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Looking back at the Ben Bishop era with fondness and appreciation

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by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
February 26, 2017


TAMPA, Fla. – The move many Lightning fans didn’t want to see happen came to fruition.

Ben Bishop was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. It was a move that was always going to happen. It was a deal that Steve Yzerman had to make, something he agonized over for nearly two years.

It was a decision made for the right reasons, even if it’s unpopular.

The end of one era opens to door to another as Andrei Vasilevskiy assumes the role he was destined to assume ever since the Lightning made Vasilevskiy the first goaltender selected in the 2012 draft as the 19th overall pick.

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There truly is no way to accurately define how much Bishop meant to this franchise during his time in Tampa Bay. He was virtually unknown when Tampa Bay acquired Bishop from the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline in 2013. There were critics of the deal at the time who believed Yzerman gave up too much for the 6-foot-7 goaltender, some suggesting the Lightning general manager was fleeced in the deal.

Bishop splashed on to the scene, setting the bar high with a shutout in his first start with Tampa Bay at Carolina.

But even at the start of the next season, he did not get the opening night nod as Anders Lindback was called on in the first game of the 2013 campaign. By the end of the season, he turned in to a Vezina caliber netminder, named one of the finalists for the award handed to the league’s top goaltender.

He proved to be the backbone on the team’s three-year run of success to help lead Tampa Bay to three consecutive playoff appearances, a run to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final and the 2016 Eastern Conference finals.

Bishop provided confidence in the team in front of him, not unlike the type of confidence Nikolai Khabibulin gave the Lightning when he was acquired at the end of the 2001 season and helped lead Tampa Bay to prominence in the conference and eventually to a Stanley Cup champion in 2004.

Quite simply, Bishop was the backbone of the team’s success.

In the postseason he twice pitched a shutout in a Game 7 – against Detroit in the opening round and the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals in 2015. He added two more elimination game shutouts in 2016, pitching a clean sheet against Detroit in the opening round and then against the New York Islanders in the second round.

When the team needed a lift, it was often Bishop that provided the boost.

He leaves the franchise as the all-time leader in victories, shutouts, goals against average, save percentage and games played by a goaltender.

Bishop goes down as perhaps the greatest goaltender in franchise history. While his penchant for ill-timed injuries – a week before the 2014 playoffs, Game 2 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final and Game 1 of the 2016 Eastern Conference finals – will be a part of his legacy, there is no debate on what he meant to this team and franchise.

But circumstances started to dictate how much longer he would – and could – remain part of the team.

The team has salary cap constraints starting next season and Bishop is likely due a raise on his $5.95 million contract that expires at the end of this season. The expansion draft is looming and teams are only allowed to protect one goaltender. And then there is Vasilevskiy, who is the first goaltender this franchise has drafted and developed in to a No. 1 netminder.

It was evident this was the direction the team was going to move dating back to last summer when there were discussions held with the Calgary Flames regarding Bishop that were eventually derailed when the Flames were unable to agree on the terms on a contract extension.

That doesn’t mean Bishop is no longer a top-flight goaltender. He remains in his prime. It’s just that his time with Tampa Bay was at an end.

The Ben Bishop era will go down as a success, and had it led to a Stanley Cup championship, it might be considered the most successful in franchise history. He was the right goaltender at the right time for a franchise ripe for a rise to prominence. Bishop led them exactly down that path.

He will be remembered fondly for his time in Tampa Bay. The fans will still cheer his name and the next time he saddles up to a local watering hole during his next visit, it’s clear he won’t need to pull out his wallet. That’s how much of an impact he’s had on this franchise, on this city.

But at some point, every torch must be passed down. This was Bishop’s time to turn the keys to the franchise over to Vasilevskiy.

Not before looking back on Bishop’s time in Tampa Bay with deep fondness and appreciation. He will forever be part of Lightning lore.

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