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More than a win at stake

Two points would be nice in the Lightning's opener, but a confidence kick-start would mean more in the long term.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 6, 2000

BRANDON -- There are no couches in the Lightning locker room at the Ice Sports Forum, so a hard bench had to suffice.

On one end, Tampa Bay center Steve Martins, who has a psychology degree from Harvard University. On the other, the Lightning psyche.

"In any sport, so much is mental," Martins said Thursday after practice. "The beginning of the year is important so you can gain that confidence and get into a groove."

The Lightning starts its ninth season at 7:30 tonight against the Islanders at the Ice Palace, and it's no stretch to say expectations are higher than they have been in a while.

Of course, that is relative for a team that has lost at least 50 games for three consecutive seasons.

But general manager Rick Dudley is confident enough with Tampa Bay's roster that he did not make a major move after acquiring goaltender Kevin Weekes from the Islanders in June. The locker room has a collegial atmosphere, and players are talking openly, though guardedly, about the playoffs.

"We think we're pretty good," Dudley said.

A fast start would be good reinforcement.

"A lot of people are questioning if we have the right players here," Martins said. "A good start will help us gain that confidence. And then it steamrolls."

Tampa Bay has an ally in the schedule.

After the Islanders, the team faces the Canucks, Penguins, Thrashers and the expansion Wild. Excluding the Wild, those teams were 105-184-39 last season.

Center Vinny Lecavalier said he expects a 5-0 start. But what if the team stumbles? Do the players say, "Here we go again" and become the same old Lightning?

No, Dudley said, because of the many personnel changes. Only Lecavalier, forward Stan Drulia and defensemen Jassen Cullimore, Sergey Gusev, Pavel Kubina and Petr Svoboda have two seasons or more with the team. That, in theory, means less of a negative hangover.

"The main thing is the guys are trying on and off the ice to make things more cohesive," Cullimore said. "Rather than having guys talking about how they don't want to be here, they're talking about how they want to be here and make things work and take us to the next level."

Dudley said he is counting on players who have been on playoff teams to set an example.

"We now have some personnel who are used to winning," he said. "We have people who know how to come out of slumps. One of the values of experience is to experience those types of successes to know what you have to do to get there."

Center Brian Holzinger came in March from Buffalo in a trade with defenseman Cory Sarich and right wing Wayne Primeau. Holzinger said he sees much of the Sabres in the Lightning.

"When I started there, we were a very inexperienced team, a young team that was rebuilding," he said. "We had little experience, but we were a close-knit group that would do whatever it took to win. I think that's the sign of a good hockey team."

Buffalo played one playoff round in 1994-95, Holzinger's first season. It missed the post-season in his second but got further in the post-season each successive season until going to the Stanley Cup final in 1998-99.

Of course, the Sabres had a goaltender named Dominik Hasek.

"But I don't think they had a Vinny," Dudley said of Lecavalier.

Other great turnaround stories include the Canucks, who went from 65 points to 96 in 1991-92, and Senators, who went from 41 points to 77 in 1996-97.

Tampa Bay, which had 54 points last season, need not worry about that kind of turnaround until the team engine turns over.

"A good start can get us spiraling upwards," Martins said.

"A lot of this game is confidence," Cullimore said. "When people are confident, you don't know what you can accomplish."

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