SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2020
2020 STANLEY CUP
CHAMPIONS
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
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GAME 1: Stars lead series 1-0
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
A sluggish start, but no cause for early panic Anthony Cirelli, top right, and his Lightning teammates were not exactly rested for the opener of the Stanley Cup final. Tampa Bay had played consecutive overtime games, including a double-overtime finale, to finish the Eastern Conference final. The Stars, meanwhile, had four days to rest and recover after clinching the West. Even though the Lightning regained their groove in the third period of this one — outshooting the Stars 22-2 — it was too little, too late. “I don’t know if you even need to take a shower after the first two periods,” coach Jon Cooper said of the Lightning. “We probably dipped our toes in the water a little bit and watched them skate around.”
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GAME 2: Series tied 1-1
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
Early offensive outburst, cooler heads down the stretch The Lightning certainly did not start slowly in Game 2. Instead they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period on the Stars and appeared to be on their way to a blowout victory. Then Dallas briefly enticed Tampa Bay into a more physical game. The teams combined for 106 hits in Game 1. There were another 101 in Game 2. That works out to a hit every 35 seconds or so. But Barclay Goodrow — above, clearing a puck after being tripped by Joe Pavelski — and his teammates settled down, then held on for their first win in the series. “The intensity of today’s game … and this is only Game 2,” coach Jon Cooper said. “I can’t imagine how this is going to continue moving forward.”
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GAME 3: Lightning lead series 2-1
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
Once upon a time, hockey had a fairy-tale moment Steven Stamkos made the most of his very brief appearance in the postseason. The Lightning captain returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 25 and scored on the first shot he had taken in nearly seven months. He raised his stick briefly in the air, then leaped into the arms of teammate Pat Maroon. Total time on the ice? 2:47, all in the first period. “It’s been such a long time,” said Stamkos, who had surgery to repair a core muscle injury in March, followed by setbacks. “At this time of the year, you want to do anything you can to help your team win. I’ve watched these guys be so committed to what our end goal is. To be part of it tonight, it was a dream come true.”
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STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
Coach Jon Cooper lifts the Stanley Cup after the Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars in six games. The Lightning also lifted the spirits of a Tampa Bay fandom in a trying year.
ETCHED IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER The shared experience of watching the Lightning claim the Cup is something Tampa Bay desperately needed in 2020.
It takes a silversmith, working with a hammer and stamp, less than 30 minutes to engrave a player’s name on the Stanley Cup. Somehow, that feels perfectly equal to a lifetime spent struggling and sacrificing just to get there. The Stanley Cup is a symbol, yes, but it is also a permanent record. Every winning team remains on the Cup for roughly 50-60 JOHN years before ROMANO their ringed secjromano@ tion is removed tampabay.com and retired to the Hall of Fame to make room for new champions. Any Lightning players still alive by then will be old men, their legacies having long since been secured during a pandemic-interrupted season unlike any other in the NHL’s long history. And what reward is there for Lightning fans beyond boat parades and parties? Just memories. Memories that cannot be purchased, sold, rewritten or bartered. Memories that may eventually fade and distort around the edges, but will always retain a little of that guileless joy you felt at 10:49 p.m. on Sept. 28 watching players scramble to embrace on the ice. Years from now, you won’t tell a stranger that Brayden Point led all scorers with 14 postseason goals. But you may tell them that you never saw a skater move through defenses with such speed and grace as Point did in the final games of 2020. You probably won’t remember that six of the Lightning’s 16 playoff victories were in overtime (not counting the round robins), but you may tell your grandchildren that you never saw another team so disciplined, clutch and cool in the face of pressure as the Tampa Bay Lightning of 2020. You may even forget that his lone appearance in the playoffs
DIRK SHADD | Times
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is flanked by the Prince of Wales and Stanley Cup trophies.
