He tells it like it is

Lightning's Brad Lukowich offers cheers - and jeers - from the bench depending on teammates' performances.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 18, 2002

BRANDON -- Defenseman Brad Lukowich will keep a close eye on the Lightning's first shift tonight against the Thrashers.

[Times photo: Dan McDuffie] Defenseman Brad Luckowich has performed better than expected for the Lightning.

The game at the St. Pete Times Forum is huge. At home against a weaker division opponent, it is the kind of game Tampa Bay must win if it is to convince people, and itself, it is not the same team that missed the playoffs the past six seasons.

So Lukowich's eyes will be sharp.

"Right from the first shift, you can tell what's going to happen," he said after Thursday's practice at the Ice Sports Forum.

If it is a crisp shift, full of emotion and energy, Lukowich will lead the cheers as his teammates return to the bench. If it is sloppy andlethargic. . .

"I'll jump up and say we have to follow that up with a shift that's better than that," he said. "Let's get better and do something."

Either way, Lukowich is not going to keep quiet.

Lukowich, 26, has brought much to the team since being acquired in June (on his wedding day, no less) from the Stars with a second-round draft pick.

He is more aggressive moving the puck than it was thought he would be. He takes a turn on the power play, and his willingness to be physical is a bonus on a team general manager Jay Feaster has promised to toughen up.

He is plus-1 and scored in Tampa Bay's opening-night victory over the Panthers.

But Lukowich is almost as valuable on the bench, where he cajoles, encourages and generally helps keep the energy level up among his teammates.

"It's contagious," captain and left wing Dave Andreychuk said.

Defensemen and forwards sit separately on the bench with defensemen closest to the team's defensive zone. So it wasn't until Andreychuk stood behind the bench, nursing a broken small right toe during a preseason game at Ottawa, that he got to hear all of what Lukowich offers.

"He's cheering a good play and letting guys know it when they come off the ice," Andreychuk said. "He's positive energy."

"He's always talking," coach John Tortorella said. "He's always telling players to help out. It's just a sign of awareness."

Lukowich couldn't quite pin down from where this awareness came.

He spoke of learning from various players while in juniors and the minors. But his most impressive lessons might have come from former Stars teammates Mike Keane and Kirk Muller.

Lukowich remembered as a rookie being harassed by some teammates after making a mistake in a game. He said Keane intervened and told the offending players to keep things positive.

It is a lesson Lukowich said he still carries.

When the Lightning fell behind the Panthers 3-1 in the third period, Lukowich said (and this is the sanitized version), "Don't look back. Keep it going."

Then he scored to ignite Tampa Bay's comeback.

"Just say anything positive that you can say to get a spin off of what just happened," Lukowich said.

And that's how he plays it ... most of the time.

Tortorella remembered a preseason game in which the Lightning played poorly and Lukowich yelled so the bench could hear, "This is embarrassing."

The outburst was fine with Tortorella.

"A peer's voice or a teammate's voice holds a hell of a lot more water than the coach's," he said. "It's peer pressure, and it's good to have."

Lukowich thinks there should be more.

The Cranbrook, British Columbia, native said players on every level do not do enough to encourage teammates. That is strange, he said, because he sees and knows the effect of getting real-time recognition.

"We don't need to be puppy dogs and get a treat every time we come off the ice," he said. "But a simple "good job,' a pat on the back goes a long way."

He hopes he is handing them out tonight no later than Tampa Bay's first shift.

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