By Allan Brown
So close and yet so far.
When Tampa Bay Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos had his picture taken next to the Prince of Wales Trophy last May, he stood near the award, but far enough away as not to touch it.
You see, there's a superstition around the NHL that if you touch the trophy, given annual to the champions of the Eastern Conference, you will automatically lose in the Stanley Cup Final.
Of course, even with Stamkos standing a noticeable distance away from the Prince of Wales Trophy, the Lightning fell to the Chicago Blackhawks, four games to two in the Cup Final.
So close and yet so far.
Close enough to the promised land to actually begin to think of hoisting Lord Stanley's trophy and take a victory lap around the ice at Amalie Arena, yet far enough away from thinking of drinking celebratory champagne from the fabled Cup.
So close and yet so far.
Those six little words best sum up the past year for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In my last Lightning blog, I had some fun and named my annual Five Most Intriguing Bolts of the Year. In doing so, I also gave kudos and some statistical recaps for some of the best players on the Tampa Bay roster. In Part Two of my year-end review, I stick strictly to the numbers.
And those numbers reiterate that the Bolts are, yes, so close and yet so far from becoming an elite NHL franchise.
Of course, Stamkos lead the team in scoring, and although his 43 goals in 2014-15 were down from previous campaigns, the All-Star center didn't need as many goals, as his teammates really stepped up to make the Lightning the ultimate cohesive squad that led the league in goals scored.
Players like J.T. Brown Alex Killorn came into their own this past calendar year, with Killer netting the game-winning goal against the New York Rangers that put the Lightning into the Stanley Cup Final.
Of course, any review of the Lightning's performance this past year would be remiss without mentioning their league-leading scoring - which was lead by their second line, affectionately known as 'The Triplets' - or their deep playoff run that saw them get thisclose to the promised land.
Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov have all suffered injuries this season, tempering their numbers from last year, but it is worth mentioning their collective 75 goals and 126 assists from the last campaign that saw them all in the Lightning's top three among assists with Johnny and Kuch also among the top three players in goals scored, with Palat following close behind in fourth.
Mixing that second line up in this current season at some points was a necessity and, at other times, a failed attempt by Head Coach Jon Cooper to shake things up when the other lines weren't scoring. Clearly, when healthy that line needs to remain intact, as they provide the Bolts with the best chance at repeating as Eastern Conference champions in May.
As the new season started in October, the Lightning certainly seemed poised to take that final step in the franchise turnaround that began over five years ago when businessman Jeff Vinik purchased the team and reinvigorated it with a new logo, a newly remodeled arena and - most importantly - a new front office.
Yet despite keeping the team virtually intact - only left winger Brenden Morrow failed to return to the club this season - the 2015-16 Bolts seemed very far away from the squad that almost won it all in June.
Be it multiple injuries, plain burnout from a playoffs-shortened summer vacation or just that other teams have now gotten wind of Cooper's style of play, the Lightning have struggled in the first part of this season.
But in keeping with the spirit of this holiday season, there had seemed to be a Christmas miracle of late, as the Bolts had won seven of their last 10 games. Yet, two of their last three contests before the Christmas break were both debacles with Coach Coop and the gang definitely playing Ebeneezer Scrooge for the Lightning faithful. Sandwiched in between one of their better games of the season, a thumping of Ottawa, came a loss to the league-leading Capitals in a game where Tampa had a 3-0 lead, only to fall to Alex Ovechkin & Company 5-3 via a dreadful third period of play. That was nothing compared to Tuesday night's embarrassing loss to a not even that good Vancouver Canucks team. In that final game before the three-day blackout known as the NHL holiday break, the Bolts sunk to an all-time low and were an absolutely abhorrent 1 for 10 on the power play.
Despite everything, the Lightning are still only six points behind the injury-plagued Montreal Canadians, who lead the Atlantic Division with 43 points. But when you compare that record to the Capitals 52 points, which leads the Eastern Conference, the Bolts look pretty much like they are on life support. Entering the break, Tampa Bay has a 17-15-3 record, which puts them in sixth place in their division. Thank the Hockey Gods for that recent 70 percent win percentage, or they could have easily been out of the division race before the new year even started.
So as the calendar year comes to an end, it's safe to say the Lightning have had an up and down 12 months that saw them almost reach the pinnacle of success and win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 11 years. Unfortunately, the delirium fans felt this past season was tempered by the current campaign, which has seen the team somewhat floundering and its fans coming back down to earth.
So close and yet so far.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! SEE YOU IN 2016, UNDER REVIEW!
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