came during the Lightning’s easiest victory in the Stanley Cup final against Dallas, but until your dying day you will swear Steven Stamkos’ Game 3 goal was the most inspirational moment you ever saw on ice. This is why we care. This is why we devote an ungodly amount of dollars, days and devotion to following a group of athletes from fall to summer. It’s an emotional attachment that is hard to replicate elsewhere. It’s a bond with strangers and neighbors. A sense of pride and accomplishment, even if it is vicarious. An appreciation of watching someone with enough ambition to reach out and grab hold of a star. And, I’m quite sure, it’s seeing little bits of how we’d like to think of ourselves in certain players. It’s Yanni Gourde’s fighting spirit. It’s Victor Hedman’s quiet dignity. It’s
Pat Maroon’s smart-aleck persona on ice. This commemorative section isn’t meant to be an exhaustive retelling of the 22 games in 49 days that made up Tampa Bay’s triumphs against Columbus, Boston, New York and Dallas. Those details are preserved forever in the record books. This is just a keepsake of moments and memories. A way to recall the emotions of watching a team from Tampa Bay sequestered thousands of miles from home, first in Toronto and later in Edmonton. A team carrying its past around like a burden the world insisted be re-lived over and over again until it was finally exercised forever in Game 6 against the Stars. It’s been a strange year for a lot of us in Tampa Bay. We’ve had fewer jobs to go to and no events to
attend. Schools were empty and, at times, hospitals were packed. For months at a time, daily COVID-19 updates were the only daily standings we had. That’s what this hockey team did for us. They couldn’t change individual horrors or societal problems or economic concerns, but for a few months, they gave us a respite every other night. We may not have had water coolers to gather around, but we had the Lightning. Which leads to an apocryphal question that might have seemed absurd a year ago: If a Stanley Cup is won in an empty arena, does it still make a sound? It did in Tampa Bay. Contact John Romano at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @Romano_TBTimes
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STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS
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GAME 4: Lightning lead series 3-1
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
Another overtime tilt goes Tampa Bay’s way Given the Lightning’s penchant for playing past regulation during these playoffs, they were overdue for an overtime game versus the Stars. The matchup itself was a thriller. Nonstop hitting — like the Lightning’s Blake Coleman, above, landing a blow on Miro Heiskanen — but no cheap shots. All kinds of scoring chances, with unbelievable saves. The Lightning came from behind twice, and the Stars did it once. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk ultimately delivered the winning shot. “I think there’s a mental makeup you have to have to try to give yourself some success,” coach Jon Cooper said. “Some teams have it, some teams don’t.”
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STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS
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GAME 5: Lightning lead series 3-2
First attempt at clinching the Cup? Lightning denied in 2 OTs
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
Before Game 5 of the Cup final, the Lightning were 7-1 in 2020 postseason overtime games. And all their previous series clinchers had finished past regulation (two OTs against the Blue Jackets in Round 1, two versus the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinal, one versus the Islanders in the East final). But Dallas still had fight left. Forward Corey Perry, top left, scored his second goal of the game 9:23 into the second overtime. He held the puck while goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy tried to block, then dumped it into the net. “If that game went any longer, I don’t know if there would have been any goals scored,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I think both teams were pretty tired.”
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GAME 6: Lightning win series 4-2
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
Sixteen years later, the Lightning reclaim the Cup The Lightning had reason for confidence entering Game 6 as they had yet to lose two straight games in this playoff run. But they also had been close to the Cup before in the past six years. The Lightning got to the final in 2015, and the conference final in 2016 and 2018. They lost their captain for most of this postseason. They played in bubbles, first in Toronto, then Edmonton — far away from Amalie Arena and their families and fans. But the outcome in the clincher wasn’t really in doubt. “We’re going to be Stanley Cup champs forever,” Victor Hedman said. “It’s going to be in the history. Our kids, our grandkids, if they look at the Stanley Cup, they’re going to see our names.”
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2020
2020 STANLEY CUP
CHAMPIONS
MARKO DITKUN | Special to the Times
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| Sunday, October 4, 2020 | Tampa Bay Times X
STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS HOME AGAIN
Back in title town
LUIS SANTANA | Times
DIRK SHADD | Times
After weeks in separate Canadian bubbles, captain Steven Stamkos departs the plane in Tampa with Cup firmly grasped, while Victor Hedman cradles the Conn Smythe Trophy given to the playoffs MVP.
This is not the kind of baggage that gets checked. Andrei Vasilevskiy takes a turn with the Cup, which he more than earned after playing every second of every postseason game. How much ice time? 1,708 minutes, most by a goaltender in a playoff year.
X Tampa Bay Times | Sunday, October 4, 2020 |
STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS
Photos by DIRK SHADD | Times
HOME AGAIN
Reunited with family, fans ABOVE: Blake Coleman interacts with 7-month-old daughter Charlie during a private celebration at Amalie Arena. “I felt like I was following her growth and development, but once I got home, it really hit me how much she’s changed,” he said. “I missed a lot. Thankfully we accomplished the goal we were there for, and now we get a lot of quality time.” LEFT: Nikita Kucherov cheers as he lifts precious cargo of his own during a celebration with fans at Raymond James Stadium.
