There's no lust for blood yet, but last season's playoffs sparked a growing animosity.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published November 14, 2003
WASHINGTON - Tim Taylor remembers hating the Avalanche. Hating it.
Taylor played for the Red Wings in the mid '90s when that blood feud was at its violent worst.
Not that animosity between the Lightning and Capitals will ever grow to those proportions. But Taylor said the groundwork is being laid for a good, healthy rivalry, especially after Tampa Bay beat Washington in six games in last season's East quarterfinals.
"I think we saw it near the end of last season when both teams knew we were fighting each other to win the division," the Tampa Bay center said Thursday. "Going into the playoffs, something was festering there and it's continuing now."
It was Capitals coach Bruce Cassidy who first acknowledged the pot was boiling.
After Washington stopped Tampa Bay's eight-game, season-opening unbeaten streak on Nov. 4 with a 5-1 victory, Cassidy said, "It adds to the satisfaction because they're the first-place team in our division, and we don't like them, plain and simple. And they don't like us."
So what does it take to create a rivalry?
Generally, repeated meetings in the playoffs, where emotions run high and up to seven consecutive games against the same opponent build grudges and hostility.
Lightning left wing Andre Roy saw that up close in his two-plus seasons with the Senators. Ottawa lost to the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs in 2000 and 2001, and Roy said raw feelings carried into the regular season.
"You could see little dirty things in front of the net; cross-checking, a little spearing, elbows in the face. After the whistles, always scrums," he said. "It would be like showing down the road how it was going to be."
Sometimes there is a defining moment. With the Avalanche and Red Wings, it was when Detroit's Kris Draper suffered major facial injuries after Colorado's Claude Lemieux cross-checked him from behind into the boards.
Proximity helps. Ottawa and Toronto are in the same division and province. As Southeast members, the Lightning and Capitals meet six times this season, including tonight at the MCI Center. That gives grudges plenty of time to build and be settled.
But mostly rivalries are sparked in the postseason, and that is why Lightning coach John Tortorella does not buy into Tampa Bay and Washington ... yet.
"You need to be in the playoffs for a number of years for rivalries to grow, as far as I'm concerned," he said. "We're not too concerned about what anybody says from other teams; players, coaches, manager. We have enough things to worry about with our organization to just concentrate on that."
Toward that end the Lightning on Wednesday watched video of Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Panthers. Tortorella asked players to write what they believe to be their strengths and weaknesses. That was part of a plan to overcome a 1-2-1-1 stretch in which Tampa Bay has been shut out twice and in two other games scored just once.
"We went over a number of things," the coach said. "I thought it was a very productive day."
At no time was a general dislike of the Capitals part of the discussion, though Lightning center Vinny Lecavalier said, "I would understand why they hate us. We beat them four games in a row in the playoffs.
"It did start a rivalry. It was a long series, a tough series. There was a lot of hitting and a lot of people trying to hurt each other, and I think it did continue into the season. But we have to play our game. We can't worry about who we play. We want to win the game and get two points. That's all we're about."
Maybe so, but Taylor said rivalries make games more interesting and even more fun.
"Instead of taking a guy out of the play, you're trying to put him through the boards," he said.
Just like the Avalanche and Red Wings. Well, maybe not.
