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BRANT JAMESThe intangibles of Tim Taylor offer stability to the Lightning.
TAMPA - There's no "C" on Tim Taylor's jersey. No "A" either.
But there very well could be an "I." Though he's not going to be captain with veteran Dave Andreychuk around or an alternate as the Lightning grooms the younger Vinny Lecavalier and Fredrik Modin for leadership responsibilities, the 35-year-old center has his own important, though less obvious niche: intangibles.
It hasn't gone unnoticed.
"He's added some offense; he's been on that checking line since he's been here and checked against the top people in the league," coach John Tortorella said. "He's valuable on faceoffs and a lot of focus is on (Andreychuk) as far as one of the leaders, but Tim Taylor is right there with him.
"He's another one of those stable people in a locker room you need with a young core. He's been terrific."
Taylor's contribution is not truly reflected in his seven goals, 22 points or even his 59.5-percent faceoff percentage. An 11th-year player and a Stanley Cup champion with Detroit in 1996-97, his most important shifts often end with no statistical footprint.
"You play whatever part you can play for a team because you need all the little intangibles to go in, and I just happen to be one," he said. "I believe we have a lot of young guys now who can lead this team, who have taken the role and expanded it."
Taylor checks, grinds and when the odd occasion arises, he fights. The scab healing under his left eye attests to that. Not a typical bruiser at 6 feet 1, 190 pounds, Taylor will defend a teammate, as he did on March 20 in Boston when he skated across the ice to avenge Nick Boynton's hard hit on Dmitry Afanasenkov.
That's worth its weight in respect in the locker room.
"I think that's good, it brings a team together," said Chris Dingman, one of the Lightning's two enforcers. "You have to have respect for a guy that goes out and hits and gets hit every night."
Sometimes things said can be as strong as things done, and Taylor possesses the subtle ability to nudge into motion events that can help a hockey team. Taylor was first among Lightning players to suggest they should look beyond a Southeast race that was a runaway and continue to grind hard enough to aspire to a first or second seed in the East. Tampa Bay could pull within a point of capturing the East with a win tonight against the Panthers.
"I don't think there's any problem in thinking about that if you don't forget about the process you have to go through to get there," Tortorella said. "There's a lot of things you can control in this game and there's a lot of things you can't. For those detail things, those little things within the game, he understands that and I think he suggests that to his teammates as we go through."
Taylor said the time was right in this team's progression to make such a suggestion.
"I think we're at that point now within the maturity of our hockey team where we can have peer pressure put upon each other," he said. "Because as individuals, we're only as good as our own team does. I think as young players, they challenge the older players and as older players we challenge the younger players."
When Taylor this week said Ottawa's Peter Bondra was a "selfish" player, he created a buzz in both locker rooms that lifted the Lightning's play against a team it had not beaten twice in four seasons. Tampa Bay played well early, but lost 5-4 in overtime. And so continues the intangible effort for tangible results when the playoffs begin next week.
"All we want is to be the best we can be," Taylor said. "This opportunity doesn't come around all the time, and you have to make the most of it. Some of these guys may never get to this point again."