Player Discussion: Tampa Bay Lightning All Time Player Ranking #4

[JoVel]

1. Nikita Kucherov 87,9 %
2. Martin St. Louis 46,2 %
3. Victor Hedman 59,4 %

Suggest which players to add as there is a very high likelihood that I forget the existence of some players.

 

[Power Surge]

I took Vinny. Part of the turn around of the franchise started with him. I'm probably going Vasy next since I'm a goalie person.

 

[The Macho King]

Vasi for me. Then Vinny.

 

[DFC]

Vasy for me. I would have:

Kucherov
Hedman
Vasy
MSL

with the bottom three being pretty close.

 

[Sky04]

Stamkos here for me, Vasy has had it pretty easy his whole career - at least Stamkos had some years he carrying the offense.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Stammer Time!

 

[The Macho King]

Stamkos here for me, Vasy has had it pretty easy his whole career - at least Stamkos had some years he carrying the offense.

He had one year carrying the offense, and we missed the playoffs that year.

Vasi is x2 1st AS, Vezina and CS winner. Stamkos is the second coming of Joe Thornton.

 

[AlwaysSunnyInTampa]

Vasy has honestly had a case since round 2 but it's not like you can deny the case for MSL and Hedman.

It's time for Big Cat

 

[Rschmitz]

If you value peak more, Lecavalier's 06/07 season for me is the most dominant in Lightning history and it's not close. He had the ability to actually take over the game with his size, skill, speed, where as Kucherov and Stamkos were more specialized. Still, Cooke's work probably pushes him down below Stamkos and Vasy.

 

[DistantThunderRep]

After the sheer level of absolute shit goaltending this team has had over the last 30 years, Vasy is easily #4. In the history of this team we have had 3 good goalies. Khabi, Bishop, and Vasy. Khabi wasn't here for long enough, Bishop hurt and wasn't here long enough. Vasy is the greatest goaltender we have ever had, and will go down as one of the greatest goalies of all time.

 

[Rschmitz]

After the sheer level of absolute shit goaltending this team has had over the last 30 years, Vasy is easily #4. In the history of this team we have had 3 good goalies. Khabi, Bishop, and Vasy. Khabi wasn't here for long enough, Bishop hurt and wasn't here long enough. Vasy is the greatest goaltender we have ever had, and will go down as one of the greatest goalies of all time.

Non-injured peak Bishop is probably better than Vasy IMO. Guy completely unraveled from injuries though

 

[RussianBum86]

Vinny for turning around tbe franchise and finally buying into Torts ways to win. VINNY vs Iglinia captain on captain fight was everything hockey is supposed to be.

 

[DFC]

Non-injured peak Bishop is probably better than Vasy IMO. Guy completely unraveled from injuries though

Non-injured peak Bishop will be possibly the most underrated goalie in history. There was one year that he probably should have been in the Hart conversation before... he got injured.

If he could have strung 3 or 4 of those years together and had a couple of deep playoff runs elsewhere, we might be talking about a Hall of Famer. As great as Vasy is, Bishop's ability to handle the puck created a calmness that helped out a very, very bad defense.

If I had to choose a goalie for one game, with both guys in peak form, i honestly don't know who I'd take. That's not a knock on Vasy. Bishop was just really, really good. There were nights where you just knew nothing was getting by.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Vinny for turning around tbe franchise and finally buying into Torts ways to win. VINNY vs Iglinia captain on captain fight was everything hockey is supposed to be.

I don’t disagree but Vinny wore an A at the time though.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Vasi then stamkos for me. Vinny is after that.

 

[Sky04]

Non-injured peak Bishop will be possibly the most underrated goalie in history. There was one year that he probably should have been in the Hart conversation before... he got injured.

If he could have strung 3 or 4 of those years together and had a couple of deep playoff runs elsewhere, we might be talking about a Hall of Famer. As great as Vasy is, Bishop's ability to handle the puck created a calmness that helped out a very, very bad defense.

If I had to choose a goalie for one game, with both guys in peak form, i honestly don't know who I'd take. That's not a knock on Vasy. Bishop was just really, really good. There were nights where you just knew nothing was getting by.

Bishop didn't have the stacked defense Vasi got during his best years, dude absolutely carried this team into the playoffs in 2014. He was stealing so many games we held a playoff position all year with an injured Stamkos and lineup full of rookies and his 2 best seasons are better than Vasi's. It's a crime this guy didn't get a Vezina with TB or Dallas.

Imagine if Bishop had prime McD-Cernak as a pairing and not Carle, Brewer, Barbario and Sustr.

 

[Rschmitz]

Bishop didn't have the stacked defense Vasi got during his best years, Bishop absolutely carried this team into the playoffs in 2014, he was stealing so many games we held a playoff position all year with an injured Stamkos and lineup full of rookies, and his 2 best seasons are better than Vasi's. It's a crime this guy didn't get a Vezina with TB or Dallas.

