There is an important transformation taking place within the Tampa Bay locker room that began over two decades ago. At the same time that the fledgling Tampa Bay Lightning organization was born, the blueprint for winning was being presented to Bolts GM Steve Yzerman.
Those plans were being drawn up and delivered by Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman as he took the helm of the Detroit Red Wings NHL franchise. In the ten years prior to Bowman coming to the Detroit, goal scoring phenom Steve Yzerman netted 445 goals, which included two 60+ goal seasons and five 50+ goal campaigns. In those ten seasons, Yzerman failed to reach the Stanley Cup finals. Despite being a pure goal scorer, Yzerman was a minus player in over half of those seasons.
When Bowman took the Red Wings job, he spoke with their superstar, “I explained to him (Yzerman) that this team can’t win unless you take charge of playing good defense. It wasn’t easy for him because he was a 60-goal player and 150 or 160 points. But I told him what he had to do to win, and he did it.”
“He went through a transformation as a hockey player. He was a one-man offensive machine and he became a real team leader. So I’d say his strong suit is that he’s a guy who knows what it takes to win,” said Bowman.
Yzerman recalls the start of the Bowman era in Detroit, “Scotty Bowman came in and said we had to be better defensively, we had to be more responsible. He said, ‘Guys, this is the way it’s going to be. This is the program. If you want to be a part of it, this is the way it’s going to be.’”
Once Yzerman became a true two-way player, taking the same pride in stopping an opponent as he did scoring goals, the Red Wings rose up and won three Stanley Cup titles, (1997, 1998 and 2002) all under Bowman’s tutelage.
During those Stanley Cup years, Yzerman scored 22, 24 and 13 goals respectively and was a +26 player.
“I chose to accept any role, and we had great success after that. I loved every minute of it. I don’t regret any changes that we had to make. Scotty Bowman made me a better hockey player regardless of what the stats were,” said the Lightning GM.
In Steven Stamkos’ first five years in the NHL, he has scored 208 goals, but has yet to reach the Stanley Cup finals. Despite being a pure goal scorer Stamkos was a minus player in over half of those seasons.
Sound familiar?
Guy Boucher’s ousting in Tampa Bay was, in part, due to a lack of defensive focus. Yzerman wanted a more defensive style of play and that is certainly a major reason why he hired Jon Cooper.
“It’s all he talks about (defense),” said Lightning center Tyler Johnson, who played for Cooper at Norfolk and Syracuse. “It’s the staple to his system. If you don’t have that, nothing else works.”
When taking over the reins of the Lightning, coach Jon Cooper laid out his plans in a Bowmanesque way, “I would much rather take gifted offensive players and teach them how to play D than take a bunch of guys that play D and teach them how to score. Now we’re one step ahead of the game. The thing is, coming second or third in the league in goal scoring, that’s not going to get us anywhere. The problem is, we can score all we want, but if we don’t keep it out of the net, we’re not going to be a threat to make the playoffs. A huge emphasis for us is that everything starts in the defensive zone. I told the guys, ‘Let me know the last time you saw a breakaway originate from the offensive end.’
Cooper went on, “We don’t have to give up our offensive mindset because we’re going to play more D. But we just have to play more D. I believe that the forwards have to take a little bit of accountability. If our forwards help out our D, and our D helps out our goaltending, everybody is going to be better. That’s the kind of approach we’ve taken.”
Under Yzerman and Cooper, Steven Stamkos is becoming a true two-way player, while staying near the top of the NHL scoring ranks. The sniper is already a +9 and has been playing on the penalty kill, blocking shots and chipping in a shorthanded goal.
“It’s not like guys weren’t willing to do it in previous years and all of a sudden you push a button,” Steven Stamkos said of playing defense. “It’s an awareness. It’s just being conscious of situations and being smarter with the puck. It’s fun to win games. It’s fun to do the right things in winning those games.”
If Stamkos and the Bolts stick to the 20 year old blueprint, the Stanley Cup opportunities will come. (Stamkos Photo/Susan Ferlita)
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