After eight months of battling through more than 100 games, the Tampa Bay Lightning fell two wins short of a Stanley Cup last season. TWO freaking wins.
Two wins from childhood dreams realized. Two wins from achieving something that can’t ever be taken away.
No wonder Steven Stamkos sat in the silent visitor’s dressing room at United Center on June 15 and wondered aloud whether it was all worth it.
However, with a new season now upon us, the Lightning captain looks at the experience differently. The emotions aren’t quite so raw anymore, and he’s found a way to appreciate the journey rather than dwell on its ultimate destination.
“For a lot of us that may be the closest that we get to winning the Cup,” Stamkos said during a recent sitdown. “I mean that’s the reality. You really have to enjoy the ride that we had.”
The Lighting, in the eyes of this observer, are the team to beat in 2015-16. They remain a carbon copy of last year’s group and are led by elite players — Stamkos (age 25) and Victor Hedman (age 24) — in the absolute prime of their careers, with an unbelievable supporting cast.
What this season represents to all of them is one more chance to make a run at a championship before salary cap pressures bring about change.
A lot of attention has already been paid to the fact Stamkos doesn’t have a deal beyond this season, but neither does Nikita Kucherov or Alex Killorn. Hedman, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Ben Bishop and Jonathan Drouin are among those with expiring contracts the following summer.
Steve Yzerman has displayed a deft touch since becoming Tampa’s GM, but he’s not a miracle worker. There simply won’t be enough money to go around for everybody.
Coming so close has stoked the competitive fire — “The hunger; it’s there,” said Hedman — among a team that started sprinting right after learning to walk. Remember that the Lightning went from second-last in the Eastern Conference to a 101-point team to a 108-point team.
They were swept in the first round of the playoffs two years ago and survived a pair of Game 7s before losing to Chicago in a six-game final last spring. The margin between winning and losing that series was tiny.
“I remember sitting in our big team room at the hotel after Game 4 in Chicago, we were kind of sitting around and honestly thought we could have won all four games,” said Stamkos. “We thought ‘we could have just swept the Stanley Cup final.’ That’s how close it was. I mean it probably could have went the other way, too; they could have been saying that.
“We really thought we had Game 1, with a 1-0 lead with five or six minutes left and they score two late goals, and then we win Game 2, we win Game 3 in Chicago. That was the one where we’re like ‘OK wow, we could be up 3-0, but we’re up 2-1 right now, and now we’ve got the home ice back.”‘
Days later the final was over. One thing that still resonates with Stamkos is how tough it was to stay in the moment.
“There’s so many thoughts that creep into your head,” he said. “You’re sitting there up 2-1 and now people are starting to ask you about the Stanley Cup and you’re so close, ‘who’s the first guy you’re going to give it to if you win it?’
“It’s so hard to really not think about all of that stuff.”
After a summer of reflection, the Lightning are ready to chase the two victories that eluded them a year ago.
They hope to be better off for having already come so close, but they know it’s not a guarantee.
“It was close but there’s a lot of guys that have been even closer and not won it,” said Stamkos. “It was just an unbelievable experience. I think the big word is experience and those guys had it. We talked a lot about it before the series and I think it showed a little bit.
“They were comfortable in all situations.”
