The Tampa Bay Lightning are a well-oiled hockey machine. But what explains the repeated successes of the Florida team?
“All the players sacrifice themselves and accept the role they have to play,” said striker Pierre-Édouard Bellemare afterwards. a 5-1 win over the Montreal CanadiensSaturday night.
“We are very aware of our system. We know that we will win thanks to our system and not thanks to individuality,” said the author of 615 games in the Bettman Circuit.
A culture that prevails
“As soon as I arrived in Tampa Bay, the first team meetings revolved around the sacrifices that even the best players in a formation have to make to win,” said the 37-year-old.
“There’s a lot to be said for those in charge to care so much about the best players to keep them in the system and ensure they develop on the same terms as everyone else at the club.
“Everyone plays the same regardless of talent,” he pounded.
“That’s the culture of a winning team.”
The unique talent of Nikita Kucherov
The electrifying Nikita Kucherov once again dazzled the Bell Center with a brilliant play figure. See the following sequence.
Kucherov scores the 5th goal of the Lightning –
“When he’s playing with the puck it seems very easy.”
“Over time you realize that it’s repetition that allows these talented players to pull off this type of maneuver.”
“Everything looks so simple, it’s amazing. I can tell you it’s not that easy,” Bellemare concluded jokingly.
Watch the full interview in the main video above.
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