Dustin Tokarski Photo by Jason Haas

While the Lightning have been struggling through the second half of their season, their AHL affiliate has literally been making hockey history. The Norfolk Admirals defeated the St. John’s IceCaps 2-1 tonight.

They have now won 22 games in a row. The previous North American record for wins in professional hockey used to stand at 20 games, so the Ads have definitely eclipsed that mark.

What makes the run even more impressive is that a number of those victories have come with many of their players in Tampa filling in for injured NHLers. Trevor Smith, Dustin Tokarski, Mike Angelidis, Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Brandon Segal, and Evan Oberg are just a few of the names that have found their way onto the Lightning roster over the last few months.

It’s easy to get bogged down in the impending end of our team’s season, but the success of their feeder team is a big indication that the future of the Bolts will be very bright indeed. Make sure you check out Scott Burnside’s great piece about the Admirals over at ESPN. A lot seems to get glossed over this close to the playoffs, but this is one story that deserves more attention.

So the Stanley Cup may be out of the picture this year. At least the Lightning organization still has a chance at the Calder Cup.