ABOUT
Erik ERLENDSSON
Buy
The Book
Lightning did strike twice in 2020, as the Tampa Bay Lightning triumphed over the Dallas Stars to seize their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Lightning Strikes: The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Unforgettable Run to the 2020 Stanley Cup takes Bolts fans through the surreal and remarkable 2019-2020 season, in which the perennial contenders finally claimed the ultimate prize.
Meet the
Lightning Insider
After one full season helping cover the beat for The Tribune, Erlendsson was promoted to lead beat writer to start the 2001-02 season, just in time to witness the start of the John Tortorella era and the rise to prominence of the franchise.
Erlendsson remained The Tribune’s Lightning beat writer throughout the next decade-plus laying witness to some of the most memorable moments in franchise history while chronicling it all for Tampa’s hometown newspaper.
From Marty St. Louis scoring a triple-overtime, series-clinching goal against Washington in the 2003 playoffs for Tampa Bay’s first-ever playoff series victory to Dave Andreychuk lifting the Stanley Cup over his head in triumph in 2004 to the drafting of Steven Stamkos with the first overall pick in 2008 and the back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021, Erlendsson has been there for it all (including the not-so- lengthy Barry Melrose regime) spanning three Stanley Cup titles, two boat parades and one epic Nikita Kucherov press conference.
On May 3, 2016, while sitting in a Brooklyn-area hotel room preparing to cover Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal round against the New York Islanders, Erlendsson’s run came to a sudden end when the Tribune was sold and succinctly put out of business by its competitor.
Out of that difficult time, the Lighting Insider idea was born. After an outpouring of support from fans around the hockey world, Erlendsson turned his focus toward launching a website that turned in to www.LightningInsider.com where fans can expect to see the same type of coverage Erlendsson has provided readers and fans for nearly 20 years, plus a few new wrinkles and exclusive content to come as the website begins to grow and evolve in to a place that not only Lightning fans, but hockey fans from Tampa and around North America will want to visit for informative storytelling and insightful analysis.