"I am pleased to introduce Julien BriseBois today as the new Vice President and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning," Vinik said upon making the announcement. "Julien has been preparing himself for this role for much longer than the eight years he has served as our Assistant General Manager. He is smart, experienced, well-prepared and progressive, sharing the draft and develop philosophy with Steve that has worked so well for us. I am confident that he will maintain our standard of sustained excellence, hopefully guiding us to a Stanley Cup in the near future.
"As Steve transitions from the position of General Manager into his new role, I thank him, on behalf of everyone in the Lightning organization for all that he has done to lead our team to this point, laying the groundwork for our franchise to be one of the best in the NHL. We are pleased that he remains in the organization, helping contribute to our future success."
A native of Greenland Park, Quebec, BriseBois, 41, was hired as Assistant General Manager by Steve Yzerman in July 2010 from the Montreal Canadiens, where he was serving as the team's Vice President of Hockey Operations. In his role as Tampa Bay's Assistant General Manager, BriseBois provided significant input in player personnel and player development, while overseeing analytics, contract preparation and negotiation and scheduling. He also served as the General Manager of the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate. BriseBois' minor league teams have reached the Calder Cup Finals five times, winning the Cup in Hamilton in 2007 (while BriseBois was with the Montreal Canadiens) and in Norfolk under head coach Jon Cooper in 2012 (with Tampa Bay).
"I am very grateful for the opportunity that Jeff Vinik is providing me today and I thank Steve Yzerman for all that he has done for me personally and professionally while I worked as his assistant," said BriseBois in accepting the position." Jeff is a great owner and I am excited to lead his hockey team and fulfill his vision. Steve has been a terrific general manager and a great mentor to me - I look forward to our continued work together, only with different titles next to our names. I am thankful that he has accepted this new position and will continue to play an active role with our team. Together with (Assistant General Manager and Player Personnel Director) Pat Verbeek, (Director of Amateur Scouting) Al Murray, (Director of Player Development) Stacy Roest, coach Jon Cooper and the rest of our staff, our goals remain the same: winning the Stanley Cup while ensuring that we can be a strong team for years into the future."
