 It was not very long ago that the Tampa Bay Lightning not only won the Stanley Cup, but was an example of the best the NHL had to offer. After being out of that limelight for awhile, can the Lightning manage to head back to those days and once again put a championship face on the franchise? The 2008-09 preseason began with Tampa Bay's new ownership signing a bunch of talent and hiring ESPN analyst Barry Melrose to run the team. Even more promising was the fact that the Lightning was in possession of the NHL's #1 overall draft pick, talented center Steven Stamkos, and most people were picking the new and improved Lightning as a playoff team, with high hopes for the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, once the regular season began things fell apart; Melrose was fired early on, injuries increased, the new owners had negative business issues to work out, and Tampa finished with an embarrassing 24-40-18 record. Basically, things have no where to go but up for the 2009-2010 Lightning, and they are dedicated to turning the team around. The Lightning took some solid steps this past offseason, beginning with using the second overall pick in the draft to select defenseman Victor Hedman, who is expected to make an immediate contribute on one of the top two defensive lines. New acquisition Mattias Ohlund was a savvy decision – providing Hedman a fellow Swede as a mentor, thus easing his transition into the league as well as into life in America. Other major moves for the Lightning included the acquisitions of goaltender Antero Niittymaki to compete for the starting job, defensive stalwart Kurtis Foster to help tighten up a defense full of holes, and scoring winger Alex Tanguay, who was real steal at only $1.5 million. The strength of Tampa Bay Lightning will be their offense. Diminutive winger Martin St. Louis had an exceptional season last year, netting 30 goals and scoring 80 points; simply an amazingly talented player with a motor that never quits. Stamkos also finished the season strong – ending up with 23 goals – and is expecting to build upon that going into this season. A rebound year is expected from captain Vinny Lecavalier, and with rugged winger Ryan Malone and Tanguay also available, there should be enough talent in Tampa for two really good lines. Seemingly, it is the Lightning defense which is going to be questionable again. Ohlund is an excellent player but he's going to be paired with a rookie, and regardless of how good Victor Hedman is going to be, the 18-year-old is still going to struggle at times. Behind that top tandem, there isn't really a lot of high-end talent, and not much scoring help outside of Ohlund and possibly Hedman. Niittymaki is a solid goalie and really needs to step up in order to hold down a #1 goalie position at the NHL level. His backup, Mike Smith, played well at times last year but he's in the same situation as Niittymaki in terms of starting experience. At this time, both have a lot of talent and will probably play a lot, that is until one of them shows the talent to take the reigns as Tampa Bay's top netminder. For the Lightning to experience success this year, the team is going to need to score a lot of goals and stay healthy. With the quality talent they possess up front, it is very likely that Tampa Bay will score many more goals this year. Honestly, a team this talented at the forward position cannot help but improve by leaps and bounds, so get your tickets now and come to the St. Pete Times Forum and experience the excitement of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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