Right now, life is good as a Tampa Bay Lightning fan. Over the last 20 years, the Bolts have appeared in five Stanley Cup Finals, winning three, while making it to the Eastern Conference Finals eight times. Amalie Arena is rocking every night, and there is no mistaking that Tampa is a hockey town in 2023.
The Arizona Coyotes, meanwhile, can not say the same thing, and while it may make sense for the NHL to cut its losses in the desert and run to a new market, the success of the Lightning are the exact reason why they refuse to.