For Lightning fans, the team’s excellent regular season and gutsy playoff run were a long time coming. The question is, what happens now?
Think of it as a franchise halfway up the mountain.
Two ways to go from here.
One of them involves pain.
Oh, it's a nice ridge with a nice view where Tampa Bay's little-buddy-of-a-hockey team finds itself perched. The air is fresh and the sky is clear. Look at it this way: The Lightning might not be on top of the mountain, but at least the mountain is no longer on top of the Lightning.
As players go, they are talented. They are young. Why, they are the defending champion of the NHL Southeast.
Why, then, do the critics keep acting as if this franchise is a falling rocks zone?
Oh, there are doubts about the Lightning in its quest to film a sequel. There are questions wrapped in concerns and inside of reservations. In some circles, it seems, people expect the Lightning to backslide so far, so fast, that it will finish with frostbite on its collective backside.
In other words, there are those who think the Lightning could revert to (shudder) the Lightning.
Now, now. Don't get your dander up. After all, there are plenty of reasons to doubt. Nikolai Khabibulin's head. Vinny Prospal's shoes. Jay Feaster's budget. And on and on.
There are doubts because the owner, Bill Davidson, still tosses around nickels as if he were throwing the discus. (Official team viewpoint: Such lingering notions are silly. Davidson cannot wait for the season to get started because of Larry Brown. No, wait. That's basketball season. But, hey, maybe Larry likes hockey.)
Also, because no one knows just how much last season's playoff benching will affect Khabibulin. Goalies are strange enough to figure out when things are going well. (Team viewpoint: On the other hand, maybe a chip on the shoulder will help Khabibulin's focus. For one thing, it could close the "two" hole.)
Also, because Vinny Prospal, last year's leading scorer, left town to play for the Mighty Ducks. The team will miss his feistiness. (Team viewpoint: Prospal will be replaced by Cory Stillman, who was excellent in the movie The Lost Boys.)
Also, because the Lightning didn't make a ripple in the offseason. As close followers know, the Lightning has been on the verge of signing a sensational free agent or making a blockbuster trade every offseason since, let's see, 1958. This just in: Nobody special. (Team viewpoint: Hey, we've been close.)
Also, because the last time the Lightning made the playoffs, it didn't make it for the next 10 years. (Team viewpoint: What's a decade between friends?)
Also, because coach John Tortorella still doesn't have a new contract, which could affect his gentle, passive nature. (Team viewpoint: What contract? Where?)
Also, because of the division. Here, doesn't everyone take turns in winning the division? That makes this year Atlanta's turn, right? (Team viewpoint: Wrong.)
Also, because of the looming NHL strike, which is on everyone's minds. According to the players, the owners want to set a salary cap of $32-million per team. Considering how much less the Lightning usually spend compared with anyone else, that's going to leave the team payroll at about $187. (Team viewpoint: In an NHL where no one spends money for talent, the Lightning is going to be king. It's been practicing for years.)
The short of it is this: There are doubts about the Lightning because there are always doubts about the Lightning. You don't erase a decade of dreck with one season, no matter how much fun was involved along the way. People around here are used to shaking their heads. The neck muscles don't work any other way.
Let's face it. Gravity makes it a lot easier to fall than to climb.
On the other hand, have you seen this division? If you are searching for a reason to believe the Lightning can do it again, look around.
Does a self-absorbed, frontrunning Washington team scare you? Jaromir Jagr will finish the season with another 40 goals, and when it's done, you won't be able to remember any of them. Carolina is too old. Atlanta is too young.
All of which leaves the Lightning just about here: There are a lot of reasons to doubt, but none not to believe this team can't at least reach the playoffs again.
Go ahead. Watch.
John Grahame, the backup goaltender, will be here all year. Brad Richards will have a better year scoring. Vinny Lecavalier is one year closer to stardom. Martin St. Louis still will drive defenders crazy. And Khabibulin, despite his wobbly playoffs, is smart enough to know that nothing comes to an athlete unless he plays well.
Oh, and when the trading deadline comes, the Lightning will be this close to making an impressive trade.
That will fall through, of course.
The Lightning won't.
Prediction: Southeast Division champions, eliminated in first round of playoffs.
