The Tampa Bay Lightning are Stanley Cup Champions for a second time in franchise history.
From almost the second that Jeff Vinik purchased the team in 2010, it’s been clear that the organization was building towards this moment. There have been bumps (read: mountains) on the road along the way – including a heartbreaking Stanley Cup Final loss in 2015, devastating Eastern Conference Final defeats in 2011, 2016 and 2018, and a confounding first-round sweep in 2019 – but this Bolts team finally managed to get the job done.
While it’s the 2019-20 group that will have its legacy enshrined on the Stanley Cup, this really is the culmination of a decade-long plan to build the preeminent organization in the sport. No post-2013-lockout team has drafted, developed, acquired, and retained players with the level of success that the Lightning, under both Steve Yzerman and Julien BriseBois, have demonstrated for the last handful of years. The only thing missing from this group’s list of accolades was a championship. No longer.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fair to say that Tampa Bay felt like a team of destiny this year. Avenging last season’s first-round sweep with a series victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets 422 days later – and having Rick Peckham deliver a legendary final call in that moment – got the ball rolling. Steven Stamkos returning for the best 2:47 of ice time imaginable after two months of sitting in the bubble kept the momentum going. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point delivering historically productive postseasons took things across the finish line. It’s not as though the list of memorable narratives stops there, either.
From my own personal standpoint, this win feels special on a number of fronts. Beyond the fact that the Bolts captured the prize in my hometown of Edmonton under extraordinary circumstances, there’s a palpable feeling of fate that comes with having ended my last run at HockeyBuzz after the 2015 loss, only to return for this special, special playoff triumph. To share in the highs, and support each other during the lows, over the years here has provided me with so much fulfilment. I’m tremendously grateful to have the opportunity to share this moment with all of you, whether you’ve been a reader from the beginning or have just logged on for the first time today. And, that sums up what is perhaps the best part of a championship run like this: Each and every one of us is going to have a story, or a reason that this means something. Nothing can ever take that away now.
There will be plenty of time to dissect the on-ice performance that led to this achievement over the coming days and weeks. For now, the Lightning can enjoy the taste of victory; it doesn’t come around every day. Congratulations to all members of the Lightning organization, from the players, to the coaches, to the management group, to the off-ice staff, to ownership, and to everyone and anyone else. This is your time.
As always, thanks for reading.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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