Teams often speak of chemistry. But Jay Feaster has perfected it, prompting Tampa Bay's unprecedented success.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published May 8, 2004
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
The Lightning researched left wing Ruslan Fedotenko before getting him from Philadelphia in 2002. It does the same with any player it considers acquiring to make sure he will fit in well in the locker room.
When it comes to building the Lightning, there is a picture you can draw of general manager Jay Feaster in a long white smock, goggles in place with black leather gloves mixing this and that into a smoke-filled beaker.
The concoction bursts into flames, and Feaster throws his head back in laughter.
Chemistry. High school, right? But Feaster said it is one of the most important elements he uses in putting together the team.
Feaster not only wants players who play well, but who play well together. Players who can check their egos when necessary, who come together when the going gets tough and not divide and bicker. By all accounts, that is what he has achieved.
"I truly believe we have the greatest bunch of guys," Feaster said. "They believe in the cliches that you play for the crest on the front of the uniform and not the name on the back. It is about sacrificing for your teammates."
Ultimately, though, it is about necessity.
Working with a $33-million budget, about $11-million less than the league average, and answering to owner Bill Davidson, who has lost, it is said, about $50-million since he bought the franchise and the St. Pete Times Forum lease in June 1999, Feaster must be a smart shopper.
There is no emergency fund waiting to buy out mistakes or correct them with more personnel. In that sense, Feaster said, "I feel I'm under a great deal of pressure."
But that pressure is Tampa Bay's strength.
Feaster and player personnel director Bill Barber have been so careful when trading for or signing players and have done so much background checking to ensure they fit Tampa Bay's profile, their acquisitions have fit like Dan Marino's Isotoners, not only on the ice but in the locker room.
Consider the run of successful acquisitions since Feaster took over in February 2002: forwards Ruslan Fedotenko, Andre Roy, Chris Dingman, Eric Perrin and Cory Stillman, defensemen Brad Lukowich and Darryl Sydor, and goalie John Grahame.
All are major contributors. All fit in the locker room as if they grew up there. Yes, there is underachiever Shane Willis, stuck in the minors. But, hey, what a nice guy.
"It's chemistry within the room," Feaster said. "It's being able to handle the way we go about things, the way we do business, the way we coach. If you're going to bring in a guy who is overly sensitive to coaching (apparently coach John Tortorella's reputation as a tough nut preceeds him), you're behind the eight ball to start with."
What is chemistry
It is more a concept than a rule; a suggestion than a certainty.
"It's family," Barber said. "One word. Chemistry is family, and that is you do everything possible for your family."
Red Wings senior vice president Jim Devellano, instrumental in building the powerful Detroit teams that took shape in the late '90s and the four-Cup Islanders of the early '80s, was more nebulous.
"I'm not sure how you pinpoint it," he said. "People think chemistry is buddy-buddy, but that's not necessarily so. All those years I was with the New York Islanders, all those players didn't necessarily become buddy-buddy off the ice. But when they got to the rink, they all put their working boots on and worked for a common cause and success."
Former Islanders great Denis Potvin said chemistry "is the ultimate. It's the most important thing you can bring to the ice. It's like going to war. You want to know that your backside is covered; not just in a physical sense, but when you make a mistake you want to know your teammate is as eager to cover up for your mistake as he would be to cover for his own."
Potvin said it was like that on Long Island.
"We were as much of a team as you can imagine," he said. "We had 16 guys who won four Stanley Cups. Still, today, we have 16 guys who feel like they can beat the world."
Lightning defenseman Brad Lukowich said it is like that with Tampa Bay, nevermind the Cups.
"We push each other," he said. "You don't have the bickering. You don't have arrows coming into your team. You have them going out. Someone's got your back."
"No individual stats compare to team stats," center Tim Taylor said. "That's what we have."
Not that all the players hang out together. And not everyone is going to like each other. In a locker room of 25, that is impossible.
"It's not so much calling a guy every day of the summer. It's having respect for everyone's jobs," Taylor said. "It's Vinny Lecavalier having respect for Chris Dingman's job like he has for Vinny Lecavalier, and knowing each guy's job is very important to the team to have success."
Fitting the profile
Feaster said the process begins with a sit-down with he, Barber and the coaching staff to talk about the team's needs. When it is determined what player can fill a need - say, defenseman Darryl Sydor - the vetting starts.
Sources from around the league are tapped by pro scouts Dirk Graham and Rick Paterson. Barber and associate coach Craig Ramsay, because of their years in the league, are consulted, and they call their contacts to further determine character and intangibles.
What is the player's temperament?
How does he handle coaching?
Does he get along with his teammates?
Has he ever been disruptive in the locker room?
How hard is he willing to work?
In Sydor's case, Tampa Bay had a ready-made source in Lukowich, who played with Sydor in Dallas.
Feaster said the process is in-depth because "it fits with (Tortorella's) philosophy and myself that constant change and turnover is not a good thing. It's one of the things that plagued us in the past.
"A guy would come in. Maybe he was from Philly, maybe he was from Colorado, whatever big-time program he came from and he'd say, "Well, we'll do it this way here.' John worked really hard to make sure players understood that it was going to be John Tortorella's way."
Bringing in the right players also helps Feaster earn credibility with ownership. And CEO Tom Wilson has said Davidson went along with a Sydor deal that raised payroll because Feaster's other acquisitions helped the Lightning to the playoffs.
Making the playoffs means more revenue.
"Mr. Davidson has made it incredibly clear to me he is tired of losing money," Feaster said. "(The playoffs) are where we have a chance to correct that deficit. I certainly feel if we're not a playoff team, Mr. Davidson looks hard at that deficit and says, "We lost $10-million. Now you want to take the payroll to what? And you're not giving me any more revenue."
Compare that with deep-pocketed Detroit.
"What we're always trying to do is upgrade the talent level," Devellano said. "That comes first with us. Don't misread that character isn't important. We don't want a jerk, but we will take a little bit of an oddball who's got real ability. At the end of the day, any team that wins has to have real good talent."
What does the Lightning have?
"I'm impressed with what they've done," Devellano said. "They have a nice blend of younger players and older players at the top. It's a team with good goaltending and a good organization."
