TAMPA, Fla. — "'Hun! Pack up! We’re going to live in Tampa, Florida.' She had the car gassed up so fast I couldn’t believe it to get down here."
That's how Terry Crisp remembers his wife Sheila's reaction to finding out her husband was asked to be the first head coach in Tampa Bay Lightning history. He coached the team from 1992-1998.
This weekend, the Lightning are hosting Alumni Weekend. It's a chance for former players and coaches to relive the not-so-old days of Bolts history.
"It was fun. Everything was fun," Crisp said Friday morning. "The players that came, the ones that grew. In the last two days, I got to meet up with a bunch of the original guys that came in with us."
Manon Rheaume couldn't wait to get back to Tampa Bay. She currently works in the L.A. Kings front office, but she was the first woman to suit up in one of the four major American sports when she played for the Bolts in the 1992 preseason.
"When we played at the Fairgrounds, to now. Seeing the arena, and the city, and the people, too," Rheaume said with a huge smile. "The knowledge of the game. People with the Tampa Bay Lightning t-shirts, jerseys. It’s just amazing to see how much it grew."
Ben Bishop played goaltender for the Lightning from 2012 to 2017. One of his fondest memories was the opportunity to mentor Andrei Vasilevskiy, who's turned into one of the best goalies in the world.
"I remember when I was a young kid coming up. And the goalies that were older than I was. They were always helping me out," Bishop explained.
The celebration continues Friday night when franchise founder Phil Esposito joins former Bolts stars Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis as the first members of the Tampa Bay Lightning Hall of Fame.
