I was taken aback last year when the Lightning decided to break away from the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL and sign an affiliation agreement with the Johnstown Chiefs.

Now the Bolts have bought into the franchise…

“They’re going to be in charge of placing a lot of the players in here,” Chiefs fourth-year coach Toby O’Brien said of the Lightning. “Day-in and day-out, you’re going to work with the Stanley Cup champions and they want to work with you. You can’t beat this. What a day for hockey. What a day for Johnstown.”

I’m admittedly not versed on minor league hockey - others I used to talk to used to give me minor league updates, prospect updates and the like (but then again? These same people judged Brad Richards to be a career minor leaguer a year after he was drafted). I can’t say we will be sending a ton of players to the Chiefs, nor can I say who or what.

I’m trying to think of what to write here that would fit… And yet there isn’t much that works in words. How do you term up the biggest event your franchise has ever experienced? How do you justify still feeling euphoria a year after your team did the impossible? How can you justify feeling such elation when the actual game was oen of the slowest and sloppiest matches of the 2003-04 season with porrous ice conditions?

Take your pick of local writers to read with regards to the one year anniversary of the last NHL game: Tom Jones, Erik E., Martin Fennelly and the always incredible John Romano.

Lightning fans who might actually still be getting chills, who aren’t entirely lost amid the on-hiatus NHL can actually find a sick sense of appreciation for the lockout. Though the work stoppage prevents us from closing out the Lightning’s championship by watching them raise the banner at the St. Petersburg Times Forum, it does leave the door open to keep feeling what we felt on that day. We may have moved on in our own lives but it’s really hard to forget the memories, the feelings, the utter elation of June 7th, 2004. It was the day the slate was wiped clean and the Tampa Bay Lightning forged itself into history, it’s the day they earned the right to have their names engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup.

EDIT: Lets add a few references here for the sake of posterity. I already cited articles from the local papers, I did neglect the Bradenton Herald and Loren Nelson’s decree that the Lightning Stanfest’s a real bad idea.

TSN.CA brings up the fact that the last NHL Game was played today and the Lightning have the longest tenure with the Cup (undefended) since 1926. The Sacremento Bee has an article - however a subscription is required to view it and I did not bother to sign up…