Lightning, Avalanche persevered on way to Stanley Cup Final
Kept faith in coach, core players to build consistent contender
Each suffered heartbreak for years. Each could have made major changes. Yet each stuck with the coach, the core and the process, reshaping the supporting cast and learning how to win.
Now here they are in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, the Lightning trying to win a third straight championship, the Avalanche trying to follow in their footsteps.
"It's growth, is what it is," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "This didn't happen overnight."
In their first six full seasons under Cooper, the Lightning lost in the Eastern Conference First Round, lost in the Stanley Cup Final, lost in the Eastern Conference Final, missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, lost in the conference final again and lost in the first round again.
The last loss was brutal. They had won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season team and tied the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for the NHL record for wins (62). Then they were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Cooper credited owner Jeff Vinik, general manager Julien BriseBois and former GM Steve Yzerman, who was a senior adviser at the time.
"They kept the group together, believing in the long term, [instead of reacting with a] kneejerk and saying, 'This has got to blow up,'" Cooper said. "Because 2019 was an easy one. That was an easy out."
To Be The Best, You’ve Got to Beat the Best
Cooper had no NHL experience before taking over in Tampa Bay, but he had won championships in the North American Hockey League, the United States Hockey League and the American Hockey League. The AHL title was with BriseBois.
Asked about 2019 on Tuesday, BriseBois said it never crossed his mind to make major changes. Instead of framing those years as failures, he used them as examples of how the Lightning had gone deep into the playoffs with Cooper and the core.
"There was never any doubt in my mind that we had what it took to win," BriseBois said. "It just didn't happen for us that year. It just meant extra motivation probably coming back and one additional very painful experience in our backpacks that we could lean on going forward and learn from and come back stronger."
The Lightning have won 11 straight playoff series since.
"People don't realize how hard it is to build a championship team, and when you think you're close, to blow it up is the stupidest thing you can do, because you don't know when you'll ever get a chance to be back," Lightning forward Alex Killorn said.
"You have to have great leadership all the way from the owner down to the GM and the coach, and they have to understand what they have in the room. I think they did understand, and we were just missing a little bit of experience, a couple pieces. We found those, and ever since then, we've been pretty hard to beat."
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said 2019 taught valuable lessons too.
"You look back at how that team played versus how our team plays now, there's a lot of differences, and there's a lot more sacrifice and guys willing to do a lot of things," Stamkos said. "A lot of guys had career years and statistics and points and this and that, but our ultimate goal is to win, and the egos are checked at the door, for sure. That takes a while sometimes."
In 2016-17, Jared Bednar's first season with the Avalanche, they went 22-56-4. They had a .293 points percentage, the second worst since the NHL introduced the salary cap in 2005-06, ahead of only the 2019-20 Red Wings (.275).
Forward Matt Duchene was traded to the Ottawa Senators early the next season, but Colorado kept Bednar and kept the faith in the rest of the core.
Bednar had no NHL experience before taking over in Colorado, but he had won championships in the ECHL and AHL.
"When we had a really poor year in '16-17, some guys wanted out, some guys wanted a fresh start, and that was their right," Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson said. "But we wanted to stick together and try to get it done."
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The Avalanche lost in the Western Conference First Round in 2018, then the second round the next three years.
The last loss was brutal. They had won the Presidents' Trophy with a .732 points percentage, best in team history, then couldn't get over the hump again. But they didn't overreact.
Doesn't this sound familiar?
"I think it starts from the belief from [GM Joe Sakic] and our ownership," Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon said. "They never expressed disbelief in us at all, even through the hard times, and it always kind of gives you a little bit more confidence, I think, when especially a guy like Joe Sakic is supporting you and believes in you.
"I guess he was right. We've gotten to this point, so we're doing something good."
Doesn't this sound familiar too?
"Certainly, a lot of lessons have been learned over the last five, six years from myself, from our team," Bednar said. "Going through some heartbreak in the playoffs even the last couple years, I think, has made us a stronger group, a more resilient group, a team that's been mentally tough through the bulk of the season."
Sakic summed it up simply.
"Well, it's a belief," he said. "It's a belief in your core. I mean, you have to learn, you have to grow, and over time, we kept getting a little bit better. Our guys, especially this year, really competed, faced a lot of adversity and overcame it every single time. It's a group that believes in each other, and we believe in them.
"And you saw over the years with Tampa, look at them now. They're two-time Stanley Cup champions and looking for their third, and we're looking to dethrone the champs."
NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke, senior Writer Dan Rosen and staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this story
