From: wilson@cs.ucf.edu (tom wilson)
Subject: LIGHTNING NEWS: Article on home opener
Organization: University of Central Florida, Orlando
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 21:56:00 GMT

* Lightning coach Crisp knows opening night

Two times in his NHL playing career, Terry Crisp laced up his skates for teams
that had never before stepped onto the ice. He was a member of the St. Louis
Blues on opening night in 1967 and repeated the adventure with the New York
Islanders in 1972.

On the eve of Tampa Bay's first game -- the Lightning take on Chicago at 7:35
tonight at Expo Hall -- memories of opening night with an expansion team are
fresh in Crisp's mind.

"The biggest thing that I remember is that we knew we were in for a long
night," Crisp said Tuesday after putting his team through practice at Expo
Hall. "We knew that we had to play to our full capabilities, or we were going
to get tromped on.

"The biggest thing going through your mind is that you don't want to be
humiliated, you don't want to be embarrassed. And the good thing about this
hockey club here is that through the whole preseason, the one thing we didn't
worry about was effort. We had that every game. If we continue the effort,
things should work out for themselves."

Tampa Bay spent its preseason humiliating other teams. The Lightning were
6-2-1, but Crisp knows his team must put the preseason behind.

Tonight, as he says, "the NHL big boys come calling."

In the Blackhawks, the Lightning will have to open against a team that played
in the Stanley Cup finals last season, and a team that features two of the
league's finest players in center Jeremy Roenick and defenseman Chris Chelios.

The Lightning counter with a team that is built around defense. Joe Reekie,
Rob Ramage, and Doug Crossman lead a defensive corps that has plenty of
experience. Crisp said he'll decide whether to give Wendell Young or Pat
Jablonski the start in goal. Young, a backup to Tom Barrasso in Pittsburgh
last season, played well against Boston on Saturday and is expected to start.

The Lightning's biggest concern heading into camp was finding scorers, but
Crisp hopes they provided somewhat of an answer during the preseason. The
team had seven players score three or more goals, and only one (John Tucker)
played more than six games. Tucker scored five goals, second to Stan Drulia,
who had six. Wings Chris Kontos and Rob Zamuner had four apiece.

A five-game road trip for the Lightning follows tonight's game, so getting a
victory on home ice would be a tremendous boost. It is a historic night for
Tampa Bay -- an elaborate pregame show is planned -- but don't expect Chicago
to be too accommodating.

"I think it's great that hockey is in Florida, and that hockey is on the
upswing," Chelios said. "We know that this is Tampa's first year and they're
an expansion team, but we also know anybody can be beaten on any night. If
they're more prepared than us, they're going to beat us. We know they're
hungry and excited. We'll be prepared. We're here to win."

Tonight, Phil Esposito's dream of putting a pro hockey team in Florida becomes
a reality. Everyone involved seemed excited.

"So many men have done so much work -- 2 1/2 years worth -- and all the
groundwork and the joys, the ups and downs and fears and tears and happiness
is going to culminate when they drop the puck," Crisp said. "Tampa Bay's first
season in the NHL comes about. It's got to be exciting."

Tom
wilson@cs.ucf.edu - contact for the Tampa Bay Lightning
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey