The coaches have decided that rather than posting the roster here, that they preferred to call players themselves.  The coaches have indicated that they will contact everyone by Sunday evening, March 11.

So hang tight, and a coach will be in touch.

Head Coach:  Guy Marcoux III - tblightning2219@gmail.com

Assistant Coaches:  Todd Perrin and Anthony McDaniel

Team Manager:  Robert Pergolizzi – pergo@gulfcoastconsultinginc.com

MITES:    Monday, March 5 from 6:45-7:45 pm at TBSA
SQUIRTS*:    Wednesday, March 7 from 5:45-7:55 pm at Clearwater Ice Arena
PEEWEE*:    Friday, March 9 from 6:10-8:20 pm at Clearwater Ice Arena
BANTAM:    Wednesday, March 7 from 8:30-9:30 pm at TBSA
MIDGET U16:  Wednesday, March 7 from 7:15-8:15 at TBSA
MIDGET U18:  Monday, March 5 from 8:00-9:00 pm at TBSA

*Please note the 2 hour 10 minute ice time.  This is the inaugural night of the special TBJL Squirt and PeeWee spring program.  Please contact Jim Anna(hockey-director@jrlightning.com) or Dave Rittenhouse (co-president@jrlightning.com) for further information and pricing.

Cost is $20 per player for Mites, Bantams, and Midgets.

If you have questions, please contact Danna Mullins (secretary@jrlightning.com)

ALL IN!!!

The U16AA volunteers and future Jr. Lightning players take a breather during "Try Hockey for Free" at Clearwater Ice Arena.

The U16AA team was asked to provide expert volunteers for USA Hockey’s “Try Hockey for Free” event at Clearwater Ice Arena on Saturday, November 5, 2011.  The team members who volunteered were Hunter Hart, Luke Gibb, Tanner Frankich, Richie Foy, Davis Mullins, and Joseph Pergolizzi.

Before the participants arrived, the players sorted donated hockey gear, and helped the Clearwater Ice Arena staff set up the dressing area for the more than 30 participants.  Luke and Hunter sized skates for the rookies.  Richie, Shawn, Joseph, Tanner and Davis laced skates and helped the newbies find gloves, helmets and sticks that were just the right size for their first trip onto the ice.

During the event, the players helped novice skaters master their skates, lead skating and passing drills, and taught the rookies to get up after a fall.  The players worked one-on-one with the participants on puck handling skills.

The event concluded with a shootout.  Hunter’s save percentage was 0%, as every rookie player displayed newly acquired puck handling skills that proved too much for the U16AA goalie to handle.  As “Try Hockey for Free” came to a close, it was tough to tell who had more fun……the kids who were playing hockey for the first time, or the kids who had been playing for many years.

Davis, Hunter, Sean and Richie - "Can you believe how tiny this gear is?"

Hunter, Luke and Joseph help set up the donated equipment.

Shawn helps an excited player lace up for his first day of hockey.

Tanner makes sure that a future All Star has the perfect fit on her helmet..

Shawn encourages a new player as she tries out her puck handling skills.

Richie, Luke, and Tannner work one-on-one with the rookies on developing their passing skills.

Davis and Joseph prepare to lead the troops on the shoot-out drill.

Richie and Luke watch over a future Hall of Famer as he perfects his skating style.

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On March 1, 2011, the Boards of Directors of the Tampa Bay Titans and the Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning agreed to merge the organizations under the banner of the Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning. These two organizations share the core values of providing excellent hockey instruction while developing strength of character, sportsmanship, and respect for the game in a family friendly environment.

We believe that these goals are best achieved through a merger into one very strong organization dedicated to the betterment of the players while keeping costs down. Our philosophy is to remain a not-for-profit volunteer organization without highly compensated directors.

Both the Titans and Jr. Lightning have outstanding teams, players, families and coaches, and we look forward to more Tampa Bay area families joining the new Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning organization. The new combined organization will cultivate more competitive teams at all age levels, from Mite to U-18AA. The Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning will be skating at both Clearwater Ice Arena (CIA) and TBSA.

We have completed our fall season team tryouts and practices have begun and a few of our teams have already competed in pre-season tournaments. Thank you for visiting our website.

Welcome everyone, to the new Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning!

Dave Rittenhouse and Mark Tardif,

Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning Co-Presidents

March 2011 – St. Louis Tournament

The St. Louis trip was the first tournament with the 02 team coming together for an early test against AAA teams from around the US. The 02′s played against the Colorado Jr Avalanche team and the Dallas Jr Stars team among others. The 02′s finished strong with a 3-1 tournament record beating the Jr Avalanche is one of the best games I’ve seen in a very long time! The tournament was extra special when we got hit with a spring snow storm which dumped almost 4 inches of snow on Saturday afternoon. The snow was wet so we had some good snowball fights – in March!!!

Early Bird Tournament – Coral Springs

The early bird tournament hosted annually by the Florida Panthers was incredibly exciting. We tied the Florida Panthers 2001 AA team, tied the Raiders AA team in game 2, beat the Space Coast Hurricanes in game 3 which put us in the final against the Raiders on Sunday afternoon. It’s hard to imagine that one could witness a better championship game than what the fans of the 2002 team witnessed… the Jr Lightning and Raiders tied 2-2 in regulation and went to a 4 on 4 overtime in which the Jr Lightning started a man down due to a late regulation penalty. The boys successfully killed the penalty and unleashed a fury of shots at the Raider’s goaltender only to see the first OT end in a tie. The 2nd OT was a 3 on 3 match for 5 minutes which also ended in a tie… to a shootout we go! It took 13 different players to shoot before the Raiders edged us out! Disappointing for the boys but so much to be proud of for sure! Great job!!

Labor Day Tournament – Ellenton

The Labor Day tournament was equally exciting. Our first game against the Flames AA team found the Jr Lightning down 2-0 early but the boys fought back in a fantastic 2nd period finding the game all tied at 2. Going into the 3rd the Jr Lightning wouldn’t be denied and the boys handed the Flames a 5-2 loss. In the 2nd game against our new archrival, the Raiders, we lost the game 0-1 on a late 3rd period goal. In the 3rd game the Jr Lightning squared off against the Atlanta Fire 2001 team and they were a much bigger team, in size, but not in heart. The boys played their hearts out and ended up tying the Atlanta Fire team in a barn-burner of a game. Unfortunately, our 0-1 loss to our nemesis Raiders put us out of the running for the Championship which found the Atlanta Fire beating the Raiders in the final. Way to go Fire!

We’ll be heading to Atlanta this coming weekend for a 4-game round robin against the Atlanta Fire, Nashville Predators and Atlanta Bandits!

Here we go! Stay tuned for more news!! Let’s go Bolts!