Lightning can be NHL dynasty if they win third straight Cup championship

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.
This week, Stan compares the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning with NHL dynasties from the past, beginning with the 1947-49 Toronto Maple Leafs and concluding with the 1980-83 New York Islanders.

"Why not a dynasty? We've got a team that can't be beat."
Those very words were uttered 40 years ago by New York Islanders playoff hero Bobby Nystrom. Now they could belong to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In the spring of 1981, the Islanders had just defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games to win the Stanley Cup for a second consecutive season. They would win two more championships in a row, gaining status as a hockey dynasty, the most recent NHL team to win three or more consecutive championships.
Like the Islanders of four decades ago, the Lightning have won their second consecutive title, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in five games in this season's Final after defeating the Dallas Stars in six games last season.
But history tells us that winning more than two straight championships in the NHL is not so easy.
The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup three times in a row from 1947-49 and again from 1962-64. The Canadiens won five straight titles from 1956-60 and four in a row from 1976-79. The Islanders won four consecutive championships from 1980-83.
That's it.
But the Lightning might be able to join this illustrious group, in part because they've so closely replicated the formula set forth by these great teams.
It starts with strong leadership. The original Maple Leafs juggernaut was led by general manager Conn Smythe and coach Hap Day, who each already had won the Stanley Cup three times before their three-peat. The Canadiens featured Frank Selke, Sr. at the helm with iconic coach Toe Blake behind the bench.
The second Maple Leafs dynasty was ruled by Punch Imlach; and legendary coach Scotty Bowman did likewise with the Canadiens in the 1970s. The Islanders had the Hall-of-Fame tandem of GM Bill Torrey and coach Al Arbour.
The Lightning have won the Cup two years in a row with poker-faced Julien BriseBois in the front office and suave Jon Cooper behind the bench
I see an intellectual resemblance between Cooper and Day. Each blended their jobs with humor and an iron fist, depending on the situations at hand. Furthermore, neither of their teams could be intimidated.
If Day saw trouble ahead, he sent "Wild" Bill Ezinicki on the ice with "Bashin'" Bill Barilko plus "Fightin'" Vic Lynn if there was need to restore order or generate momentum. The Lightning play in a far different era, but the gritty players at Cooper's disposal stand out -- Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow, Pat Maroon, Yanni Gourde, Erik Cernak and Anthony Cirelli each playing vital roles in the championship runs.
Of course, the Lightning face NHL salary cap restraints and likely will not be able to re-sign Coleman and Goodrow, who can become unrestricted free agents July 28. They will need to make other personnel moves to be under the cap. The previous dynasties didn't have that issue.
These championship teams feature an elite workhorse goalie. Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, is making the case to be mentioned along with Toronto's Turk Broda and Johnny Bower, Montreal's Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden and New York's Billy Smith.

Each of these teams has an abundance of star power. The Lightning fit right in, led by Nikita Kucherov, who led the playoffs with 34 points last season and 32 this season. Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman are also elite players with the Lightning.
But of all the NHL dynasties, none can match Blake's Canadiens, winners of five straight championships between 1956-60. It likely would have been six in a row had Maurice "Rocket" Richard not been suspended for the entire 1955 postseason.
In any given game Blake could dispatch six future Hall of Famers for his starting lineup. He had Plante in goal, Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson on defense and the two Richards -- Maurice and Henri -- along with Dickie Moore on Montreal's top forward line.
The Canadiens' second line was just as scary. Jean Beliveau, who won the Stanley Cup 10 times, was the center for right wing Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, inventor of the modern slap shot, and Bert Olmstead, who was without peer as a fearless, rugged forward.
"We had the greatest team that ever played hockey," Geoffrion said.
Those Canadiens, literally, helped change the game.
"There were times," Beliveau said, "when we could score two -- maybe even three -- goals on a single two-minute power play. Finally, the NHL said 'no-no' and the new rule limited us to one goal per man-advantage."
The Lightning power play may not be changing the sport, but it is very effective. With Kucherov leading the playoffs with 19 power-play points, and Hedman (13), Stamkos (12), Point (12) and Alex Killorn (eight) rounding out the top five, the Lightning were an impressive 22-for-68 (32.4 percent) on the man-advantage this postseason.
But when all is said and done, the difference between those dynasties and the Lightning, is that the Maple Leafs, Canadiens and Islanders did, in fact, win at least three championships in a row.
Now let's see if the Lightning can join them next season.