TAMPA, Fla — In the middle of his second Stanley Cup celebration in 10 months, Jon Cooper stopped on the ice to take selfies with Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev.
Five days earlier, he had described the difference between the team’s two recent title runs:
"Last year, it's like the first day of school,” Cooper said. “This year, it almost feels like the last day of school... We don't know what our team's gonna look like, if we're all gonna be together again."
If Wednesday night’s celebration was the last day of school, consider those selfies the yearbook photos.
Cooper had told his group if they win another Cup, they would walk with legends. Only two teams have gone back-to-back in the last 25 years.
“No matter what happens from here on out, this group is going to be etched in history forever, and that's pretty F'ing special," captain Steven Stamkos said. "I'm so proud of the guys. You can't soak it in yet. It's so fresh. It's so new. You don't even realize what's going to happen. We won the Stanley Cup, and we still have the Stanley Cup. That's just amazing."
Amazing, and an all-around team effort.
“We’ve been knocking on the door for so many years, and for this group to do it back-to-back, well, it’s special,” Cooper said.
The Lightning won this Cup because of their stars:
Nikita Kucherov joined an exclusive club with his 32 points, becoming one of three players in NHL history to have scored 30-plus points in consecutive postseasons. The other two are Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
Brayden Point scored a goal in nine straight games.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was the Conn Smythe winner for being a brick wall in net. He’s now posted five consecutive shutouts in series-clinching games.
“I still can’t believe it,” Vasilevskiy said. “The whole team deserves it for sure and just to have five shutouts in one playoffs, it’s all about teamwork ... It’s not about me, it’s about our team.”
The Lightning won this Cup because of their depth:
Tyler Johnson played his best hockey in the postseason, scoring two goals in Game 3 of the Final to help the Bolts to a 3-0 series lead.
Ross Colton scored the game-winning goal in Game 5 of the Final. It’s fitting that both he and David Savard -- who had the assist on that goal -- were the only two players in the lineup who hadn’t won a Cup.
The Lightning won the Cup because of their front office savvy:
Blake Coleman, acquired at last year’s trade deadline, scored a spectacular diving goal to beat the buzzer in the second period of Game 2, swinging the momentum of the game to Bolts’ side.
Pat Maroon, acquired before the start of the 2020 season, provided some much-needed morale boost and is now the first player ever to win three straight Cups with two different teams.
“I can’t put it into words,” Maroon said. “I was basically crying on the bench with 1:40 left.”
The Lightning won because of their selflessness:
Alex Killorn blocked a shot from Montreal’s Jeff Petry in Game 1, and missed every game after that. He revealed Wednesday that he had broken the fibula in his left leg and had surgery last week to put in a metal rod. Returning to the ice for a possible Game 6 or 7 was no question for him.
“This group, in a salary cap era, to go back-to-back,” Killorn said, “I think we’ll go down as one of the better teams to do it.”
The team will look much different next season, as they’re a reported $3.5 million over the salary cap. Not everyone can stay.
“It was motivation knowing this is realistically probably the last time all of us are going to play together,” Stamkos said. “I can’t say how much that motivated us. We talked about it midway through the playoffs. We talked about it going into Game 5 of the Islanders series. Let’s take advantage of this opportunity. It’s not very often you get the chance to play with talented teammates like we did.”
Tampa Bay has to clear cap space, but that’s tomorrow’s problem.
On Monday, they have another boat parade.
And for now, they revel in memories a year in the making:
Chants of “We want the Cup!” coming from a sold-out crowd of 18,100 fans. The confetti. Hugs and tears on the ice. The taste of champagne. Family and friends finally being able to join in locker room celebrations.
“It was a hell of a ride,” Stamkos said. “It was a hell of a team. I just appreciated every minute and every second.”
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