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Lightning owner gives team employees an early Christmas gift

Jeff Vinik

During the lockout we’ve read enough stories about teams, and even the league, cutting back on hours and pay for their employees. One team not jumping on that bandwagon are the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Erik Erlendsson of The Tampa Tribune reports team owner Jeff Vinik is getting in the holiday spirit by giving team employees an extended paid holiday vacation. 150 team workers will get from December 20 through January 2 off and not have it count towards their regular vacation time.

Team spokesman Bill Wickett summed up the unexpected vacation time off nicely.

“It isn’t often in the sports and entertainment industry today that the pace of business allows for this type of break and we are happy to afford our people the opportunity to share personal time with their loved ones.’'

On top of that, team employees are being given a $75 bonus intended to be spent on those in need during the holiday season.

The lockout hasn’t been good for heart-warming stories, but this one out of Tampa is good for a case of the warm-fuzzies.