These two franchises will likely dress as many as 16 players starting Thursday night at Amalie Arena who faced off in the 2013 Calder Cup Finals between Tampa Bay's top affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, and Detroit's, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
No, it's not that Steve Yzerman, Vice President and General Manager of the Lightning, is still known around Detroit as "The Captain", though that narrative is fun, too.
Yzerman brought Ken Holland's slow-burn draft-and-develop strategy to the Lightning almost 5 years ago, and both teams have benefited from success experienced by their prospects at the AHL level.