In one move, Bolts get the how and the Y

This is a good day if you're a Tampa Bay Lightning fan.

Welcome back. Feel free to peek out from under the covers. The storm has passed.

Say hello to hope. For the Lightning, hope is named Steve Yzerman - hockey people know him as Stevie Y. He was introduced Tuesday as the Lightning's new general manager, given complete authority to rebuild the team and remind fans why they used to care.

"He has full reign," owner Jeff Vinik said.

He comes here after 27 years as a player and executive with the Detroit Red Wings, arguably the finest organization in the game. He has been part of four Stanley Cup champions, served as team captain for 20 years, was elected to the hockey hall of fame, and was the architect of Canada's gold-medal winning team during the Winter Olympics.

This is the next logical step.

"I always had a goal to run a hockey team," Yzerman said. "I'm thrilled today that Jeff has shown confidence in me to offer me this opportunity to share his vision in building a hockey team and organization in Tampa Bay - one that the community and sports fans in the Tampa Bay area will be excited to follow."

Despite his long association with the Red Wings, Yzerman's goal of being in charge probably wasn't going to happen there. Ken Holland has been GM in Detroit for 13 seasons and he wasn't going anywhere.

"I knew if I wanted to run a team I'd have to leave," Yzerman said. "I've kind of been prepared for this."

It was a major score for Vinik, who had multiple conversations and meetings over several weeks with Yzerman before giving him a five-year contract worth an estimated $12.5 million.

That's a lot of money, but it was well spent. Yzerman gives the Lightning desperately needed credibility. It's a strong signal that while there are no guarantees in sports, the Bolts are serious about being good again. You don't have to know a forecheck from a Zamboni to know what a big deal this is.

"The hockey world is abuzz today with the Tampa Bay Lightning, trust me," former team standout Brian Bradley said. "This is awesome. Getting this franchise, winning the Stanley Cup, and now getting Steve Yzerman are the biggest things ever for this team."

It hasn't been easy to watch the deterioration of a franchise that just six years ago won the Stanley Cup. The truth is, many fans have decided not to watch the Lightning at all after Hollywood producer Oren Koules and partner Len Barrie bought the team two years ago and began a catastrophic reign of ruin.

Attendance plummeted as wins became scarce and the team became essentially irrelevant in a city where it once was celebrated.

The "Cowboys" - as Koules and Barrie became known - hired TV analyst Barry Melrose to replace John Tortorella as head coach. They overlooked the fact that Torts had won a Cup and Melrose hadn't coached in more than a decade.

They fired Melrose after 16 games. They made so many player moves it looked like the roster was being drawn from a hat. And a franchise that once was the model for how to succeed in a Sun Belt city sank to the bottom of the league.

The only thing missing was a clown car.

"This is my team and when I saw it going like that, I couldn't stand it," said Phil Esposito, who founded the Lightning in 1992 as an expansion team.

Just by agreeing to come here, Yzerman changes the perception of this team. There is direction, purpose, and a plan to succeed. He'll soon hire a coach to replace the fired Rick Tocchet while focusing on the NHL player draft next month.

He does so with the complete backing of Vinik, who now prepares for his next big move - hiring a chief executive officer to run the business side of his team.

"We have a long-term horizon about making this world class and having a championship hockey team long term. We want this to be a great organization over the next three, five, 10 years," Vinik said.

"It's going to take a lot of work to get there, and that's true on and off the ice. Having said that, there's nothing Steve and I would like better than to be a playoff team next year and we probably have the horses to be in that position."

This is not some snake oil deal. Championship organizations need stability and patience - plus a lot of money, which Vinik has. Yzerman said he'll make sure the stability and patience are taken care of.

"I really feel everybody around Tampa should be excited about the new direction of the team with this hiring," Bolts forward Marty St. Louis said. "To have a guy like Steve, who has respect all around the league, is a big plus for Tampa."