keep them contending for years to come.
And even ex-players have always said good things about their experiences in the locker room, with management, and ownership.
But there was a time (late 90's was the worst), when the franchise was an absolute joke.
Not only were they terrible on the ice, but comradery amongst players behind the scenes was low...mostly due to the fact that you had some very young players mixed in with vets who signed on just to "finish their careers" and collect one last paycheck.
The Bolts were a landing spot for soon to be retirees, castoffs from other teams, or "experimental" players who might be good, but usually weren't.
Kudos to the poster who initially said most culture problems are ownership related. Bang on.
Ownership of the Bolts changed hands more than the ball at an NBA game.
And NONE of them seemed to have the foggiest clue as to what the hell they were doing....and one former Lightning owner, Bill Davidson I believe, even seemed more invested in the then IHL franchise affiliate for the Lightning, the Detroit Vipers, as well as his Detroit Pistons of the NBA, more than the Bolts themselves.
Makes it even more amazing that the team was able to win a Cup in 2004 while Davidson was still owner....always felt the team won in SPITE of him, and probably should have had another Cup or two with that core they had, but was never properly supplemented beyond the Cup win.
Thank goodness for new owner Jeff Vinik and his army of hired smart hockey people who turned the franchise around into the one we see today.
Doormat and punchline of the NHL the Bolts no longer are.