TAMPA TEAMMATES HOPE TO FINALLY DRINK FROM CUP
Hedman and Stamkos re-upped together two years ago to help lead Bolts to a title
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 Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom have been playing together. But Ovechkin and Backstrom’s single-minded journey in Washington is partly why Hedman decided to remain in Tampa Bay when both he and Stamkos’ contracts came up in 2016.
“We signed within 48 hours of each other,” Hedman said. “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 re-sign 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, Hedman said. They had been talking to each other during the entire process.
“It took him a little bit longer,” Hedman said, smiling. “It took me about 12 hours.”
What kept coming up was what it would be like to win a championship together. 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,” Hedman said. “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, Stamkos and Hedman — the No. 1 pick in 2008 and the No. 2 pick in 2009, respectively — have reached four conference finals and lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. They’ve been close. But as Hedman said, not close enough.
For me and Stammer, we’ve been here for almost a decade now. We want to win with this organization. We want to bring a Stanley Cup back to Tampa.
“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 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 SmithPelly, a fringe NHL player when this season 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’ season-extending 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 twoway 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 AHL 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 has played in 471 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 SmithPelly’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, much less playing together in the same playoff push, much less 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 or timely clear or, even, a goal.
“It’s a dream,” Beagle said of having that chance. “As a player, this is why we play.”