Tampa Bay Lightning

Founded:

1992

Stadium:

Benchmark International Arena

The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Benchmark International Arena in Downtown Tampa. The Lightning are one of two NHL franchises based in Florida, with the other being the Florida Panthers. The franchise is owned by Doug Ostrover while Julien BriseBois is the general manager. Jon Cooper has served as head coach since March 2013, and is the longest-tenured active head coach in the NHL. The Lightning were founded as an expansion team on December 6, 1990, and began play in the 1992–93 NHL season. The team has won three Stanley Cup championships in 2004, 2020, and 2021, and also played in two additional Stanley Cup Final series in 2015 and 2022. The team's sustained success in the time period from 2015 to 2022 (which also includes making the Eastern Conference finals in 2016 and 2018) has led some outlets to regard the Lightning as a modern NHL dynasty within that time span; the Lightning also went to the conference finals in 2011. Additionally, the Lightning won the Presidents' Trophy in 2019 after they tied the then all-time record for regular season wins in the 2018–19 season, tying the 62 wins of the 1995–96 Detroit Red Wings, which later broken by the 2022–23 Boston Bruins, and won 11 straight playoff series from 2020 to 2022.