The Tampa Bay Lightning entered this season with 40/1 odds to win the Stanley Cup. That meant that their chances were slim, and that 8 out of the 14 Eastern Conference teams had better odds to win it all than the Lightning did. The team lost their best player of all-time, longtime captain Vincent Lecavalier, because they bought out his contract in June. He had seven years remaining on the contract, but they felt that the team needed to get younger. Heading into this season, a league wide divisional change was made. The Lightning found out that some of the best teams in hockey, such as the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs would be added to their division. Would this hurt their playoff chances?
They have confidence with in Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis as team leaders and added veteran free agent Valtteri Filppula, who played on many winning teams for the Detroit Red Wings. Filppula has been a nice replacement for Lecavalier, and has had an impact for the team so far with six goals, six assists, and a plus/minus of three.
It helps that the Lightning call up players from the top American League Hockey team, the Syracuse Crunch. Some current players with the team that were promoted from Syracuse include the tall Andrej Sustr; the team’s current leader in penalty minutes, Radko Gudas; speedster Tyler Johnson, snipers Ondrej Palat and Richard Panik, and one of their top prospects Brett Connolly. Along with these players, new Lightning head coach, Jon Cooper was promoted from Syracuse. The organization developed a good foundation with these players, and they gave them a chance to play together late last season when they were eliminated from playoff contention. This helped tremendously going into the 2013-2014 season.
In the shortened 48-game season in 2013, the Lightning finished with a record of 18-26-4, giving them 40 points. That made them the third worst team in the league. At the NHL draft this past summer, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced, “With the third overall pick in the 2013 draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning select Left Wing Jonathan Drouin from Halifax.” Here comes Drouin, one of the NHL’s top-prospects, to contribute to the Lightning right away! Wait a minute. Steve Yzerman, the general manager of the Lightning, decided six days before the season that it would better for Drouin’s development for him to be sent back to his former team, Halifax, in the QMJHL. Would this move hurt the Lightning’s chances of starting out the season with wins?
The answer is no. Every Eastern Conference team is looking up at the Lightning in the standings. Currently, they sit at the top in the conference with 22 points in 15 games. Their recent win versus the Edmonton Oilers had the crowd roaring. They enjoyed seeing Stamkos rack up two early goals and they never trailed. Did many NHL fans predict that the Lightning would have a better standing than Boston, Pittsburgh, and Washington at this point? There are only a select few who did, and those people were most likely Lightning players.
What I am very impressed with is the fact that three of their four losses were losses that they were expected to lose. They are taking care of business versus every team except for Boston and Pittsburgh, which are expected defeats for the most part. If they continue this trend of beating teams that they should beat, they will make the playoffs. In addition, one thing fans have noticed so far is that they are playing well on the road, which was something they did not do last season. They finished 6-16-2, while they are off to a nice 4-2 start on the road this season. At home, they are tough to beat, so if they can finish above .500 on the road, they should be a lock for a playoff spot.
Despite playing in a very tough Atlantic division, teams that most of hockey nation thought would be better than the Lightning are taking them seriously. I had the chance to speak with Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara and forward Shawn Thornton before their game on October 19 against the Lightning, and I joked to them saying, “this is going to be the game of the night!” Their response to me was, “yes, the Lightning are a very good team.”
The Lightning certainly are gaining respect from around the league, their stars and role players are enjoying the spotlight in a state not known for hockey, and they are taking care of business at home and on the road for the most part. Those are the ingredients for a playoff team, and it is safe to say, they have surpassed expectations thus far.
Editor’s Note: Stamkos has since broken the tibia in his left leg and will be out for at least the next three months.
Greg Praver can be reached at gregory.praver@spartans.ut.edu.