Rick Tocchet enters his first season as head coach of the Lightning.

Tocchet is a 24-year NHL veteran both as a player and a coach. He played 18 seasons with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and Phoenix. During his career he amassed 1,144 career games and he recorded 440 goals, 952 points and 2,972 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 145 playoff games and netted 52 goals with 112 points and 471 penalty minutes.

The Scarborough, Ontario native won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992 and appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals with Philadelphia in 1987. Tocchet also played under Lightning head coach Barry Melrose with Los Angeles during the 1994-95 season. He was selected to four NHL All-Star teams (1989, 1990, 1991, 1993).

Tocchet is one of three players in the history of the NHL to record 400 goals or more and at least 2,500 penalty minutes. He was a 11-time 20-goal scorer, and a two-time 30-goal scorer. He also recorded three 40-goal campaigns. In 1992-93 he set career highs for goals with 48, assists with 61 and points with 109 in 80 games with the Penguins. Internationally, Tocchet represented Canada at the 1990 and 1991 World Championships as well as in the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup Tournaments.

He was originally drafted by Philadelphia in the sixth-round, 125th overall, at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Tocchet began his career with the Flyers in 1984-85 and retired midway through the 2001-02 season, also with Philadelphia. Shortly after retiring he joined the Colorado Avalanche as an assist coach. He spent a season and a half on the bench with the Avalanche before joining former teammate Wayne Gretzky as and assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2005.

Wilson, a native of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, has spent the previous 16 seasons with the Dallas Stars, winning the Stanley Cup in 1999 working along side head coach Ken Hitchcock. During his tenure with the Stars, Wilson helped lead the team to seven division titles, two Western Conference championships and two President’s Trophies. He had most recently served as associate coach for the previous six seasons, focusing on the team’s defense and penalty kill. Under Wilson’s guidance the Stars finished in the top three for fewest goals against in the NHL during the 2007-08, 2006-07, 2003-04 and 2002-03 seasons.

Before being named associate coach, Wilson held the position of assistant coach with the Stars for 10 seasons, joining the club for the 1992-93 campaign. He served as interim head coach for 32 games during the 2001-02 campaign, leading the Stars to a 13-11-7-1 record to close out the season.

Wilson began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, where the Fighting Sioux won the 1980 NCAA Division I Championship and two WCHA crowns during his two years there. While he was a student he played hockey and football, earning his degree in education.

Wes Walz enters his first season as assistant coach for the Lightning after ending his playing career in December of 2007.

Walz, a veteran of 13 seasons in the NHL, played in 607 career games with Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit and Minnesota. He recorded 109 career goals, 260 points and 14 shorthanded goals. He was known as a defensive specialist, amassing a plus-23 rating for his career.

The Calgary, Alberta native made his mark with the Wild, where he played 438 of his 607 games and was a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward in 2002-03. Walz was twice chosen by the Twin Cities chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association as nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

Walz ranks second all-time in games played for the Wild. He also served as Minnesota’s captain for a portion of the season in 2000-01. At the time of his retirement, Walz was one of only two players, the other being Marian Gaborik, remaining from the Wild’s inaugural season. He also scored the first playoff game-winning goal in Minnesota history in 2003.

Walz and his wife, Kerry-Anne, live in Oldsmar with their son, Kelvin (16), and their daughters, Jaedyn (12), Brehna (8) and Cheyne (1).

Looking to further solidify its coaching staff, the Tampa Bay Lightning named NHL veteran Adam Oates to the position of assistant coach on October 2, 2009. Known during his 19-year NHL career as a power play specialist, Oates brings the Lightning staff and its players someone who coaches the game from the offensive playmaking perspective. He will focus on the power play and offensive strategies for the team's forwards.

The 47-year old Weston, Ontario native worked with the Lightning staff during the team's 2009 training camp, helping restructure and resurrect the team's power play. Under Oates’ direction, the Tampa Bay power play ranked fourth in the NHL during the 2009 preseason, converting on 10 of 41 of their opportunities for a 24.4 percentage.

After being signed by the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent out of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1985, Oates played in 1,337 career NHL games from 1985 through 2004 with Detroit, the St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers. He ranks sixth all-time on the NHL assists list with 1,079, 16th in points with 1,420 and 44th in games played. Oates amassed four 100-point seasons and eight 80-point campaigns during his playing career, totaling a career-high 142 points (97 assists) in 1992-93.

Oates played for four seasons at RPI, winning the NCAA Championship in 1985, the year he set the school record for most assists in a season with 60. He remains tied for the third in career points with 216 in the RPI record book.
An avid golfer, Oates resides in California with his wife Donna.

Cap Raeder enters his first season as goaltending coach with the Lightning.

Raeder, a native of Needham, Massachusetts, spent the previous 11 seasons in the San Jose Sharks organization. He served as a professional scout for the previous nine years and also served as an assistant coach during the 2000-01 season. Before joining the Sharks, Raeder served an assistant coach at the NHL level for nine seasons with Boston and Los Angeles. He was an assistant on new Lightning head coach Barry Melrose’s staff with the Kings.

Before joining the Kings, Raeder was the head coach at Clarkson University. He coached in 86 games with the Golden Knights and posted a 50-30-6 record, including two appearances in the East Coast Athletic Conference Championship Game in 1986 and 1988. He also served as an assistant coach for two seasons before taking the head coach position at Clarkson. Raeder began his career with the University of New Hampshire where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach.

An original member of the Lightning organization, video coach Nigel Kirwan is in his 17th year with the Lightning, 13th as a member of the coaching staff. He is responsible for breakdown of pre-scout and game film, formulation of scouting reports on opposing clubs and the creation of highlight and specialty film for use by the Lightning coaches and players. Additionally, Kirwan has coached Lightning prospects who participated in the six-team NHL rookie tournament in Traverse City, MI.

Kirwan coached amateur hockey at various levels in both Canada and the United States for 17 years and is very active in youth hockey camps and clinics during the NHL's off-season. He also served as the video coach for Team USA at the 2008 World Championships in Canada.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kirwan attended the University of Western Ontario and the University of Tampa. He started with the Lightning as a member of the front office staff for four years before then coach Terry Crisp hired him into his current position prior the start of the 1996-97 season.

Kirwan is single and resides in Tampa.