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Tortorella's Legacy: A Stanley Cup

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 5, 2008

After weeks of rumors, the Tampa Bay Lightning officially parted ways with the coach, John Tortorella, who led the team to its lone Stanley Cup championship in 2004.

Even though the Lightning has slipped in recent years and finished in last place this past National Hockey League season, Tortorella's legacy is intact. He brought a winning attitude to the club and made the team champions so quickly fans were hardly prepared for the turnaround.

As Lightning General Manager Jay Feaster noted the other day, before Tortorella arrived in 2000, the franchise was viewed by many NHL players as a place to retire; they just didn't tell coaches and fans. Tortorella's boot-camp conditioning separated the players from the pretenders. The team improved every year, climaxing with the Stanley Cup in 2004.

The dispute between players and owners caused the cancellation of the following season and may have stalled the momentum Tortorella had been steadily building over the years. No matter, he remains the Lightning's all-time winningest coach and leaves big shoes for his successor to fill.

Thanks, Torts, for bringing Tampa Bay its first National Hockey League championship. We hope many more Stanley Cups are in the Lightning's future, but Tortorella's feat will never be repeated - or forgotten.

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