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50 free Tampa Bay Lightning trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Tampa Bay Lightning trivia quiz starts with the Esposito brothers outbidding a St. Petersburg group by paying the full $50 million up front, Manon Rhéaume's preseason start, Chris Kontos's four goals at Expo Hall, the ThunderDome crowd of 28,183 and the shadowy Kokusai Green era. It moves through Art Williams and Bill Davidson, the four straight 50-loss seasons, John Tortorella, Khabibulin, Richards and St. Louis and the 2004 Cup, the Saw producer who bought the team, 'Seen Stamkos?', Steve Yzerman, Jon Cooper's arrival, the 62-win Presidents' Trophy team that got swept, the bubble Cup of 2020, the repeat in 2021, Kucherov's 128 points and Stamkos leaving for Nashville. The arena, colours and mascot get their own round: the Ice Palace's many names, the 'Bolts' nickname, the Tesla coils, ThunderBug and the Lightning Capital of North America. Easy questions suit any Bolts fan; the hard ones are for people who remember Takashi Okubo. Every answer has been checked against an encyclopaedic source and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Lightning were founded as an expansion team in 1990 by a group fronted by which brothers?
Phil and Tony Esposito
Phil and Tony Esposito: their group won the franchise because it agreed to pay the full $50 million expansion fee up front, unlike a rival St. Petersburg bid.
Q 02Which Lightning goaltender won the 2019 Vezina Trophy?
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Andrei Vasilevskiy: the Russian goaltender won the 2019 Vezina Trophy after leading the league with 39 wins, and later backstopped the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup runs.
Q 03Who became the first woman in a major pro sports league by tending goal for Tampa Bay in a 1992 preseason game?
Manon Rhéaume
Manon Rhéaume: the Quebec goaltender played one period against the St. Louis Blues on September 23, 1992, stopping seven of nine shots.
Q 04The Lightning's first regular-season game, a 7-3 win over Chicago, was played at which unusual venue?
Expo Hall at the state fairgrounds
Expo Hall at the state fairgrounds: the roughly 10,400-seat exhibition hall hosted the Lightning's first season, 1992-93, including the 7-3 opening win over Chicago on October 7, 1992.
Q 05Which player scored four goals in the Lightning's first-ever game?
Chris Kontos
Chris Kontos: the journeyman forward scored four times in the 7-3 win over Chicago on October 7, 1992, and his hot start briefly put the expansion team atop the Norris Division.
Q 06From 1993 to 1996 the Lightning played in a St. Petersburg baseball dome renamed what?
ThunderDome
The Florida Suncoast Dome later became Tropicana Field for the Devil Rays.
Q 07A 1996 Lightning-Flyers game in St. Petersburg drew 28,183 fans, a record crowd for what?
An NHL playoff game
An NHL playoff game: the first-round game against Philadelphia in April 1996 drew 28,183 to the domed stadium, the largest crowd for any NHL game until the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton.
Q 08The Lightning's original owner, the Japanese firm Kokusai Green, was primarily an operator of what?
Golf courses and resorts
Golf courses and resorts: Kokusai Green, a Japanese golf and resort company, was the team's original majority owner; its reclusive head reportedly never watched the team play in seven years.
Q 09Which insurance tycoon bought the Lightning in 1998, then sold at a loss a year later?
Art Williams
Art Williams: the Primerica founder paid about $117 million in 1998, fired the team's founding executives two games into the season, and sold to new owners at a loss in 1999.
Q 10The Lightning drafted which centre first overall in 1998?
Vincent Lecavalier
Vincent Lecavalier: the 1998 first overall pick scored 52 goals in 2006-07 to win the Rocket Richard Trophy, then a franchise record, before a 2013 compliance buyout.
Q 11The Lightning became the first NHL team to do what across 1997-98 to 2000-01?
Post four straight 50-loss seasons
Post four straight 50-loss seasons: from 1997-98 through 2000-01 the Lightning never won more than 24 games in a season, bottoming out at 17-55-10 in 1997-98.
Q 12Which goaltender did the Lightning get from Phoenix in 2001, backstopping them to the 2004 Cup?
Nikolai Khabibulin
Nikolai Khabibulin: 'the Bulin Wall' arrived in a March 2001 trade, posted five shutouts in the 2004 playoffs, and signed with Chicago as a free agent after the lockout.
Q 13The Lightning beat which team in seven games to win the 2004 Stanley Cup?