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Iconic moments before the Cup Remember the overtimes and fist pumps in Lightning’s playoff run. BY DIANA C. NEARHOS | Times Staff Writer
Winning the Stanley Cup is something every hockey player dreams of. Young kids stand in their driveway narrating that beautiful moment when they score the game-winning goal in overtime to earn that prized trophy. For all the extra hockey the Lightning played, there was no overtime goal to secure the Cup, but there were plenty of other moments along
the way. There’s nothing like lifting the Stanley Cup. A lack of fans in Edmonton didn’t stop captain Steven Stamkos from letting out a roar as he hoisted Lord Stanley above his head. That is the obvious, hands-down best moment of the playoffs, but here are our top five in-game moments of the Lightning’s run to the Cup.
No. 5: Victor Hedman’s overtime goal
DIRK SHADD | Times
Steven Stamkos carries the Stanley Cup onto the stage during a championship celebration at Raymond James Stadium on Wednesday.
Hedman stepped up his game in the playoffs. He always has been involved on the offense, but he started sinking lower into the zone and taking more shots — none bigger than the one to advance past the Bruins in the Eastern
Conference semifinals. Hedman carried the puck almost to the left faceoff dot before letting loose a wrist shot, while winger Pat Maroon screened the goalie.
After he watched the puck go in, Hedman turned toward his bench, arms out in front, and spun back toward his teammates on the ice, sheer elation on his face.
No. 4: Beating Columbus Center Brayden Point’s second overtime goal came on what looked like an innocuous play. The Lightning dumped the puck in and the Blue Jackets recovered it, then bobbled it. Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev recovered the puck and quickly found Point alone in the slot. Point made the finish look easy. The Lightning had eliminated Columbus, the team that swept them last year, and were moving on in the playoffs. The fist pump coach Jon Cooper gave after going through the handshake line said it all. Finally, with this win, the Lightning could put last year’s historic collapse behind them and focus on this year’s playoffs.
No. 3: Cooper’s triple fist pump The fist pump after the Columbus series had nothing on Cooper’s reaction to the Game 2 win over the Islanders in the conference final. The Lightning played most of the game with nine forwards: Point got hurt and Alex Killorn was given a game misconduct. Somehow, they gutted out a win. In the game’s final seconds, defenseman Ryan McDonagh pinched down almost to the goal line to retrieve the puck and snapped it across the zone to right wing Nikita Kucherov below the opposite circle. Kucherov landed the one-timer and Cooper celebrated hard on the bench. Team owner Jeff Vinik mimicked the move at Wednesday’s celebration rally at Raymond James Stadium, but as he said, Cooper did it better.
No. 2: Point’s goal in the fifth overtime Neither Columbus nor the Lightning wanted to start the playoffs with a loss. They dug in and played five overtimes before finding a winner. The Lightning were throwing the puck toward the net. A save bounced back out to them, then a blocked shot before Point corralled the puck on its edge and flung the wrist shot on net. Cooper has said it multiple times since: if the Lightning lose that game, Columbus could very well get in their heads. If you come back from the embarrassment of last year only to lose to that same team, this playoff run may not have ended with the Cup.
No. 1: Stamkos’ storybook goal The questions started in March and continued into September: Would Stamkos play in the postseason? For a long time, there was no answer, only an increasingly small probability. But the captain made it onto the ice for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final. He played fewer than three minutes, but he made the appearance count. Cooper called it the most efficient five shifts of hockey. Stamkos landed a power-play goal from below the right faceoff dot and leapt into Maroon’s arms, while the bench absolutely erupted. The team’s reaction to that goal — the second of the game, scored early in the first period — topped all of the overtime winners or anything else until they got their hands on the Cup. Contact Diana C. Nearhos at dnearhos@tampabay.com. Follow @dianacnearhos.
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STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS
Relive all the glory The Tampa Bay Times will publish a 160-page hardcover coffee table book to commemorate the return of the Stanley Cup to Tampa Bay. Thunderstruck will showcase more than 200 photographs — from the opening puck drop of the regular season to the final horn in Edmonton, marking the team’s Stanley Cup triumph. Thunderstruck will publish in the fall and ship in plenty of time for the holidays. Since the team just gave fans an early Christmas present, we think the book will make an awesome gift to put under your tree. Thunderstruck is $39.95, plus tax and shipping. But if you order now, you can save $10 off the price for a limited time. You can preorder at boltsbook.com.
