From the moment the Tampa Bay Lightning invested their first-round pick—19th overall—in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft on Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning organization, its fans and players were wondered with just how much talent their newest prospect boasted between the pipes.
Twelve years later, Vasilevskiy has delivered in every way possible. The now 30-year-old goalie led the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, guarded the net to another Cup Final in 2022 and won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2019. His win on Thursday made him the fastest goalie in NHL history to reach 300 career wins.
Amid all the early hope, promise and career projections, one former NHL player never doubted whether the ‘Big Cat’ would live up to the hype.
Ben Bishop was Tampa Bay’s starting goalie before Vasilevskiy entered the NHL, and the goaltending tandem worked together for parts of three seasons in Tampa Bay.
Bishop, who sits second in franchise history with 131 wins, knew from the first day he took the ice with Vasilevskiy that Tampa Bay’s future in net was in good hands.
“At that time I’d been playing in the NHL for a bit and seen a lot of good goalies,” Bishop said. “And then I watched Vasy practice for the first time. I’ll never forget it. I was like, ‘Wow’. … I had never seen anything like it.”
Vasilevskiy is the fastest goalie in NHL history to reach 300 wins, doing so in 490 games. He takes the record from Hockey Hall of Fame member Jacques Plante, who reached the mark in 521 games. Vasilevskiy became the 40th NHL goalie all-time to reach 300 wins.
Bishop vividly remembers Vasilevskiy’s first practice. Bishop was face to face with a goalie who boasted a hulking frame, (big) cat-like speed and impressive athleticism.
Bishop also said Vasilevskiy was hungry to learn and was receptive to advice from an NHL veteran. Vasilevskiy’s speed—both physical and mental—separates him from other goalies, according to his former teammate.
“He wasn’t an arrogant guy. He wanted to get better at a young age and he trusted me as far as learning about how to play the puck and was always asking questions and always trying to get better,” Bishop said. "It was like, this guy is unbelievable, but then at the same time he really wants to get better even though he’s already so good.”
Even though Vasilevskiy himself knew he had more to learn before cementing himself as one of the league’s best, Bishop said the evidence was always there.
“Just from practice one, how good he was,” the former NHLer said. “I’ll never forget when we were in Brandon and just the way that he practiced and the way that he pushed. We were doing drills together and I was like, ‘Wow. This guy’s phenomenal.’”
As Bishop soon learned after sharing a locker room with Vasilevskiy, while the greatest goalie in franchise history has a razor sharp focus on the ice, he constantly finds ways to keep the mood light in the locker room.
One example was Vasilevskiy sometimes pretending that he didn’t speak English well, but Bishop said the Russian had the language down “perfect”. Bishop occasionally walked into the locker room to find a surprise from his net partner.
“He was a rookie in the first year we were together, and then all of a sudden he’d tape all my stuff together and I’d go to get dressed and all my stuff was taped in a tape ball and he’s just next to me laughing. The guy’s a prankster, he’s funny, and he’s light-hearted even though he’s one of the most competitive people you’ll meet.”
Vasilevskiy’s ability, though, to go from the fun-loving, tape-trapping, easygoing teammate to a goalie who is constantly in talks as the best in the NHL is part of what Bishop said makes Vasilevskiy so special.
“That just shows why he’s going to go down as one of the best.”
A little bit of hard work played a part, too.
“The time and effort that he’s put into his craft and the work ethic he has is the reason he’s one of the best,” Bishop said. “People don’t realize how hard this guy works off the ice. The guy is one of the hardest working hockey players I’ve ever seen and just the most dedicated to his craft, and I saw that from the time he was 21.”
