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2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning
Division	TBD Southeast
Conference	TBD Eastern
2008–09 record	TBD
Home record	TBD
Road record	TBD
Goals for	TBD
Goals against	TBD
General Manager	TBD
Coach	Barry Melrose
Captain	TBD
Alternate captains	TBD
Arena	St. Pete Times Forum
Average attendance	TBD
Team leaders
Goals	TBD
Assists	TBD
Points	TBD
Penalties in minutes	TBD
Plus/Minus	TBD
Wins	TBD
Goals against average	TBD

The 2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning season will be the 17th season for the franchise in Tampa Bay.

Offseason

On June 3, it was announced that head coach John Tortorella would not return to the team despite having another year left on his contract.^[1]

The NHL board of governors on Wednesday, June 18, approved the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning was made to movie and television producer Oren Koules. The deal is pending the closing of the financial deal of $200 million US to buy the team and lease the St. Pete Times Forum. Koules, 47, played in Medicine Hat and Calgary in the Western Hockey League in the early 1980s. In more recent years, he achieved success with the Saw movie franchise and the television sitcom Two and a Half Men. Among his business partners in the Lightning deal is former NHL player Len Barrie. ^[2]

On June 24, the Lightning announced that Barry Melrose was hired as the team's new head coach. Melrose had not coached in the NHL since 1995, with the Los Angeles Kings. Since that time, he had served as an analyst for the ESPN networks.^[3]

Goaltender Marc Denis's contract was bought out by the Lightning on June 25, almost 2 years to the date after his aquisition from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Denis had one year remaining on his contract.^[4]

The Lightning acquired the rights to left wings Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009.^[5] Malone then agreed to a 7-year contract with the Lightning two days before he was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent.^{citation needed}

The lightning acquired the rights to right wing Brian Rolston from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009 or 2010. Rolston would later sign with the New Jersey Devils.

Pre-season

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be playing five preseason games before opening the season against the NY Rangers on October 4th in Prague. Of special note, this is the first time that Tampa Bay will be opening the season outside of North America. This will also be the first time that the Lightning will play a preseason game outside North America, playing Eisbaren Berlin in Germany on September 28th.

• Note: all times EST and bold games are Home Games.

Regular season

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Game log

Playoffs

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Transactions

Trades

Vaclav (Vinny) Prospal could be headed toward a third go-round with the Tampa Bay Lightning after the club acquired the forward's rights on Wednesday. Tampa Bay made the trade with the Philadelphia Flyers, the team he finished the season with. Prospal becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.^[6]

Free Agents

Claimed from Waivers

Draft picks

Tampa Bay entered the NHL Draft Lottery with a 48.8-per-cent chance of winning the lottery after stumbling to a 31-42-9 record in the regular season. The Lightning finished last in the league just four years after winning their first Stanley Cup.^[8]

Tampa Bay's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft^[9] in Ottawa, Ontario.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Club Team
1	1	Steven Stamkos	(C)	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
4	117 (from San Jose)	James Wright	(C)	Canada	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
5	122	Dustin Tokarski	(G)	Canada	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
5	147 (from San Jose)	Kyle De Coste	(RW)	Canada	Brampton Battalion (OHL)
6	152	Mark Barberio	(D)	Canada	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
6	160 (from Florida via Chicago)	Luke Witkowski	(D)	United States	Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
7	182	Matias Sointu	(RW)	Finland	Ilves Tampere (Finland Jr.)
7	203 (from Anaheim)	David Carle	(D)	United States	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-Minnesota)

Roster

As of July 1, 2008 [1]

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
31		Karri Ramo	L	2004	Asikkala, Finland
37		Olaf Kolzig	L	2008	Johannesburg, South Africa
41		Mike Smith	L	2008	Kingston, Ontario

Defensemen
#		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
2		Alexandre Picard	L	2008	Gatineau, Quebec
3		Doug Janik	L	2006	Agawam, Massachusetts
18		Matt Carle	L	2008	Anchorage, Alaska
39		Mike Lundin	L	2004	Apple Valley, Minnesota
54		Paul Ranger	L	2002	Whitby, Ontario
55		Shane O'Brien	L	2007	Port Hope, Ontario
71		Filip Kuba	L	2006	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
4		Vincent Lecavalier – A	C	L	1998	Île Bizard, Quebec
7		Michel Ouellet	RW	R	2007	Rimouski, Quebec
9		Mark Recchi	RW/LW	L	2008	Kamloops, British Columbia
10		Jussi Jokinen	LW	L	2008	Kalajoki, Finland
11		Jeff Halpern	C	R	2008	Potomac, Maryland
15		Ryan Malone	LW	L	2008	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
16		Jason Ward	RW	R	2007	Chapleau, Ontario
20		Vaclav Prospal	LW	L	2008	České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
26		Martin St. Louis – A	RW	L	2000	Laval, Quebec
28		Adam Hall	C/RW	R	2008	Kalamazoo, Michigan
34		Ryan Craig	C	L	2002	Abbotsford, British Columbia
74		Nick Tarnasky	C	L	2003	Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
76		Evgeny Artyukhin	RW/LW	L	2008	Moscow, USSR
—		Gary Roberts	LW	L	2008	North York, Ontario
—		Radim Vrbata	RW	R	2008	Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
—		Wyatt Smith	C	L	2008	Thief River Falls, Minnesota
—		Brandon Bochenski	RW/LW	R	2008	Blaine, Minnesota

See also

• 2008–09 NHL season

Farm teams

References