The 2022-23 CMHL hockey season definately did not go as planned for the Tampa Bay Lighting.  After a decent start to the season, the final quarter saw the club drop faster than Calamity Jane's knickers, culminating in missing the playoffs thanks to their first losing season in a very long time.

An updated look at the statistics for all of the prospects in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization.  Our spotlight is on Jake Neighbours (pictured).  The Airdrie, Alberta native was selected with Tampa Bay's pick in the second round ... 33rd overall in the 2020 CMHL Entry Draft.  Jake played most of last season in the Western Hockey League with the Edmonton Oil Kings, but did get into nine games with the St. Louis Blues.  This season in the NHL, he's already played 13 games and scored one goal (1-0-1) with the Blues.  However, he's played 14 games in the AHL with the Springfield Thunderbirds and produced eight points (3-5-8). 

With the 19th CMHL Season fast approaching, there seems to be a different feel in the air in Tampa Bay.

Coming off an impressive S18, where they fell just short of an appreance in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been fairly quiet in the offseason.

GM Dave Normoyle spoke this morning, stating that now that the draft is almost completed the team will dig in on discussions with their pending free agents as they look to fill some holes before S19 kicks off.

The club had only one selection in the Entry Draft, and they used that 4th round pick to select 18 year old Russian blueliner Daniil Orlov with the 110th selection.  Orlov was ranked as high as 80th by McKeen's Hockey, and was rated 36th among EU skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

Now begins the task of resigning the Free Agents they wish to keep, and filling the remaining roster spots.

The orgnization's Free Agents from their S18 roster are as follows:

Rasmus Asplund
Valeri Nichushkin
Matthew Tkachuk
Anders Bjork
Nino Niederreiter
Drew Doughty

They will also have to add some goaltending to the organization along with filling a couple of ICHL spots.

It promises to be a hectic second half of the offseason!

-written by Laci Bloomers

The Tampa Bay Lightning have locked down top spot in the Eastern Conference of the CMHL for the 2021-22 season, and with one game left in the regular season they will not have to wait long to find out which of four potential teams they will host in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Bolts staved off a challenge from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals to clinch the top seed in Game 81.

Sebastian Aho and Johnny Gaudreau showcased their talent to the Tampa Bay Lightning opponents during the 9th week of the CMHL season, and the rest of the league noticed!

After a solid season last year, the duo of Sebastian Aho and Johnny Gaudreau are providing the scoring Lightning fans have been waiting for!

With the first week of the CMHL season in the books, the biggest surprise to anybody thus far might just be the start of the season for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

For those of you who live in a cave, my name is Laci Bloomers.  I started my career  as a sports reporter for the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2008, spending a decade as the organization's inside reporter before spending the next 3 years as an Agent for the league.  That ended this year when some front office guy decided that an automated system would be more entertaining than the group of Agents the league was using, so I have returned the Lightning once again.  Everybody knows if you want something done, hire a woman, and there are some things need to be done around these parts!

The CMHL Draft, unlike similar events in the NFL and NBA, is designed first and foremost to build organizations for the medium and long-term future, and not to fill immediate roster needs as the pro football and basketball drafts do.

That was the approach the two-time Stanley Cup (has a nice ring, doesn't it?) champion Tampa Bay Lightning took in the first two rounds of the 2012 Entry Draft.