From the Glass to the Rafters: Lightning Fans Have Never Had It This Good

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Kucherov’s record caps 15 years of stars, smart hires and sold-out nights. Most fan bases never see it once.

By Ernie Norquist, Thunderstruck Sports

Nikita Kucherov is the leading scorer in Tampa Bay Lightning history. He passed Steven Stamkos on Oct. 24 in Utah, picking up an assist on Brayden Point’s power-play goal in a 5-4 overtime loss.

Stamkos held the record at 1,137 points. Kucherov tied it on Oct. 20 in Las Vegas. Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Victor Hedman fill out the rest of the top five. Stamkos still holds the franchise goals record with 555.

Stamkos took the scoring record from St. Louis in 2022. Now it has passed from St. Louis to

Stamkos to Kucherov, three players who each built it in a Lightning sweater. It was not always this way.

There was a time when you could buy a ticket in the 300 section of the St. Pete Times Forum and finish the night on the glass.

Nobody checked. The ushers were less concerned about your seat assignment and more relieved that someone was in the building. Empty seats were the norm. A fan in the lower bowl, even one who had not paid for a seat, was a small win.

That was the Lightning during the Koules and Barrie years. Today, the building is Benchmark I

International Arena, and games there draw capacity crowds.

Tampa Bay fans have been spoiled, and that is not the norm. Five players have strong cases for the Hockey Hall of Fame. A second group would headline most other rosters. Here is how the franchise went from empty seats to this.

Where it started

In 2008, Oren Koules and Len Barrie bought the team. Koules was a Hollywood executive best known for producing the “Saw” horror films, and Barrie was a former NHL player. The team struggled on the ice and at the arena.

They hired Barry Melrose, a longtime ESPN analyst, as head coach. He lasted 16 games before being fired in November 2008. The Lightning missed the playoffs in both seasons under the group.

Two things from that period mattered. The Lightning picked first overall in 2008, selecting Stamkos. They picked second in 2009, selecting Hedman. Those two picks anchored the next decade.

Jeff Vinik bought the team in February 2010 and pursued proven names in the game.

The business side

Vinik hired Tod Leiweke as chief executive officer and made him a part owner. Leiweke had led the Seattle Seahawks and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Sports, whose three franchises achieved 201 consecutive sellouts under his leadership.

He first had to rebuild trust. Local business leaders said the previous ownership had failed to follow through on commitments. Leiweke promised sold-out crowds and a team that would serve as a leading corporate citizen in Tampa Bay. He pushed programs that rewarded season ticket holders, and a night at the rink became something the community did together.

Leiweke left in 2015 to become the NFL’s chief operating officer after the Lightning reached the Stanley Cup Final. By then, a solid foundation was in place, thanks to what he built.

The hockey side

Vinik’s top target was Steve Yzerman. The Hall of Famer had won three Stanley Cups as a Red Wings player and served as a vice president in the Detroit front office. He had also just led Canada’s Olympic hockey program to gold in 2010 as executive director. Vinik convinced him that he could build something special in Tampa Bay, and Yzerman became general manager in May 2010.

Yzerman also brought in Julien BriseBois as his top lieutenant. BriseBois had worked at the Heenan Blaikie law firm before joining the Montreal Canadiens as director of legal affairs.

Yzerman hired him in July 2010 as assistant general manager, with responsibilities that included the salary cap. BriseBois hired Jon Cooper in August to coach the Norfolk Admirals. Cooper won the 2012 Calder Cup there. BriseBois became general manager on Sept. 11, 2018, and has twice been a runner-up for NHL General Manager of the Year. His cap management kept the core together. In 2021, with Kucherov out for the regular season due to a hip injury, he placed him on long-term injured reserve so the $9.5 million cap hit did not count against the cap. After the 2021 title, he moved Tyler Johnson to Chicago to clear room, and Point signed an eight-year, $9.5 million extension the next day. He traded Ryan McDonagh to Nashville because of cap pressure after back-to-back championships, then reacquired him in 2024. The cap ends most contenders. In Tampa Bay, it has not yet.

Yzerman also hired Al Murray to oversee amateur scouting. Murray, a Regina native, had spent 12 years as the Los Angeles Kings’ director of amateur scouting and three years as Hockey Canada’s head scout, during which the national teams won two World Junior gold medals. Yzerman hired him in August 2010.

Murray’s staff found the players. In 2011, it selected Kucherov in the second round and Ondrej Palat in the seventh. In 2012, it selected Andrei Vasilevskiy 19th overall. In 2014, it selected Point in the third round. In 2015, it selected Anthony Cirelli in the third round. Four of those five picks came after the first round. The second-round pick is now the franchise’s leading scorer.

Cooper moved to Tampa Bay in 2013, and the hire paid off. Kucherov is only the third player in NHL history to reach his first 1,000 points under the same head coach, joining Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy.

When Yzerman left in 2018, BriseBois retained Cooper and promoted Murray to assistant general manager. The continuity held, and two Cups followed.

The Hall of Fame core

Stamkos spent 16 seasons in Tampa Bay and won the Rocket Richard Trophy twice. He left as a free agent in 2024 and signed with Nashville. Hedman became the franchise’s defining defenseman, winning the Norris Trophy in 2018 and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2020.

Kucherov has won two Stanley Cups, two Hart Trophies and three Art Ross Trophies. Point scored 14 goals in each of the 2020 and 2021 playoff runs, a franchise record. Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy in 2019 and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2021.

Hedman, Kucherov, Point and Vasilevskiy have never worn another NHL sweater, and all four remain in Tampa Bay. That is rare in a salary-cap league.

The era includes four Stanley Cup Final appearances over eight seasons and two championships. Most franchises spend decades chasing a single title. This group won two in a row.

The second tier

The next group would be a headlining act almost anywhere else.

Brandon Hagel arrived via trade and tallied 35 goals and 90 points in 2024-25. McDonagh anchored the blue line. Cirelli became the shutdown center every coach wants. Palat, Johnson and Alex Killorn were core pieces of both title teams. All three played for Cooper in Norfolk and won the 2012 Calder Cup together. Cirelli also came up through the Lightning system with Syracuse.

Yanni Gourde brought the grit fans loved. Blake Coleman and Ross Colton added depth. Mikhail Sergachev and Nicholas Paul filled key roles during the roster turnover.

Many of these players could have been first-line contributors elsewhere. In Tampa Bay, they filled roles around the stars. That depth is why the Lightning kept winning.

Why this matters

Some franchises wait decades for a star. Others draft well but lose the player in free agency. Others never get ownership, management and scouting to align at the same time.

Tampa Bay got it all. The picks hit. The trades worked. The coaching was strong. The owner backed the plan.

Many owners have money. Few know whom to trust with it. Vinik did. He hired people who knew hockey and let them do their work.

Fans who started watching after 2015 may think this is how it works. It is not. Contending every year is rare. Winning two Cups is even rarer.

The window will not stay open. Stamkos has already left. Contracts, the salary cap and age will do the rest.

The record changed hands in 2022 and again on Oct. 24, 2026. Fans who saw both are the spoiled ones.

Until the window closes, enjoy it. Go to the games. Appreciate the plays. Remember the nights when the ushers let anyone sit on the glass.

Then look up. The rafters have room for more banners and numbers, and Thunder Alley has room for more statues. Some of the players on the ice tonight are headed for both. Watch them while they are still playing, before they become something you walk past on the way in.

Fans in Tampa Bay have been spoiled. Be grateful for that.