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The regular season and playoffs are now complete for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and so it is time to reflect on what can only be described as a very successful 2013-14 campaign. No, the team didn’t win the Stanley Cup. No, the team didn’t win a single playoff game. With that said, this Bolts group surprised a lot of people in the hockey world. There’s a lot for them to be proud of.
Today I’ll start by grading the head coach and general manager. From there, there will be blogs on the goaltenders, defensemen, and forwards.
Head Coach Jon Cooper – Record: 46-27-9
There’s a reason that Jon Cooper is being talked about as a potential favorite for the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best coach. It’s not by accident. Cooper, in his first full season as an NHL bench boss, did some wonderful things with the Lightning.
Not only did he coach the team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2011, but he did it in the face of some very serious adversity. If it wasn’t the Steven Stamkos leg injury, it was the Bishop wrist injury. If it wasn’t the Bishop wrist injury, it was former captain Marty St. Louis’s trade demand. Through it all, Cooper remained a breath of fresh air and gave all Lightning fans a sense of optimism.
A lot of people will point to the fact that he was undoubtedly outcoached in round one of this year’s postseason as a reason to lower his grade. Maybe they have a point. I’d argue, however, the young coach will likely use the experience as a building block to reach greater things. He’s a proven winner. This is a guy who has won at every level he’s ever coached at. With time and experience, I have no doubt in my mind that he will become a winner in the NHL.
If you’re looking for evidence of Cooper’s success, consider the team’s improvement in puck possession. Under Guy Boucher, the Bolts struggled to control the puck in all situations. Under Cooper, on the other hand, Tampa established itself as one of the league’s better possession teams.
Further, take note of the young players that Cooper brought along in his first season with the team. Players like Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, and Alex Killorn, among others, all had breakout years. No team in the NHL came close to receiving as much production from rookies as the Lightning. These are players who had success under Cooper at the American Hockey League level, and they’ve turned into players who are having success under Cooper at the NHL level.
In conclusion, Cooper was really, really good.
GRADE: A+
General Manager Steve Yzerman
What a year for Steve Yzerman. Not only did he build a team that competed in the postseason, but he also won a Gold medal at the Sochi Olympics for his role with Team Canada.
Outside of his Olympic triumph, perhaps the best moment of Yzerman’s 2013-14 season was when he managed to turn a dejected Marty St. Louis into a bushel of draft picks and a very effective veteran forward.
I’m not going to sit here and rehash that deadline deal, but I will give Yzerman the credit he most certainly deserves. St. Louis wanted out of Tampa, but was only willing to waive for one team. That demand effectively squashed any and all leverage Yzerman might have had with the New York Rangers. It would have been easy for New York GM Glen Sather to sit back and wait for Yzerman to cave. It would have been easy for St. Louis to force Yzerman into accepting a bad deal. Neither of those things happened.
Yzerman turned his captain into Ryan Callahan, a 2014 2nd rounder that could turn into a 1st if the Rangers make it to the conference quarterfinal, and a 2015 1st. That’s quite the haul for a player who pouted his way out of town.
If that was the end of my Yzerman report, he’d be awarded an A+ without question. The issue is that there’s more to talk about. Rewinding to trade deadline day, it’s hard not to question why a deal wasn’t made to either bolster a weak defense or address the team’s lack of faith in the backup goaltender. There were options available.
As luck (or fate) would have it, the Lightning’s weak defense and backup goaltender were both exposed in round one of the playoffs.
GRADE: B+
I’ll be back in the near future with the next grades blog. Have you say on Cooper and Yzerman in the polls below!
As always, thanks for reading.