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head coach: Jacques Demers

roster: C - Jason Bonsignore, Paul Ysebaert, Brian Bradley, Darcy Tucker. RW - Mikael Renberg, Stephane Richer, Jody Hull, Alexander Selivanov, Mikael Andersson, Sandy McCarthy, Andrei Nazarov. LW - Rob Zamuner, Troy Mallette, Vladimir Vujtek, Louie Debrusk, Corey Spring. D - Cory Cross, Karl Dykhuis, Yves Racine, David Wilkie, Mike McBain, Jassen Cullimore, Enrico Ciccone, Pavel Kubina. G - Daren Puppa, Corey Schwab, Mark Fitzpatrick, Zac Bierk.

injuries: It just doesn't matter...

transactions: None.

standings:

Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division   
Team           GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA
z-New Jersey   82  48  23  11   107  225  166  
x-Philadelphia 82  42  29  11    95  242  193
x-Washington   82  40  30  12    92  219  202  
NY Islanders   82  30  41  11    71  212  225  
NY Rangers     82  25  39  18    68  197  231  
Florida        82  24  43  15    63  203  256 
Tampa Bay      82  17  55  10    44  151  269  

x - Clinched playoff spot
z - Clinched conference

game results:

04/06 Islanders       L 3-0
04/08 Philadelphia    L 6-1
04/11 Dallas          L 5-1
04/13 Ottawa          L 3-2
04/15 at Pittsburgh   L 5-1
04/16 at Islanders    L 4-0
04/18 Florida         T 2-2

team news:

by Seth Lerman, Tampa Bay Correspondent

The Tampa Bay Lightning's season has come to a merciful conclusion with a 2-2 tie with their interstate rivals, the Florida Panthers.

The Lightning endured its worst season at 17-55-10, dropping 30 points from last season, the worst downfall in the league. By comparison, the Boston Bruins, last season's cellar dwellers, finished that year with 61 points, 17 points ahead of the Lightning's record this campaign.

As a team, the Lightning failed to have a 20-goal scorer, the first team in 40 years to accomplish this feat. Their 151 goals this season were the fourth-lowest total in modern NHL history, and on the power play, they went 33-for-353, the lowest conversion percentage since the NHL started keeping records.

Much of the blame for this season will be placed on injury. Key performers, including John Cullen, Brian Bradley, Daren Puppa, and Corey Schwab, missed the majority of the campaign due to various injuries, with Cullen's battle with cancer taking center stage.

The team also started the year with Terry Crisp at the helm and finished with Jacques Demers. In between, Rick Paterson took his turn, but like the other, more experienced coaches, was unable to change his club's fortunes.

It would be an easy bet to say the Lightning will ice a better product next season. After all, they cannot get much worse. But much of this club's future hinges on its ownership. In a recent one-on-one interview with Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune held at NHL headquarters, Commissioner Gary Bettman reiterated that the number one goal for this summer is to find new, local ownership for the Bolts.

"There are difficulties in having distant ownership, particularly if that ownership is not familiar with the sports business," commented Bettman on owner, Takashi Okubo who has never witnessed a Lightning game. "At this point, I'll define local interest as North American. I'll take somebody within a six-hour flight. How's that?"

During the interview, Bettman addressed allegations of the owner's impropriety, and confirmed that two ownership groups have expressed interest in purchasing the club. Bettman said that this will resolve 99.9 percent of the team's problems.

"The best thing I can do is help them complete a sale," said Bettman. "I like the market, I like the building and I like the fan support they once had. I believe that once this franchise is sold, 99.9 percent of the problems go away. As the operation of the club may be complicated by distant ownership, so is the sale."

Much of the Lightning's recent problems have been derived from two articles which recently appeared in Sports Illustrated and the New York Times saying that the Japanese company which owns the club is failing financially. In a recent poll, it was affirmed that Kokusai Green was not listed as on of the top 10,000 businesses in Japan, an unlikely resume for a North American sports franchise owner.

Bettman said that the league has never had a problem with the ownership and that they have met all their obligations to the league. He also mentioned that he did not do a thorough background check on the ownership group when he became commissioner in 1993.

Last month, Steve Oto, Lightning CEO admitted that the franchise was more than $100 million in debt, and that a significant portion of that amount is owed to Kokusai Green. Bettman indicated that the extent of the Lightning's debt to third parties is similar to some other franchises in the NHL.

Will the Lightning survive? Quite simply - yes. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League are currently the hot ticket in town. The initial financial success of major league baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays proves that Tampa is a major league town. Two years ago, the Lightning nearly upset the Philadelphia Flyers in a playoff round.

A little stability is all this organization needs. Not too mention commitment.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: A special thanks goes out to Ira Kaufman and the fine folks at the Tampa Tribune for allowing us to use the quotes. The Tampa Tribune is swell like that...)

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