Title: Congratulating the Tampa Bay Lightning for winning the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
Policy area: Sports and Recreation

Summary:
This resolution congratulates the Tampa Bay Lightning for becoming the 2021 National Hockey League Stanley Cup champions.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 526 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 526

Congratulating the Tampa Bay Lightning for winning the 2021 Stanley Cup 
                                 Final.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 2021

 Ms. Castor of Florida (for herself, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. 
Crist, Mr. C. Scott Franklin of Florida, and Mr. Steube) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight 
                               and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Congratulating the Tampa Bay Lightning for winning the 2021 Stanley Cup 
                                 Final.

Whereas, on July 7, 2021, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2021 National Hockey 
        League Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena in Tampa;
Whereas back-to-back years, the Lightning repeat as Stanley Cup champs, this 
        time, at home in a 9-month span;
Whereas the Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup Wednesday night with a 
        1-0 victory in Game 5 against the Canadiens to seal a 4-1 series win and 
        made Tampa Bay just the second team since the salary cap era began in 
        2005-2006 to win back-to-back Stanley Cups, joining the 2016-2017 
        Pittsburgh Penguins;
Whereas community heroes were recognized at every Tampa Bay Lightning game;
Whereas when the Tampa Bay Lightning play, it is ``electrifying'';
Whereas Pat Maroon became the first player in nearly 40 years to win the Cup in 
        three consecutive seasons;
Whereas Maroon won his third straight Cup, including last season with the 
        Lightning and 2018-2019 with the Blues;
Whereas no big-time team has ever gone back-to-back in Tampa Bay like the 
        Lightning have done;
Whereas the Lightning are third in the National Hockey League (NHL) in regular-
        season victories and are now one of four teams to have won two Stanley 
        Cups in that time;
Whereas Andrei Vasilevskiy ended the season with his record fifth straight 
        series-clinching shutout in the playoffs;
Whereas Vasilevskiy, who made 22 saves in the victory, won the Conn Smythe 
        Trophy as the postseason's most valuable player, a rarity for a 
        goaltender;
Whereas Vasilevskiy claimed the postseason Most Valuable Player award after the 
        Lightning's 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens, repeating as Stanley 
        Cup champions, becoming the first goaltender born outside of North 
        America and the third Russian to win the honor, and the third goalie in 
        NHL history to post multiple shutouts in Stanley Cup clinching games;
Whereas Vasilevskiy is also the first goaltender since the Canadiens' Ken Dryden 
        to play in every playoff game en route to back-to-back Stanley Cups 
        (1977-1978);
Whereas Vasilevskiy becomes the 16th goalie to win the award and the first 
        Lightning goaltender to do so;
Whereas Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy, and is the first goaltender to 
        win the award since the Kings' Jonathan Quick in 2012;
Whereas rookie forward Ross Colton and defenseman David Savard, acquired at the 
        trade deadline, connected for the game's only goal with 6:33 left in the 
        second period;
Whereas the Lightning won a puck battle against the near boards, and the puck 
        landed with Savard along the far side, and once the Lightning won 
        possession, Colton won a joust with Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson 
        for positioning in front of the net, and he redirected Savard's pass 
        through traffic into the back of the net;
Whereas the Lightning have not lost back-to-back games at any point over their 
        last two playoff runs, moving to 14-0 on Wednesday following the Game 4 
        overtime loss in Montreal;
Whereas first-line mate Brayden Point had a playoff-high 14 goals and scored in 
        9 consecutive games;
Whereas Victor Hedman, last season's Conn Smythe winner, led all defensemen with 
        18 points;
Whereas the Lightning have dominated the NHL over the past seven seasons in ways 
        few teams can: six playoff berths, five conference final appearances, 
        three Stanley Cup Finals appearances, and two Cups;
Whereas defenseman Ryan McDonagh dug the puck out of a scrum along the leftside 
        boards and passed to Savard, who skated to the right faceoff dot, and 
        Savard sent a shot-pass into the slot for Colton, who one-timed the puck 
        past Price to put the Lightning ahead with 6:33 to play in the second 
        period;
Whereas Colton redirected a David Savard pass into the slot with 6:33 remaining 
        in the second period as Tampa Bay became the first team since Chicago in 
        2015 to win an NHL title on home ice;
Whereas the entire roster contributed to the Stanley Cup victory: Nikita 
        Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Patrick 
        Maroon, Ross Colton, Victor Hedman, David Savard, Tyler Johnson, Ryan 
        McDonagh, Alex Killorn, Matieu Joseph, Blake Coleman, Anthony Cirelli, 
        Mikhail Sergachev, Yanni Gourde, Erik Cernak, Curtis McElhinney, Barclay 
        Goodrow, Luke Schenn, Marian Gaborik, Jan Rutta, Christopher Gibson, 
        Ondrej Palat, Alex Barre-Boulet, Callan Foote, Gemel Smith, Daniel 
        Walcott, Anders Nilsson, Mitchell Stephens, Andreas Borgman, Fredrik 
        Claesson, Brois Katchouk, Taylor Raddysh, Spencer Martin, and Ben 
        Thomas;
Whereas the Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars in September to win the Cup in 
        the bubble in Edmonton, Alberta, and the franchise's only other Cup 
        title came in 2004;
Whereas, in 2021, they repeated to become the fastest team ever to bag 
        consecutive titles, doing so by a margin of nearly 3 months;
Whereas star forward Nikita Kucherov was also a key factor down the stretch for 
        the Lightning, and he joined Mario Lemiuex as the only players to lead 
        the NHL in points in consecutive playoffs;
Whereas Kucherov finished the 2021 postseason with 32 points as he tallied 8 
        goals and 24 assists after missing the entire regular season due to hip 
        surgery; and
Whereas the Lightning forward has recorded 66 points over the past two 
        postseasons, which is tied for fifth-most over two consecutive 
        postseasons: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) congratulates the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the loyal 
        fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning, for becoming the 2021 National 
        Hockey League Stanley Cup champions; and
            (2) respectfully directs the Clerk of the House of 
        Representatives to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution 
        to--
                    (A) the chairman and governor of the Tampa Bay 
                Lightning, Jeff Vinik;
                    (B) the vice president and general manager of the 
                Tampa Bay Lightning, Julien BriseBois; and
                    (C) the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jon 
                Cooper.
                                 <all>