Around these parts, we are barely acquainted with playoff hockey and downright ignorant regarding the depth and measure of Stanley Cup essentials.
How grand must a Stanley Cup roster appear? Must the paychecks be larger? Should the worries be smaller?
What, exactly, does a contender look like?
Apparently, a little like this.
It goes on streaks where it earns points in 23 of 25 games. It has depth in the net and versatility up front. And it keeps beating playoff-bound teams such as Philadelphia, New Jersey and, Thursday night, Toronto.
Apparently, it resembles the Lightning.
Darryl Sydor should know. He reached the Stanley Cup final with Dallas and Los Angeles. He's only been here a month, but already is having flashbacks.
"I've won one, and been to three," Sydor said. "If I look back at those teams, they were all close groups and everybody believed in each other and did everything for each other. It didn't matter if it was two minutes a night you were playing or 22 minutes, everybody was focused on the task at hand.
"That's what you see here. Everybody cares about each other and everybody cares about the details of the game, from what I've seen so far."
The comparison, understand, is not perfect. The Stars, for instance, had been in the making a few years before winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. They had won three consecutive division titles and, the year before going all the way, reached the conference final.
And, sure, the Lightning could do with a few more lessons. A little more growth and a lot more revenue would make Tampa Bay even more Cup cuddly.
But the greatest intangible already is in place. The Lightning plays with the purpose of a champion, if not quite the talent of one.
"Everybody has skill," Sydor said. "But it's a matter of whether your skill players buy into the system. And that's what's happened here. Our skill players do buy into the system and don't put themselves ahead of the team."
Simple concept, you say.
How difficult can it be to convince a couple dozen players the importance of teamwork? Well, if you have a moment, I could show you the wall John Tortorella used to beat his head against.
Camaraderie is the most elusive, and among the most important, qualities in sports. The Buccaneers had it in 2002 and won a Super Bowl. They lost it in 2003 and finished below .500.
Tim Taylor, who won a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 1997, knows a little about this. In 1999, he was among the high-priced talent brought in by the Rangers in an attempt to buy their way into the postseason.
It never happened.
"We thought we were going to win the Stanley Cup," Taylor said. "We had no team chemistry. We were not a team, at all. We were a bunch of a guys thrown together. It's even worse there now. You have all these All-Star candidates on their hockey club and they can't win because they don't have the grinders, the muckers, the solid defensemen.
"They just don't click as a team."
The past two seasons have been instructive that way.
A year ago, Anaheim had one player at the All-Star Game. At the end of the regular season, its record was less impressive than five other Western Conference teams. Yet the Mighty Ducks were a Stanley Cup team.
The year before, Carolina had one All-Star. Its record was the seventh best in the East. Yet the Hurricanes were a Stanley Cup team.
What does that tell you?
It's not about star power. It's not about reputation. It's not about whose name is in lights or whose salary is in the higher tax bracket.
A Stanley Cup team needs the good fortune to avoid injuries - and the Lightning has. The power play and penalty kill have to be solid - and Tampa Bay's has been. The goaltender has to be hot - and the Lightning can only hope Nikolai Khabibulin finds his game by April.
Tampa Bay took the first step last season. Beating Washington was important, but playing New Jersey tough may have been more critical. In the weeks that followed, Lightning players watched the Devils reach the Stanley Cup final and realized how close they had been themselves.
You could point out all the reasons the Lightning is a long shot for the Stanley Cup final this season. Inexperience, for example, is still is a factor. And Tampa Bay does not match up well with Ottawa.
But as each game, each victory goes by, there are more and more reasons to believe in Tampa Bay's fortunes.
"You look at us on paper and, payroll-wise, maybe we shouldn't be there," Sydor said. "But if you look at our character and the way we play as a team, we all feel we should have a chance. That's all you want, is a chance."
