Just a few weeks after Hurricane Georges hit Southern Florida,
another hurricane blew through Tampa, and this time it was the
brothers Esposito who felt the brunt of the storm.
In a move that was considered surprising due to the timing, owner
Art Williams fired general manager Phil Esposito and his brother,
director of player personnel, Tony Esposito just one day before
the Lightning's home opener against the New York Islanders.
It was a move that everyone associated with the sport felt would
happen at the end of the season, since the brothers survived the
ownership change. On the same day, Williams named coach Jacques
Demers as the new general manager and promoted head scout Don
Murdoch to director of player personnel. Peter Mahovlich was
named head scout, and Cliff Fletcher was named as an advisor to
Demers.
"This is a bittersweet day ... bitter because we're witnessing
the end of an era and sweet because it's the beginning of a new
era," Williams said. "This new plan gives the Lightning our best
chance to move forward, our best chance to win on the ice this
year."
The Esposito brothers joined the team seven seasons ago. It was
Phil's determination which led to Tampa receiving an NHL
franchise in 1990. Williams also said an earlier decision to
divide responsibility between Demers and Phil Esposito was a
mistake.
"Early on, I could see it just wasn't working right. As the weeks
rolled along, there was tremendous conflict," Williams said. "I
saw Jacques questioning Phil, Phil questioning Jacques and just
things you can't do. You got to have one leader. There's got to
be one person responsible, and we didn't have that."
The following evening the Lightning played their home opener
against the New York Islanders. They lost the game 2-0 and
appeared to still be on summer vacation. the only highlight of
the evening was the return of John Cullen, who was playing for
the first time in front of the hometown fans since his battle
with cancer.
After the game, Demers questioned the performance and attitude of
his players. "We talked to the players of the importance of
letting the fans know we are different. We sure didn't show that
tonight. It was a joke."
The Lightning proceeded to drop their next two games, 5-2 to
Philadelphia, and 4-1 to Washington, before winning their next
three, the team's longest winning streak in two years. Demers
credits the turnaround to a total team effort, the effort which
he has been seeking since taking over the coaching reins early
last season.
"We've been battling, working hard, and playing with emotion,"
said Demers following a hard fought victory against the Los
Angeles Kings. "Our players are recognizing the fact that we
want to get better, we want to win hockey games."