Imagine if Bishop had prime McD-Cernak as a pairing and not Carle, Brewer, Barbario and Sustr.

Still remember 2015, our defense was completely hopeless against the Rangers forecheck through the first six games of that series. In a must win game 7, Bishop completely nullified the Rags offense by aggressively going after and playing dumped in pucks perfectly up the ice, out dueling a prime Lundqvist, shutting them out, and propelling us to a cup. Hero status

 

[LightningStrikes]

Still remember 2015, our defense was completely hopeless against the Rangers forecheck through the first six games of that series. In a must win game 7, Bishop completely nullified the Rags offense by aggressively going after and playing dumped in pucks perfectly up the ice, out dueling a prime Lundqvist, shutting them out, and propelling us to a cup. Hero status

His puck handling might have been the best I’ve seen a goalie do in the NHL - besides Brodeur and Turco.

The thing is his peak was so short the hockey world didn’t even realize how great he was before it was over again.

I honestly think Bish’s peak was better than Vasi’s.

 

[AlwaysSunnyInTampa]

Non-injured peak Bishop will be possibly the most underrated goalie in history. There was one year that he probably should have been in the Hart conversation before... he got injured.

If he could have strung 3 or 4 of those years together and had a couple of deep playoff runs elsewhere, we might be talking about a Hall of Famer. As great as Vasy is, Bishop's ability to handle the puck created a calmness that helped out a very, very bad defense.

If I had to choose a goalie for one game, with both guys in peak form, i honestly don't know who I'd take. That's not a knock on Vasy. Bishop was just really, really good. There were nights where you just knew nothing was getting by.

The only guy I take over Bishop in a game 7 might be Hasek. I can't pick Roy because I didn't see him play. Along with Crosby, Bishop is the best player of the last 10 years or so that I have seen who gets better when the pressure was/is at its highest. Their mental game is on the shoulders of giants.


Very very honorable mention to Justin Williams

 

[AlwaysSunnyInTampa]

Also f*** Crosby for the golden goal. I will never not be bitter about it because it was so clutch

 

[Sky04]

His puck handling might have been the best I’ve seen a goalie do in the NHL - besides Brodeur and Turco.

The thing is his peak was so short the hockey world didn’t even realize how great he was before it was over again.

I honestly think Bish’s peak was better than Vasi’s.

Still remember 2015, our defense was completely hopeless against the Rangers forecheck through the first six games of that series. In a must win game 7, Bishop completely nullified the Rags offense by aggressively going after and playing dumped in pucks perfectly up the ice, out dueling a prime Lundqvist, shutting them out, and propelling us to a cup. Hero status

His 2014 regular season, 2015 playoffs, 2016 regular season + playoffs (until he got injured...) are all the best goaltending we've seen in a Lightning sweater, nothing was getting by this guy when he was locked it. Peak was absolutely higher than Vasi's while playing on a weaker team, what Vasy had was durability even if he played at a notch below he could do it for an entire run, Bish got injured in the finals in 2015 and the Pens series in 2016 despite playing otherworldly.

What's crazy is he didn't even peak with us, his 2019 season with Dallas is absolutely insane and the only reason he didn't win a Vezina is because he didn't play like 8 more games. Game 7 vs the Blues is one of the best goaltending games I've ever seen, the hockey world felt for Bishop after that one.

 

[Stammertime91]

We probably win two cups with a healthy Bishop. You can't convince me otherwise that we don't beat the piss out of San Jose in 2016.

 

[Sky04]

We probably win two cups with a healthy Bishop. You can't convince me otherwise that we don't beat the piss out of San Jose in 2016.

Pretty sure we win the cup in any of the years we lost in the ECF's. Game 6 was the Pens was a 100% BS too, I guarantee we win that game and series without that dumb off-side rule that was later changed when Drouin scored.

 

[Stammertime91]

Pretty sure we win the cup in any of the years we lost in the ECF's. Game 6 was the Pens was a 100% BS too, I guarantee we win that game and series without that dumb off-side rule that was later changed when Drouin scored.

Yeah, for sure. I don't think Vancouver would've beaten us with Marty and Vinny, either.

It's kinda wild to think with a couple extra goals in each of those game 6 or 7s, we'd have a high likelihood that we won in 2011, 2016 and 2018. The one that annoys me is 2015 but to be fair, Chicago was good and they were deep. The ECFs were all a miss. We could be sitting on like six cups right now which is f***ing wild.

Then again, maybe a lot changes before the b2b run but those were *so* close and within reach. We got f***ed against Boston and Pittsburgh. No doubt in my mind the league had a high preference for them in both of those years.

 

[Stammertime91]

If I'm using the top four decided already... I gotta go with Stamkos. Longevity, captaincy, b2b (yes, he didn't contribute in the 2020 run but scored an iconic TBL goal and dealt with the loss of his child), effect on the PP, and face for over a decade - it's gotta be him.

After that comes big cat and my first love - Vinny.