#I am brought back to the time I thought Lukas was Lewis in The Promised Neverland

[the-au-collector]

Misreading tags is such a trip. Opened AO3 and for a second I was like “are people shipping siblings now???”

No. No, thank goodness. It just sucks that some of these characters’ names are so close to each other that my sleep-deprived brain confuses them 🙃

[mattsammonsez]

A Thank You to Our Lightning Power Play Listeners

Like you, I’m extremely stunned at how the Lightning’s season ended. While there was no guarantee the team would win the Stanley Cup, despite an NHL-record 62 wins this past season, it’s safe to say nobody thought the Lightning would get swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite the early exit, I am proud to say that our 24/7 streaming radio station Lightning Power Play had its best season yet. At the start of this season, I shared our goal to become more than just a game day destination. With substantial growth over the first four seasons of the station, we started our 5th season with the notion that Lightning fans (and hockey fans in general) would come to Lightning Power Play first for hockey talk and live games. Thanks to our listeners and our outstanding hosts and people behind the scenes, we did precisely that.

This season we registered our largest average daily audience in station history, growing more than 3 times in audience size year-over-year. Whether it was a game day or an off day, we averaged 42 minutes listened per active session-- nearly twice the industry average for time spent listening. In addition to continuing the growth of Lightning Power Play Live with Greg Linnelli, we established a new daily routine for our fans with Erik Erlendsson’s Lightning Lunch. And with the playoffs, we brought Greg, Erik, and Todd Lewis of Hockey Unfiltered in for 6 hours of live and local exclusive game day coverage.

Unfortunately, that playoff run existed for just 6 days. And once we conclude with our regular programming this weekend, we will begin our Summer of a Sensational Season game replays on Monday. And with 62 wins, that is a lot of game replays to bring our fans back to the excitement and promise the season held. We will also feature as many live broadcasts of Syracuse Crunch and Orlando Solar Bears playoff games as possible as the Lightning’s affiliate teams continue their quest for the Calder Cup and Kelly Cup, respectively. We will also provide live, exclusive coverage from the 2019 NHL Entry draft in Vancouver June 21st and 22nd.

I would like thank all of our hosts for another outstanding job not only growing Lightning Power Play, but their individual shows this season: Dory Leblanc, Rachel Pitts, Lukas Favale, Jay Reacher, Bobby Fenton, Ron Michaels, Jesse Liebman, Jesse Spector, Seth Kushner, Nick Alberga, Brooks Roland, Trevor Grout, Rob Brender, Todd Lewis, Greg Linnelli, and Erik Erlendsson. None of these programs would get on the air without the tremendous dedication of our production assistants and producers Steve Versnick, Jason Barringer, Connor Zielinski, and Brett Holcomb. And you wouldn’t know what was coming up without our daily schedules and programming tweets from Lightning Radio intern Alexandra Lentz.

And lastly, again, I can’t thank you the Lightning fan enough. When Lightning Power Play was launched in October 2014, it was an idea that was linked to the assumption that Lightning fans would tune in to a new and progressive form of audio content. While we had our ups and downs as we figured out what to do, you continued to come back. You continued to tell your friends about the station, and you participated with your questions and comments during our shows. Just as I am optimistic that the Lightning will bounce back for a chance at the Stanley Cup next season, I know for a fact that you will be there with us every step of the way. Thank you again for listening, and for being the thunder with Lightning Power Play.

--Matt Sammon, Director of Broadcasting and Programming