Ett brev från Jeff Vinik
TAMPA - Årets slutspelsfiasko har sakta sjunkit in men det är svårt att acceptera det. Tampa Bay har varit ett mycket bra lag i flera år, men uppenbarligen inte tillräckligt bra för att ta det sista steget. Om Julien BriseBois och Jon Cooper tror att upprepade förluster i avgörande matcher är ett resultat av otur eller slump så lär vi befinns oss i samma läge nästa år. Det ska bli intressant att se hur man hanterar detta inför nästa säsong
Lightning ska däremot ha cred för hur de hanterat fansen efter säsongen. Dagen efter sista Columbus-matchen ringer de upp - alltid lika trevliga - för att känna av stämningen. Idag kommer det så ett brev från ägaren Jeff Vinik, som jag delar med mig nedan. Vinik är något så ovanligt som en populär ägare bland fansen så hans ord väger tungt.
May 2, 2019
Dear Einar,
To state the obvious, the 2018-19 season did not end as we all hoped it would. I am the first to admit our collective disappointment at losing in four games in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. While we take great pride and satisfaction in our team’s accomplishments in the regular season – winning 62 of our 82 games and the Presidents’ Trophy, both fantastic achievements - we accept full ownership and responsibility for our result in the postseason. Nobody is more disappointed than our players and the hockey operations department, inclusive of Julien BriseBois, Jon Cooper, our coaches, and staff. Me, too.
That said, we remain very bullish on our future and the extremely talented core of players that Julien (and Steve Yzerman before him) have assembled. We don’t want to overreact to this year’s disappointment. We fully expect to have one of the best teams in the National Hockey League entering the 2019-20 season and we will, once again, be a recognized contender for the Stanley Cup.
As we move into the summer of 2019, I would like to acknowledge Steve Yzerman’s departure to Detroit and thank him for all his work in Tampa Bay over the past nine years. When I purchased the Lightning franchise in 2010, Steve brought us instant credibility in accepting the role of General Manager and he did a fantastic job in turning the Lightning into a model franchise year-in, year out. As Steve moves on, we wish him luck and express our gratitude for his work in Tampa Bay.
When we named Julien BriseBois our General Manager in September 2019, I enthusiastically expressed our confidence in him being the right man to lead us to the Stanley Cup. Nothing that has transpired in the last eight months leads me to feel differently. I remain confident we will win the Cup, and I believe it will happen with Julien as our General Manager and with Jon Cooper as our head coach.
We are extremely fortunate to have excellent people throughout the organization and a solid long-term plan to be competitive every year. Our hockey operations department will continue to have access to every resource necessary to compete for and win the Cup. As usual, I intend to let Julien and his staff do their jobs, and I thank CEO Steve Griggs and his great team on the business side for helping provide the resources necessary to win in today’s NHL.
While Julien and his team get to work over the coming months bolstering our roster and preparing for the 2019-20 season, I assure you that you’ll continue to see the same organization this summer that you have seen for the past several years: an active, community-based franchise doing all that it can for the people of Tampa Bay and our great fan base. We thank Tampa Bay for its continued support of the Lightning (201 consecutive sellouts – incredible!), and we’ll continue to do all that we can to demonstrate our appreciation, inclusive of our community hockey development efforts and our employee - led volunteer program, C.H.A.R.G.E.
Please enjoy your summer knowing we are hard at work on and off the ice to make the 2019-20 season one of the best yet. And know that we will work relentlessly in pursuit of our primary goal: winning the Stanley Cup. And we thank you, our fans, for your relentless support of our team and our organization.
Go Bolts!
Jeff Vinik
Chairman and Governor
—————-
Det vi väntar på härnäst är att Brayden Point ska signas, helst före draften 21-22 juni i Vancouver. Efter det vet man mer om förutsättningarna för vad som behöver göras för att passa in under lönetaket.
VM står för dörren, från Lightning deltar Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy och Mikhail Sergachev för Ryssland, Ondrej Palat för Tjeckien, Anthony Cirelli och Mathieu Joseph för Canada.
