One year ago today, in the not-so-friendly confines of the National Hockey League’s Edmonton bubble, the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched the franchise’s second Stanley Cup championship.
A lot has happened since that fateful day in Edmonton, including a *third* Stanley Cup championship for the franchise. In a lot of ways, it feels like a lifetime ago. Still, as the Bolts get set to start their quest for the three-peat, it’s difficult not to look back at that moment in Edmonton as a defining moment for the organization.
The story has been well told: The Tampa Bay Lightning had been one of the NHL’s best-run organizations basically from the moment that Jeff Vinik took over as Owner. By bringing in Steve Yzerman, he installed instant credibility. That credibility came with tangible benefits, as Yzerman methodically built an on-ice force to be reckoned with. Even so, for a long while, it felt like this group would never get over the hump. Those feelings came to an ugly head after the 2019 postseason, when a historically stellar regular season team was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the unassuming Columbus Blue Jackets.
After that sweep, it would have been easy for Julien BriseBois – who took over from Yzerman at the start of that season – to blow things up. “This core isn’t getting it done,” he could have said. “We need a culture change,” he could have lectured. Few would have batted an eye. Instead, he stuck to his convictions and belief that this core could be a championship core, that this core could be one to write a page in the history books. Thank goodness he did.
Since that Columbus sweep, players like Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Brayden Point has almost certainly earned themselves one-way tickets to the Hockey Hall of Fame when the time ultimately comes. Back-to-back Stanley Cup wins will do that for great players. And it all started last year in Edmonton.
As an Edmontonian myself, there was something quite surreal about having the Lightning lift the Cup, after so many years of heartbreak, in my hometown. No, I couldn’t be in the building. No, I didn’t see players out and about around town. But it was still happening right here, just a couple blocks from my condo at the time. Few others in Edmonton were cheering particularly hard for a Lightning victory, but I certainly was.
While some were quick to put an asterisk on the Lightning for winning the Cup in the bubble, subsequent history has proven that this team is for real. The core pieces, as mentioned, have written their chapter in the history books. All of the pain, including that sweep against the Blue Jackets, has been forgotten. It was all worth it.
As always, thanks for reading.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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