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The Tampa Bay Lightning are an NHL team based in Tampa, FL and are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. They play their home games in downtown Tampa’s St. Pete Times Forum. The Lightning were awarded to a group led by Henry Lee Paul, Mel Lowell and Phil Esposito as an expansion team. The bid for the team was plagued by financial issues until Kokusai Green came in with a fresh infusion of cash and the NHL accepted a restructured deal. The Lightning and Ottawa Senators became part of the NHL in December 1991. The Lightning shocked the hockey world by signing Manon Rheaume to a minor league contract; she was the first woman to play in all of the 4 major sports and played one period of a pre-season game against the St. Louis Blues. The Lightning began playing in 1992 in the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, FL. They won their opening game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
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About Tampa Bay Lightning
The team had difficulty maintaining success throughout the 2007/08 season. The Lightning endured what is considered poor personnel decisions that were made to get supporting players and poor individual performance from those supporting players. At the beginning of the All-Star Break, the Lightning were in last place in the Southeast Division and Eastern Conference; and just the LA Kings had a lower point total at that time. The Lightning traded Vaclav Prospal to the Philadelphia Flyers for AHL All-Star defenseman Alexandre Picard and a conditional draft pick; former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Brad Richards and goaltender Johan Holmqvist were traded to the Dallas Stars for goaltender Mike Smith, forwards Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern and a 4th round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
