The Tampa Bay Lightning will celebrate five seasons of one of most popular community events in area Sunday night. Jeff and Penny Vinik‘s Community Heroes will reunite 300 nonprofit organizations, awarded 11.1 million. Mayor Bob Buckhorn and ESPN’s Dick Vitale will be present. The event is at the T. Pepin Hospitality Center, 4121 N. 50th St.
Jeff Vinik was talking about even ice. He was saying how good it was that a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning can compete with a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs even though the revenues are so far apart. He was talking about a salary cap. He was talking about how 60 percent of hockey games are within one goal in the third period. And Stu Sternberg, the owner without a cap, was starting to breath heavily. Sternberg, the…
It happened a long way from the ice, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have lost their chief executive officer. Tod Leiweke, 55,has resigned to become the chief operating officer of the National Football League, owner Jeff Vinik announced today. He also announced that president Steve Griggs would take Leiweke’s place, reporting directly to Vinik. While with the Lightning, Leiweke ran the business side of things. General manager Steve Yzerman will continue to run the hockey operations. Leiweke has worked for the…
The Lightning Foundation has announced plans for its new nomination periods for the “Lightning Community Heroes” program for the upcoming season, an initiative designed to distribute a $10 million pledge through owner Jeff Vinik and his wife Penny. The first nomination deadline is on Sept. 2, followed by Nov. 13 and Jan. 15. Throughout each of its 41 home games, the club will honor a community hero and award $50,000 to a nonprofit organization. A total of more than $2…
Now that it is over, how is a hockey season to be remembered? Sweet? Or sour? For its dominance? For a lousy ending? For Steven Stamkos’ scoring skills? Or for the way he forgot them at the end? For those who followed the Lightning along its curving path to the Stanley Cup Finals, there are different ways to reflect upon what we have seen. It was the second-best season in the history of the team, and yet they finished second…
