Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

He's Seen Enough to See Something Special

March 19, 2019, 8:28 AM ET [1 Comments]
Jay Greenberg
Blogger •NHL Hall of Fame writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Great has become the new good not only because of the repeated blatant exaggerations of Pierre Maguire. The general absence of extraordinary in today’s NHL is a reflection of talent spread too thin in a 31-team league, of big goalies with even bigger pads, and of an over coached game. While surely goals are more earned than ever, opportunities for true distinction have been curtailed.

The number of good players runs deeper than ever. But since the introduction of the salary cap, we have been waiting for some person or team to do something truly transcendent.

It’s just too close, on the ice and in the standings. So take it from the 85-year-old eyes of Scotty Bowman, the winningest coach in NHL history, the bench boss of the most perfectly constructed team ever and today, a frequent visitor to Amalie Arena near his home in Sarasota: We are seeing the extraordinary in the Tampa Bay Lightning, at this writing 21 points better than second place teams, Calgary and Boston.

Says the guy who coached the most flawless clubs ever put together, the 1976-79 Canadiens, and two more powerhouses in Pittsburgh and Detroit that deserve a spot in the discussion of the greatest of the greats: This Lightning team, if it wins this June as it should, will earn a place in the pantheon of an NHL of six teams or 31, a salary cap or not. Bowman says the dilution of today’s league will not be detrimental towards Tampa Bay’s case, actually strengthens it.

“With all the parity there now is in the league, they are so dominant that there isn’t even a runner up,” said Bowman. “That is something to really consider.

“Of course it’s all about the playoffs with this team. They haven’t won yet. Who is going to beat them? Not anybody if they play the same way that they are now. Probably they can only beat themselves.

“The only possible weakness I can see is that they are small up front. But they are very fast and have (scoring) depth teams just don’t have any more.”

The Lightning will not better the all-time 132 points recorded by Bowman’s 1976-77 Canadiens. That club not only set the record in a season two games fewer than today’s schedule, but passed our eye test as the most perfect team we ever have seen. Those Canadiens lost only eight games and had 12 ties that a conservative estimate suggests would have been turned into at least eight more wins and 140 points should ever contest have had a winner.

The Oiler teams that won four times in five years were the greatest offensive machine in the game’s history. The Islanders who, like Bowman’s Canadiens won four straight Cups, had superb offense, defense, goaltending, and were the most clutch team of the expansion era, winning a seemingly-impossible 19 straight playoff series. But the Islanders; attention meandered some during regular seasons –118 points being their highest total in those four title years.

During the Canadiens dynasty they lost only 10 playoff games in 12 series. They had nine Hall of Famers, including the then-best player in the game, Guy Lafleur, its top goalie in Ken Dryden, were perfectly balanced by two checking lines and two scoring line. And yet nobody or anything we already have mentioned was even the most distinctive element of that club: The greatest defense ever put together had three more Hall of Famers–Serge Savard, Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe. When needed, the Islanders and Oilers buckled down defensively, but those Canadiens were impenetrable start to finish.

“We had Lafleur, (Jacques) Lemaire, (Yvon) Cournoyer, (Steve) Shutt and yet I would say we were primarily a defensive team,” said Bowman. “The Lightning plays a high tempo game, not a stingy game, are happy to trade chances with you.

“The defense is big and mobile and likes to pinch down so you can get some breakaways on them. So there are very few games I have seen where (goalie) Andrei Vasilevskiy has the night off. He’s quick, big, likes to play a lot and now he has experience. The teams they meet will have to outplay him in goal and I doubt whether anybody can.

“There have been a few teams that came into Tampa playing really tight and were able to sneak by. Even the best teams are going to have those games and [Tampa Bay] has not had many, maybe three or four all year.

“I don’t think any club that won since the Cap has had as much scoring depth as this one. They have the leading scorer (Nikita Kucherov) by a wide margin.”

Tampa Bay has three players with a shot at 40 goals and another eight either already over 15 or within reach of it. The fourth line of Yanni Gourde, Cedric Paquette and Adam Ernie had 38 goals. In today’s game, if you have three good lines, it means you’ve dumbed down the first two in the hope of creating some balance. But the next Lightning line over the boards can hurt you and the first two will kill you.

“Power play (first in the NHL), penalty killing (first), even defense (fourth), there is nothing not near the top (in rankings),” said Bowman. “And, I think this is important: They have had enough adversity; being close the last few playoffs. That’s usually the formula.

“They have done an amazing job of getting high-end players. They put in a foundation with high picks like (Steven) Stamkos and (Victor) Hedman, but they have got other players in the second round (Kucherov), third round (Brayden Point) and some not drafted (Tyler Johnson).

“They made the trades to pick up (Ryan) McDonagh, a second anchor defenseman to go with Hedman, and (J.T) Miller, who is not a bad player. They could trade (Ben) Bishop because they knew Vasilevskiy was coming and got a defenseman from LA, in (Erik) Cernak who is in their top three.

“They have put together a strong team and they are not old. They have to keep the goalie after one more year but Kucherov, Stamkos and Hedman are all signed. It’s a well-run team that has a chance to have a run. First they gotta win one, of course. But they have everything that can make a team great, including now, the experience.”
Join the Discussion: » 1 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Jay Greenberg
» The Penguins Suck it Up
» More Than Ever, the Winner Will Earn It
» We Have a Right to Know
» It's a Good Plan, but Only for This Time
» Taking a Shot Before There's a Shot