Lightning much more than flash in the pan

No longer can people put the word “lowly” in front of the Lightning. Tampa Bay increased its points total by 24, wound up with 93 and won its first division title by finishing one point in front of Washington in the Southeast. The Lightning earned its second playoff spot in the team’s 11-season history. A 14-4-8 kick down the stretch and four 70-point scorers-Vinny Prospal, Vinny Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis-were major factors. Tampa Bay was the only team in the NHL which had four players with 70 points. MVP Nikolai Khabibulin, G. He was ordinary for much of the season, but no player meant more to the team down the stretch. He had a 1.23 goals-against average and.954 save percentage when it counted most. BEST DEFENSEMAN Dan Boyle. He provided tons…

ELSTON

Stunned Sharks won’t soon forget surprisingly bad 2002-03 season

No one predicted it before the season began, but San Jose didn’t come close to making the playoffs this year, as its streak of five straight post-season appearances came to a halt. The Sharks finished last in the Pacific Division, 14th in the West and 25th out of 30 overall. While the power play was ranked ninth (18.1 per cent), the penalty killing was dead last (81 per cent) and the team allowed 239 goals, second most in the conference. “This isn’t a season you forget about, it’s a season you learn from,” said center Mike Ricci. “We have to learn from the adversity we had all year. The best thing to do is realize we never want to feel like this again.” MVP Marco Sturm, LW. The 24-year-old posted career highs in…

Avs win marathon for ninth division title

The tortoise Avalanche beat the hare Canucks across the finish line, after all. Talk about your fantastic finishes: the Avalanche led the Northwest Division for all of one day this season-the last day. Thanks to a season finale win over St. Louis and a weekend meltdown by Vancouver, Colorado captured its NHL-record ninth straight division title by one point. “I was a little shocked. I think we all were a little bit,” said center Peter Forsberg, after watching Vancouver’s loss to L.A. that gave Colorado the title. “But we worked hard and we should be proud of it. Nine straight titles is pretty good.” MVP Peter Forsberg, C. No question about it, Forsberg was the team’s best player this season. He won his first Art Ross Trophy with 106 points, was plus-52 and…