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By TOM JONES
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 5, 2000
TORONTO -- A huge plaque hangs in the home dressing room at the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens.
"Defeat did not rest lightly on their shoulders," it reads.
Standing in the shadow of the plaque, about 10 feet away from one another, Friday afternoon were two figures from the Lightning past. Former executive Tony Esposito and former pro scout Peter Mahovlich stood among the heroes of hockey, talking about the good old days of hockey. You know, back when players were bused to games, played for peanuts, played with broken bones, walked up a hill to the rink in 10 feet of snow and the whole bit. And loved every minute of it.
Then Esposito and Mahovlich talked about the bad old days.
That, of course, would cover their time with the Tampa Bay Lightning. What's more, the bad old days continue as the Lightning limps into this weekend's All-Star break as one of the league's worst teams.
"I thought things would be a lot better this season, especially after the start they had, but it really hasn't worked out that way," said Mahovlich, who served as the Lightning's pro scout for two years before being dismissed this summer by general manager Rick Dudley. "It takes time, though, to come back from where that team has been. I shouldn't say that things haven't gotten better for them. The plan, it seems, is to get a new attitude. When you take over a losing franchise, the first thing you need to do is change the attitude. And from what I can tell, they've done that."
But, Mahovlich said, the change has come at a cost. To change the attitude, the Lightning had to jettison players such as Stephane Richer, Alexandre Daigle, Andreas Johansson, Colin Forbes, Michael Nylander. It made the break from long-time goalie Daren Puppa. It cut ties with veteran defenseman Bill Houlder.
Mahovlich, who now is a pro scout for the Atlanta Thrashers, wouldn't discuss individual players, and even said he agreed with a lot of the moves the Lightning has made.
"Still, though, these guys have talent," Mahovlich said. "When you let go of that many players with talent, and you don't have the depth to replace them, you're going to suffer. To be honest, I haven't seen them a lot this season, but when you're starting over like this, a lot of your success, at least at first, is going to depend on goaltending. If you get good, really good, goaltending, you'll be successful. If you get bad goaltending, you'll struggle. When you have a team like that, though, it's unfair to expect your goalie to do it for you every single night. But let's face it, every good team has to get great goaltending these days."
That's where Esposito comes in. He is the man perhaps most responsible for getting the Lightning to its only playoff appearance in 1996 because he's the one most responsible for bringing in Puppa, the team's MVP during its lone successful run to the post-season.
"I don't want to say anything negative," Esposito said. "I've been to a few games, and I have to say that that team really works hard. But if you don't get outstanding goaltending, and I'm not saying that the guys they have aren't going to be good goalies in this league, but then you have to depend on your talent.
"The thing they could use now is a couple of snipers, a couple of 30-40 goal guys. You can work as hard as you want, but that doesn't mean anything if you don't have guys who can put the puck in the net."
Esposito and Mahovlich believe better days are coming for Tampa Bay. Mahovlich said he thinks highly of Dudley, and most of the moves Dudley has made have been good ones. Both believe goalie Dan Cloutier and center Vincent Lecavalier can be stars. They like the young defense.
Neither, though, is shocked that the Lightning's move toward success if moving at what seems like a snail's pace.
"It's not easy in this day and age, with so many teams, and contracts the way they are, to just build a winner overnight," Mahovlich said. "You have to start with changing the attitude, and playing the kids. And that's what they're doing. We'll see if it works out for them."
NHL ALL-STAR GAME: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Air Canada Centre, Toronto. TV: Chs. 28, 40.