Champa Bay

 Simon B

The Tampa Bay Lightning have won the 2021 Stanley cup. In a year where nothing seems to be predictable, a lot of people predicted that this is the way this bizarre season would come to an end.

On January 13th when the season began, I had the Colorado Avalance as my pick to win the Cup. Sure it would've been cool to have been right but this outcome is one that doesn't;t surprise me and if I had the option of making a second pick 7 months ago, I would've chosen the Bolts.

This one is special

As a kid, you dream about winning the Cup in front of thousands of fans with your family in attendance. It's supposed to be a moment that brings a city together. But last year, Tampa won it in an empty building almost 3000 miles away from Amalie Arena. 

Listen, a cup is a cup but I'm sure that when they won it in 2020, they wished it had been different, in a non-pandemic universe. 

After yesterday's 1-0 win in game 5 over the Montreal Canadiens, a bunch of Lightning players mentioned how they felt as if winning the cup in an empty arena motivated them, even more, to win this year in front of a packed crowd. Captain Steven Stamkos said that "this one is twice as nice" and he's right.

It's been 6 years since a team has won the Stanley Cup on home Ice. The Blackhawks did it in 2015 when they beat, ironically, the Tampa Bay Lightning. When a team wins on the road, it's dead silence when the final horn goes. All you hear is the visiting team yelling in celebration. The rest is just stunned silence. Last night, even though Hurricane Elsa died down, Tampa's fan's provided us with a storm of sound when the clock bled down to 0:00. 

The last two Stanley Cups have probably been the two hardest ever to win. Last year in a closed-off bubble for two months and this year, a crazy schedule, rigorous Covid testing, and empty buildings for the whole first half of the year.

Tampa managed to win them both and less than a year apart too. The amount of physical and mental strength that takes is insane so they should celebrate as long and as hard as they can.

The Team

In a post-game interview, Tampa coach Jon Cooper said that "We know that we won't all be together again next year". That is one thing that has been obvious for a while now.

With the weird rules surrounding the salary cap, Tampa bay iced a lineup that was 3 million dollars over the league cap. Because the salary cap doesn't matter in the playoffs, the lightning activated a bunch of players off of their injured list once the playoffs began so that they could bend the rules. Nikita Kucherov played a total of 0 regular-season games but he leads the league in playoff points. Most importantly, his contract didn't count against Tampa's Cap so they had an extra 9.5 million dollars to work with to sign talented players. 

Another reason this team will need to change the way it's built is the expansion draft. Teams can protect either 7 forwards, 3 defenseman and a goalie, or 8 skaters and a goalie. Tampa will most likely lose an important piece to their Stanley Cup-winning team to the Kraken. 

That being said, GM Julian Brisebois can be proud of the team he built. He outsmarted everyone by bending the rules a bit. Yes, it shouldn't be allowed but it is and Brisebois made the most of it and now he's got himself back-to-back Stanley Cup rings. But it's looking like the three-peat will be a monumental task.

The Other Team

I have to say that if you're a Habs fan, this really sucks. You lost the Stanley Cup final. But this is a situation where they were playing with house money. It was a struggle to even qualify for the playoffs and they managed to make it all the way to the final against all odds. No one believed in them except themselves and that shows how much self-belief is important in this game.

Montreal has a really bright future with the likes of Cole Caufield (who is destined to win a cup in his career), Jasperi Kokteniemi, and Alex Romanov. Marc Bergevin saved his job by getting to this point in the postseason and now he's got to prove that this wasn't just a one-time fluke. Dominique Ducharme still had the interim tag as head coach but I'm almost certain that he'll be announced as the head coach before next season. 

The Wrap

All in all, I've seen some better final series in my life that's for sure. This wasn't a 7-game thriller filled with goals but there was some really fun hockey throughout and it ended with a deserved Cup win for Tampa.

Now it's in the offseason. The Entry Draft is on July 21st, the expansion draft is on the 23d and free agents can hit the open market on August 1st. It's all going to happen fast but Shoots Left and Writes will cover it all.

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