Call it hitting a reset button or just adding by subtracting.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are now on a roll – one that is hardly limited to being in the NHL playoff hunt for the first time in too many years. The highly-leveraged “cowboys,” owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie, are out. The dysfunctional duo who brought in Barry Melrose , dispatched Dan Boyle and Brad Richards, jousted verbally in public and needed a league advance to make payroll are history.
In their stead: financial maven Jeffrey Vinik, who paid cash — reportedly about $110 million — for the Lightning, the St. Pete Times Forum lease and 5 ½ acres around the arena.
Without stability, the Bolts had no future. With the wealthy (net worth estimated between $500 million and $800 million) sole owner whose passion is hockey and whose plans include a Vinik family relocation to Tampa, the Bolts now have a chance.