TAMPA, Fla. — Two members of the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2004 Stanley Cup Champions team will join the team's Hall of Fame in March.
Friday, Dave Andreychuk and Brad Richards were both revealed as the team's latest inductees into the Lightning's Hall of Fame.
Andreychuk joined the Lightning in 2001, helping to bring legitimacy to a team that had plenty of burgeoning talent. He played 278 regular season games for the Lightning, where he scored 68 goals and 129 points.
"I was really impressed by how talented these guys were," Andreychuk said Friday morning at AMALIE Arena. "I think they just needed to be put in the right direction. That was the challenge I took on for myself."
He would become the seventh captain of the Lightning and led Tampa Bay to its first playoff series win against the Washington Capitals in 2003. He led the Lightning the next season to a first-place finish in the Eastern Conference and eventually a win over the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup Final.
"You look back on that group, and how special that group was. It's not just me, not just [Martin St. Louis], not just [Vincent Lacavalier], not just [Nikolai Khabibulin]," Andreychuk explained. "It's collectively all of us that had success. To be recognized by the Lightning and be put in their hall of fame, it's quite an honor."
Andreychuk retired a season later and joined the Lightning's front office, where he still serves as vice president of corporate and community affairs. He's also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Richards was a third-round pick of the Lightning in the 1998 draft and made his debut with the Lightning during the 2000-2001 season, notching 41 assists and 62 points that year.
He would end up skating in 552 regular season games for the Lightning and played in another 45 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He ranks in the Top 10 in most statistical categories with the Lightning.
Richards, who doesn't live in Tampa full-time, wasn't able to attend Friday's press conference, but the team said he'll be made available to the media at a later date.
Both will be inducted to the Lightning Hall of Fame as part of Lightning Alumni Weekend on March 8-9, 2024.
