Royalty vs. champs in Stanley Cup Final

TAMPA,FLA.>> Brian Engblom sat in the lower bowl at Amalie Arena with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s two Stanley Cup banners to his right and the team looking to add a third skating on the ice in front of him.

Reflecting on his days playing for the Canadiens and winning the Stanley Cup in the late 1970s, Tampa Bay’s TV analyst sees the makings of the Lightning growing a championship culture just as Montreal has for nearly a century.

“They already have,” Engblom said Sunday. “You’re supposed to win it all, and creating that kind of environment is difficult and takes time, but they’re already there.”

The Lightning face the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final starting today, a series pitting the defending champions against the NHL’s most decorated franchise. Tampa Bay is going for a third title since beginning play in 1993, the last year the Canadiens — or any team from Canada — won the Cup, making this a matchup of oldschool winners against a modern-hockey model of success.

“A lot of people need to do a lot of good work in order to build a good organization,” said Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois, who cut his teeth with the Canadiens. “Both organizations have really strong ownership, passionate fan bases, good coaching, strong support staff and ultimately really good players, and that’s why we’re going to be facing each other in the Stanley Cup finals this year.”

Montreal is looking to hang a 25th Cup banner in the rafters at Bell Centre with a team that has plenty of similarities to Tampa Bay’s 2015 group. That was the last time these teams met in a playoff series, and it was in the second round.

The Lightning now are a grizzled group with a handful of heartbreaking losses and the 2020 bubble triumph in the rearview mirror.

“It took a lot to get here: the heartbreak in 2015 getting all the way to the final and losing and then 2016 going to Game 7 against Pitt, losing that one, 2018 against Barry Trotz (and the Washington Capitals) — he beat us in Game 7 in this building, the heartbreak to Columbus in 2019,” coach Jon Cooper said. “It was all building blocks to get to here.”

Until this improbable run led by goaltender Carey Price, the Canadiens hadn’t won a round since losing to the Lightning six years ago. Qualifying for the playoffs just twice in the previous five seasons made for plenty of turnover, so this young Montreal team reflects Tampa Bay teams of the recent past.