Tampa Bay Lightning founder Phil Esposito and former general counsel/vice president Henry Paul delighted a packed house at the Sports Club of Tampa Bay’s monthly meeting on Wednesday night, Sept. 10 at the Palma Ceia Country Club. They shared entertaining tales of how the franchise got off the ground in its inaugural 1992-93 season.
It was October 8, 1992. The Lightning, an NHL expansion team, was playing their first regular-season game, a matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Florida State Fairgrounds’ Expo Hall.
Esposito, the man who brought hockey to Tampa Bay, was very particular about how things looked on Opening Night. After all, the hockey world was watching closely.
“If anybody throws anything on the ice, you throw them out of the building,’’ Esposito told the Expo Hall ushers in pregame preparations.
Well, wouldn’t you know it? Tampa Bay’s Chris Kontos scored four goals in a Lightning victory. On Kontos’ third goal, to recognize the traditional “hat trick,’’ fans tossed hats onto the ice.
“Those were the fans who knew hockey,’’ Esposito said. “So I see this big usher grabbing a guy and trying to take him out of the arena. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ The usher said, ‘You told us to throw anybody out who if they threw something on the ice.’
“Yeah, that’s how we started. It was something else.’’
Something else, indeed.
Esposito, who still works as a color commentator with play-by-play man Dave Mishkin on the Lightning’s radio broadcasts, said he feels “spoiled’’ because the franchise has won three Stanley Cups (with two more trips to the Stanley Cup Finals).
“People wondered if hockey would ever work in Florida … and look at it now,’’ Esposito said. “I knew if people would see it live, they’d fall in love with the game. And that’s what happened.
“When I came to Tampa and met with Henry Paul for the first time, I asked him, ‘Do you think hockey can survive here?’ Henry said, ‘We love football. We love boxing. We love car crashes. And we love wrestling. Seems to me hockey has all of that.’ We shook hands and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ And we never looked back.’’
Paul said when Tampa Bay was officially awarded an expansion franchise (along with Ottawa), NHL commissioner John Ziegler was in tears.
“The commissioner turned to Phil and said, ‘Phil, we gave this franchise to you because we know you can do it,’ ‘’ Paul said. “No doubt about it. Phil did it. We all did it. And look what the Lightning became.’’
Next Meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 8, 6 p.m. —Please join us to hear from former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl place-kicker and Super Bowl champion Martin Gramatica. He was recently selected No. 48 on the list of the Bucs’ All-Time Top 50 Players to help celebrate the franchise’s 50th anniversary. These days, he’s also a proud father. Gramatica’s son, Nico, is place-kicker for the USF Bulls. Nico hit a walk-off 20-yard field goal to lift USF past the Florida Gators 18-16 on Sept. 6 in Gainesville. Nico already has made four field goals of 50-plus yards to tie the program record.