Projecting the First Class of the Lightning Hockey Hall of Fame Part One: The '90s

(Brian Bradley speeds up the ice. Pic via NHL.com)

As part of their 30th anniversary celebration, the Tampa Bay Lightning have announced the creation of a team Hockey Hall of Fame, which is extremely cool and exciting. Long time fans will get to see familiar faces honored, and newer fans will be introduced to some of the characters that preceded the Lightning's current crop of stars. It also gives weird, obsessive bloggers like me a chance to speculate on who will be chosen as the first inductees into the #TBLHHOF. 

In order to determine who should be included in the First Class, I decided to follow the Hockey Hall of Fame guideline of choosing four players. Active NHL players are not eligible. I also didn't include Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier for consideration; since the club has already retired their sweaters, they can be grandfathered in as automatic members. 

Given that this is the Lightning's 30th season, it's easy to break down the team's history into three decades, roughly grouped as the '90s era, the first Stanley Cup era, and the current era. Since most of the players from the current era are still active NHLers, we don't need to worry about that group for HHOF purposes, so inductees can be split between the other two eras. 

If we look at the '90s era, meaning roughly the decade from the 1992-1993 inaugural season to around 2001, two names immediately stand out: Brian Bradley, and Darren Puppa. 

Really, Brian Bradley should be a slam dunk. Brian led the Lightning in points in their first four seasons, which stood as the record for most consecutive seasons as points leader until Nikita Kucherov led the team five times from 2016-2020. Bradley owned most of the team's offensive records when his career was cut short by a concussion during the 1997-1998 season. He retired with 111 goals and 189 assist for 300 career points in 328 games with the Bolts. He represented the Lightning in the 1993 and 1994 All-Star Games, and is already a member of the Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame. Bradley remains an active part of the Lightning community. 

While Bradley was carrying weight offensively in the early seasons, Darren Puppa was the stalwart in goal, with his arrival prior to the 1993-1994 season giving the team their first bona fide NHL starting goaltender. His 29-win performance in the 1995-1996 season was especially noteworthy, as his 0.918 save percentage was second in the NHL to Buffalo's Dominic Hasek (0.920), and his goal against average of 2.46 was seventh overall. He contributions were significant as the team qualified for the playoffs for the first time. 

Like Bradley, Puppa's career was affected by injury, with back ailments dragging down his appearance numbers as the '90s progressed. Even so, Puppa remains near the top of the Lightning's goalie list in several categories: third in games played, fourth in wins, and fourth in shutouts.

I'll be back in a few days with my picks for the two players from the 2000s. Spoiler: my choices will not be remotely shocking.

Who would you have chosen from the '90s to induct into the Lightning Hall of Fame? Let me know on twitter @ReviewLightning!