Despite Monday’s shutout loss at the hands of the visiting Colorado Avalanche, the vibe around the Tampa Bay Lightning is still far more pleasant this season than last.

After a loss like that – where the first 40 minutes of play were essentially wasted by the Bolts – last year’s club, for a variety of reasons, would have allowed a feeling of impending doom to infiltrate the locker room and quickly spread throughout the organization.

With this year’s bunch, that dreadful sensation has been just about non-existent, even in the face of some minor struggles.

Of course, positivity begins and ends with wins and losses and an eight-point improvement over last season’s record through 25 games is part and parcel to the overall attitude adjustment.

Other obvious ingredients that make up the recipe for this season’s greener Lightning pastures have been covered in depth by various outlets already: the emergence of Steven Stamkos as the driving force behind the team’s success, the addition of and quick reliance upon Victor Hedman, the “good problem to have” of two top goaltenders, added scoring depth of late, a stabilized blueline, the death (ok, near-death) of the Vincent Lecavalier trade rumor and the welcome hush brought on, in part, by an NHL-imposed muzzle placed on any and all ongoing ownership issues.

But one factor that is only now starting to be whispered about might be the most important of all in Tampa Bay’s turnaround.

This team is really becoming a close group.

A hand-holding gathering of best friends is not paramount to on-ice success and nobody’s implying that such is the case here in Tampa. All signs of late, however, point to a tight-knit assembly of hockey players that care about each other enough not only to perform the expected duty of looking after one another on the ice but are also loose enough away from the play to make for a room that’s often filled with lighthearted chatter, laughter, good-natured ribbing and, when the mood strikes, the odd practical joke or two.

It’s hard to pinpoint when this type of cohesion begins, particularly when a fair amount of players are carryovers from the previous season, as is the case here in Tampa. What is evident, though, is that the growing unity of this team is already leaps and bounds ahead of what last year’s hodgepodge of players coming and going was able to achieve. (A little stability really does go a long way.) Despite the revolving door of a year ago, the core for this crew was already in place.

This is a team of character – a direct reflection on head coach Rick Tocchet – as indicated by their consistent willingness to stand up for themselves and for their teammates on the ice, and of characters as well, with individuals like Ryan Malone and Mike Smith, who each know the value of a little silliness at the right time and “glue guy” Zenon Konopka, who is as good for a laugh away from the rink as he is for a scrap on it.

Take, for instance, Konopka’s recent gag at the expense of teammate Stephane Veilleux. With the assistance of local radio station personalities, the wool was pulled over Veilleux’s eyes with an on-air prank call where 97X’s Fisher and Boy acted as Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino security and claimed that Konopka had been playing poker all night, got out of control and needed to be picked up before that morning’s practice. Veilleux fell for it hook, line and sinker, even urging “security” not to report his colleague’s “misbehavior” to the organization. (The culprit’s true identity was revealed shortly after mentioning the need for Veilleux to bring both pants for Konopka, as well as a check for $10,000 dollars to replace a damaged slot machine.)

On the ice, Konopka is all business. The first guy on the Bolts bench to take on any and all comers, he first made his presence known in training camp last season when he fought and fought and fought (all quite literally), forcing management to take notice. While he still spent the majority of the 2008-09 campaign at AHL Norfolk, he was in the plans for this Lightning team from the start and has made an obvious impact, leading the NHL with 108 penalty minutes and tied for a league-high in fighting majors (10) with Phoenix’s Paul Bissonnette.

But away from the play, there is a serious side to Konopka too. He has referenced “family” on multiple occasions when talking about the team. Specifically, after the questionable hit from Ottawa’s Chris Neil that left Hedman concussed in an early November meeting, Konopka described the fallen rookie as “like a brother”. Strong words, especially if you consider that Hedman and Konopka hadn’t even been teammates for two months at the time.

That sort of bond shines through in special hockey teams and is visible in the way they carry themselves during a game. Sometimes, it’s difficult to describe at the time. But a look at the bigger picture brings it all into focus.

Sure, hockey clubs will ultimately be measured by points in the standings and, so far, the Lightning are well on their way to major improvement in that category. But these often overlooked little factors all play directly into in-game success and those special teams are hardly ever lacking in these areas.

Like prank-calling a teammate for a laugh.

Like being able to poke fun at yourselves for shootout deficiencies by donning backwards “rally helmets”.

And like a player hosting fellow players for Thanksgiving dinner, as Malone did recently.

Or the budding tradition of shaving cream pies to the face for birthdays, as suffered by Kurtis Foster, Paul Szczechura and Veilleux to this point.

Or Todd Fedoruk nonsensically yelping something to the effect of, “Mountain Dew, Bugsy! Mountain Dew!” while a grinning Malone tended to a media scrum earlier in the year.

And, naturally, we can’t forget about the “naked shootout” which may have fast-forwarded the loose nature of this team exponentially back in October (and nearly burned damaging images into the minds of others as well).

Far more than all of that – and perhaps, at least partially, because of all of that – the common answer that you’ll hear when you ask a member of this year’s Tampa Bay Lightning what they’re playing for night in and night out is the biggest reason behind their early season success.

“For the guys in that room.”

Can’t argue with that.

JJ

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