The Lightning are vying for the Stanley Cup and all around you people are talking about “power plays” and “the triplets” and some lawnmower looking thing called a “Zamboni.” You’re lost. Despite the temperature, the beaches and the fact that we’re in Florida, hockey’s icy charm has become the talk of the town and you missed the memo. Don’t fret, there’s still room on the bandwagon! To save you from yourself as you venture into bars and watch parties, we assembled a Tampa Bay Lightning cheat sheet with the lingo you need to survive the Stanley Cup series. Study up, team. There’s no room for ignorance in this HockeyBay.
NAMES TO KNOW
Jon Cooper,
head coach
Steven Stamkos,
center, No. 91
He was a lawyer before he was a coach in the minors. He has been with the Lightning for two full seasons, but has led the team to the playoffs each time.
He’s the team captain, only 25 years old, and Canadian (duh). Stamkos is known for his knack for leadership and scoring lots of goals. Last season he broke his leg but came back this year with 43 goals, second best in the league.
The Triplets
Ondrej
Palat,
No. 18
Tyler
Johnson,
No. 9
Nikita
Kucherov,
No. 86
These three are so in synch on the ice – like brothers – they’ve earned the nickname The Triplets. Together they’ve scored seven game-winning goals in the playoffs. Though they seem to share athletic DNA, in life they share little, not even their native languages. Kucherov is Russian, Johnson is from Spokane and Palat is Czech.
Ben Bishop,
goalie, No. 30
Fans know him as Bish. He was injured during last season’s playoffs, so this year is his playoff debut. Bishop set a Lightning record with 40 wins in the 2014-15 season.
Victor
Hedman,
defenseman,
No. 77
Hedman was drafted second overall in the 2009 NHL Draft and is considered one of the best at his position in the NHL.
SOUND LIKE A HOCKEY FAN
EVEN STRENGTH: This is what it's called when all the players are on the ice, 5-on-5. This only changes when a player gets a penalty and is yanked from the game for a bit.
POWER PLAY: If a team is down a player because of a penalty, the other team (the one with the numerical advantage) would have the power play. The team serving the penalty calls this a "penalty kill."
OFFSIDE: When a player on the attacking team enters the offensive zone before the puck.
ICING: In hockey, the puck cannot move from one end of the rink to the other without being passed between players. If that happens, it's called icing.
ALL ABOUT TIME
Basic rule 1: There are 3 periods, each lasts 20 minutes.
Basic rule 2: In the playoffs, overtime periods are also 20 minutes each but end when one team scores.
LIGHTNING STATS
The Bolts set a franchise record for the 2014-15 regular season in wins (50) and points (108).
The Lightning averaged the 9th best home attendance in the NHL for the 2014-15 regular season.
Lightning set a record in 2014-15 for home wins in a regular season: 32
Lightning owned the best home record in the NHL 2014-15 regular season: 32 wins — 8 regulation losses — 1 loss overtime/shootout.
Lightning scored the most goals in the NHL for the 2014-15 regular season: 262.
Lightning won its only previous appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2004 against the Calgary Flames.