National Post (National Edition)
Tampa’s shining lights hope wait for Stanley is finally worth it
Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos have been chasing a Stanley Cup together for nearly a decade.
It’s not quite as long as the 11 years that Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom have been playing together. But Ovechkin and Backstrom’s single-minded journey in Washington is partially why Hedman decided to remain with Tampa Bay when both he and Stamkos’ contracts came up in 2016.
“We signed within 48 hours of each other,” said Hedman. “We love it here. Getting drafted here and having the opportunity to play with one club is something I really wanted to do. With the fan base, with the organization, there’s not a better place to play in my book. We’re very fortunate to come here, chasing my dream and everyone’s dream in this room.”
It was two years ago when Stamkos nearly became available on the open market, garnering attention from the Toronto Maple Leafs and pretty much every other team in the NHL. Two days before the start of free agency, he decided to resign in Tampa Bay for eight years and US$68 million. A couple of days later, Hedman inked a similar eight-year, $63-million contract.
The timing of their deals was not a coincidence, said Hedman. Both had been talking to each other during the entire process.
“It took him a little bit longer,” said Hedman, smiling. “It took me about 12 hours.”
What kept coming up was what it would be like to win a championship together. In order to do that, each took less money to stay in Tampa than go on the open market. But in doing so, they made it easier for the Lighting to retain a roster where Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Andrei Vasilevskiy will need new contracts in the coming years.
“We’re teammates, but we’re also very good friends,” said Hedman. “It’s a big decision. It’s a longtime commitment from both sides. But at the end of the day, this is where we want to be. Where we want to win. I love this team.”
In nine years together, Stamkosandhedman—theno.1pick in 2008 and No. 2 pick in 2009, respectively — have reached four conference finals and lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Cup final. They’ve been close. But not close enough, as Hedman said.
“We haven’t reached our ultimate goal yet,” said Hedman, who this year was named a finalist for the Norris Trophy. “For me and Stammer, we’ve almost been here for almost a decade now. We want to win with this organization. We want to bring a Stanley Cup back to Tampa.”
Consider these three players, digging down the ice Monday night, one in front of the other, closing in on the Tampa Bay Lightning net.
Chandler Stephenson, a 24-year-old with 25 career points, led the way, bounding into the back boards to negate an icing call. Next came Jay Beagle, a career fourth-line centre, gathering the puck before sending it right back to Stephenson in the middle of the third period. And finally there was Devante Smith-pelly, a fringe NHL player when this all began seven months ago, trailing the play, receiving Stephenson’s pass in front and one-timing a shot past Vasilevskiy to give the Capitals a two-goal cushion in an eventual 3-0 win.
The NHL playoffs have a way of putting ordinary players at the centre of extraordinary moments. It took eight seconds for Stephenson, Beagle and Smith-pelly to prove that in the Capitals’ seasonextending Game 6 victory.
“We’ve been trying to put it on ourselves all playoffs, all year really, to chip in, be offensive,” Beagle said. “When we do, it takes some of that pressure off the top two lines that are always our goal-scorers.”
Smith-pelly was waived by the New Jersey Devils last summer and was then signed to a two-way deal with the Capitals as a project.
Stephenson was waived by the Capitals coming out of training camp and no other team scooped him up. He started the season in the American Hockey League before a recall in the fall.
Then there is Beagle, the 32-year-old centre who was not drafted into the NHL. He impressed the Capitals at a development camp tryout and earned an AHL deal that offered little chance of going any further. Now he’s played in 471 regular-season games for the Capitals across 10 seasons.
Secondary scoring is needed for playoff success. The Lightning’s offence runs through Stamkos and Kucherov. The Capitals’ through Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Backstrom. But the Lightning got two fourth-line goals in a 3-2 victory in Game 5. Then the Capitals used Smith-pelly’s third-period score to separate themselves Monday and force a decisive Game 7.
It is improbable that Stephenson, Beagle and Smith-pelly are each on a playoff roster right now, much less playing together in the same playoff push, much less that they are making critical playoff contributions. But that improbability only heightens the importance. The Capitals need supporting players, from the top of the lineup to the bottom, to chip in a blocked shot, timely clear or even a goal.
“It’s a dream,” Beagle said of having that chance. “As a player, this is why we play.”