Q 21Which Red Wings legend became the Lightning's general manager in May 2010?
Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman: the longtime Red Wings captain was hired in May 2010, brought in coach Guy Boucher, and saw the club reach the 2011 Eastern Conference Final in his first season.
Q 22With the second overall pick in 2009 the Lightning selected which Swedish defenceman?
Victor Hedman
Victor Hedman: the Swedish defenceman went second behind John Tavares in 2009, won the 2018 Norris Trophy, and was named captain in 2024.
Q 23Jon Cooper was hired as Lightning coach in March 2013 from which AHL club?
Syracuse Crunch
Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames: Ruslan Fedotenko scored both goals in the 2-1 Game 7 win on June 7, 2004, giving Tampa Bay its first Stanley Cup.
Q 14Who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2004 with 26 playoff points?
Brad Richards
Brad Richards: he won the 2004 Conn Smythe with 12 goals and 14 assists, including a record seven game-winning goals, before being traded away in February 2008.
Q 15Which undrafted winger won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross with 94 points in 2003-04?
Martin St. Louis
Martin St. Louis: the undrafted University of Vermont product led the league with 94 points in 2003-04 and also took the Lester B. Pearson Award that season.
Q 16Which coach won the 2004 Jack Adams Award with Tampa Bay and later called its owners 'cowboys'?
John Tortorella
John Tortorella: he coached the 2004 Cup team and was named coach of the year that spring; the new owners fired him in June 2008 after a last-place finish.
Q 17The Lightning were bought in 2008 by a group headed by a producer of which horror film franchise?
Saw
Saw: Oren Koules, a producer of the Saw films, bought the team with former player Len Barrie in 2008; their meddling led GM Jay Feaster to resign that summer.
Q 18The Lightning's 2008 promotional campaign around their first overall pick used what slogan?
Seen Stamkos?
Seen Stamkos?: billboards around Tampa asked the question before the 2008 first overall pick's rookie season; Stamkos scored 51 goals in his second season.
Q 19Steven Stamkos set the Lightning's single-season goal record in 2011-12 with how many?
60
60: Stamkos's 60 goals in 2011-12 earned his second Rocket Richard Trophy, after he tied Sidney Crosby for the first with 51 in 2009-10.
Q 20Which Boston investor bought the Lightning during the 2009-10 season?
Jeff Vinik
Jeff Vinik: the Boston hedge-fund manager, formerly of Fidelity's Magellan fund, bought the team in March 2010 and fired coach Rick Tocchet and GM Brian Lawton after the season.
Syracuse Crunch: Cooper had led the Norfolk Admirals to the 2012 Calder Cup before the affiliation moved to Syracuse; he was promoted to Tampa Bay in March 2013.
Q 24Before coaching, Jon Cooper earned a law degree where?
Cooley Law School
Cooley Law School: the Prince George native earned his law degree at Thomas M. Cooley in Lansing, Michigan, after an undergraduate degree at Hofstra, and practised as a public defender.
Q 25The Lightning lost the 2015 Stanley Cup Final in six games to which team?
Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks: the Hawks clinched their third Cup in six years with a 2-0 win in Game 6 at the United Center on June 15, 2015.
Q 26The Lightning tied the then-NHL record for regular-season wins in 2019 with how many?
62
62: they matched the 1995-96 Red Wings' mark, since passed by the 2022-23 Bruins' 65, then became the first Presidents' Trophy winner swept in the first round.
Q 27Which eighth seed swept the Lightning in the first round of the 2019 playoffs?
Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus Blue Jackets: the wild-card Jackets won all four games in April 2019, outscoring Tampa Bay 19-8; the teams met again in the 2020 bubble, where Tampa Bay won in five games.
Q 28Nikita Kucherov set a franchise record in 2018-19 with how many points, winning the Hart and Art Ross?
128
128: Kucherov's 41 goals and 87 assists that season set a franchise record he later broke himself, and made him the second Lightning player to sweep the Hart and Art Ross.
Q 29The Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup in the Edmonton bubble by beating which team in six games?
Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars: Tampa Bay clinched with a 2-0 win in Game 6 on September 28, 2020, its first title since 2004, played without fans in Edmonton's bubble.
Q 30The Lightning repeated as champions in 2021 by beating which team in five games?
Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens: Ross Colton's goal won Game 5 1-0 at Amalie Arena on July 7, 2021; Kucherov, who had missed the whole regular season after hip surgery, led the playoffs in scoring.