Today, that experiment is best known as the Tampa Bay Lightning, the NHL’s first Floridian residents.Īs most expected, the Lightning didn’t experience instant success as an NHL franchise.
Ice hockey in Florida? Sure, why not?! There have been some rough moments along the way, but more than a quarter-century later, professional hockey has survived the heat – and even thrived at times – in the Sunshine State. The NHL launched a grand experiment in 1992 by dropping a franchise into the state of Florida.