X Tampa Bay Times | Sunday, October 4, 2020 |
CHAMPIONS By the numbers
33,394
Coronavirus tests administered to teams in the bubble secure zones (July 26-Sept. 28), with zero positive results.
1,452
League and team personnel who stayed in the bubbles.
800+
Zoom media availabilities conducted after players arrived in Canada, including pregame, postgame, off-day and award winners.
558
Players across the 24 postseason teams who played in at least one game of the qualifiers and playoffs, including 121 who made their postseason debut. Two of those to debut did so in the Stanley Cup final: Dallas’ Nick Caamano (Game 3) and Tampa Bay’s Alexander Volkov (Game 6).
413:42
Total time (in minutes and seconds) of overtime contested by all teams during the postseason, including the fourth-longest game in NHL history, between the Lightning and Blue Jackets in Game 1 of the first round (5 OTs; 90:27 of extra time).
363
Days between puck drop on opening night of the regular season, Oct. 2, 2019, and awarding the Lightning the Stanley Cup on Sept. 28, 2020.
221:14
Total time (in minutes and seconds) of playoff overtime by the Lightning, the most of any team in NHL history.
201
Days between the shutdown of the season March 12 because of the coronavirus and the awarding of the Stanley Cup.
130
Games after the NHL returned with the first game of the playoff qualifiers on Aug. 1, 75 in Edmonton and 55 in Toronto.
65
Days from the arrival of the teams to the playoff hub cities July 26 and the Lightning raising the Cup.
34
Points by Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (7 goals, 27 assists), most of any player this postseason and the second-highest total over the last 20 years (Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin: 14-22—36 in 2009).
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Members of the Lightning to win their first Stanley Cup, all but Pat Maroon, who also won in 2019 with the Blues.
14
Goals scored by Lightning forward Brayden Point to lead all players in the playoffs and set a franchise record for most in a postseason.
10
Goals by Conn Smythe Trophy winner Victor Hedman, one of three defensemen in NHL history to reach double digits in a postseason, joining Paul Coffey (12 in 1985) and Brian Leetch (11 in 1994).
10
Defensemen, including Hedman, who have won the Conn Smythe. Eight of the previous winners are in the Hall of Fame. The other, the Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith, was named one of the 100 greatest NHL players by a panel including NHL alumni for the league’s 100th anniversary in 2017.
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Times a player has won the Stanley Cup in consecutive seasons with different teams, including Maroon in 2020.
2
Stanley Cups won by the Lightning (2020, 2004). Tampa Bay is the only team to debut in the NHL in the 1990s or later to win multiple titles.
1
Goal scored by Lightning captain Steven Stamkos in 2:47 of playing time, all in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final.
0
Sweeps in best-of-seven series in the playoffs for the fourth time since 1987, when the best-of-seven format was adopted for all four rounds (also 2016, 2002 and 1991).
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The covers FRONT PAGE
The Lightning’s Brayden Point, who scored a league-high 14 goals during this postseason, hoists the Stanley Cup following the Game 6 victory over the Stars at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Photo by Marko Ditkun | Special to the Times Design by Sean Kristoff-Jones | Times
Restrictions apply.
PAGE 13
Victor Hedman, the MVP of the postseason after scoring the third-most goals (10) by a defenseman in NHL playoff history, takes his own turn with the Stanley Cup. Photo by Marko Ditkun | Special to the Times Design by Sean Kristoff-Jones | Times
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STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS PARADE OF CHAMPIONS
DIRK SHADD | Times
A truly Tampa affair
ABOVE: Victor Hedman lifts the Stanley Cup at sunset with the iconic University of Tampa minarets in the background as the championship boat parade starts to wrap up Wednesday. BELOW: Lightning players make their way down the Hillsborough River as fans line Riverwalk to celebrate the hometown team.
LUIS SANTANA | Times
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STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS
Photos by DIRK SHADD | Times (2004)
2004 FLASHBACK
Oh, the places the Cup goes
ABOVE: When the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004, defenseman Nolan Pratt took it for a dip in the gulf at Clearwater Beach. Water is definitely a theme when celebrating in Florida. BELOW: Hall of Famer Marty St. Louis and the Cup have a musical moment, with his wife, Heather, and Sean Kelly from the Samples band, at a private party during St. Louis’ time with the Cup in Vermont.
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