The Tampa Bay Lightning’s season came to an abrupt conclusion last year when there were playoff hopes were squandered with an elimination from the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Lightning are anticipating to make it to the prestigious Stanley Cup Finals during the upcoming 2014-2015 season.

Despite the “Bolts” frequently inconvenient losing streaks, due in part to losing several of their key players (including all-star goalie Ben Bishop, and team captain Steven Stamkos), the team was to come to an incredible 46-27-9 record.  Seeing the Bolts capabilities with an average age of 26 years, one of the youngest in the league, General Manager Steve Yzerman, and Head Coach Jon Cooper believe the upcoming season will be extraordinary.  In order to ensure this, Yzerman has brought in an abundance of new star-caliber players to complement the current stars already on the ice.

A few of the players who will have a major impact on the functioning of this team include Steven Stamkos, Ben Bishop, Ryan Callahan, and new comers to the team Brian Boyle, and rookie Jonathan Drouin.

Jonathan Drouin (age 19) is expected to become a critical forward for the Lightning considering his impressive stint with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Canadian Hockey League. In the 2013-2014 pre-season Drouin was given the opportunity to take the game winning shot in a shootout against the Florida Panthers.  Coincidently he managed to score the game winner, in his first NHL game.

“Jonathan Drouin should be a lock for the opening-day roster. The question is where,” head coach Jon Cooper said.

Considering Drouin has played left wing his entire career, the Lightning intend on moving him to forward to get a comfort and experiment.  ESPN lists Drouin as the number one prospect in the NHL and has potential to become as influential as Steven Stamkos.

To kick off the 2014-2015 season the Lightning, after going into a long term agreement with Amalie Oil, have changed the name of their home arena from “The Tampa Bay Times Forum”, to “The Amalie Arena”.  All in all, this year should be an exciting one for Lightning fans across the Bay.

FSA Connection Questions

1. In the piece, the word prestigious means what?
2. In the article, the author mainly focuses on which key player?
3. The author seems to offer what main idea?
4. Select the best two sentences from the story that supports the main idea of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s expectations.
5. What is the connotation of the word critical in the story?
6. Select the sentence that best summarizes the work.