As he offers a good bye, Ben Bishop says Lightning in good hands with Vasilevskiy

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
February 27, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – Ben Bishop will always be remembered by the fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The big man with the big heart and a personality to match endeared himself to this community with every save and victory to help lead the Lightning to prominence. And Bishop embraced this area.

Before Bishop suited up for his first game with the Los Angeles Kings, he granted an exclusive interview with LightningInsider.com and had a special message for a Tampa Bay hockey community that welcomed him like a neighbor, to a community he calls a friend.

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”I just want to thank everybody from the fans, the community, all the workers at the arena from top to bottom in the organization, the coaches and my teammates,’’ Bishop said. “You call then fans, but I think they are friends. I met so many great people in Tampa and developed so many great relationships with them, so that’s definitely the hardest part leaving a place where you have some roots now and called home for the past four years.

“The community has really turned in to hockey community and definitely with the four years I couldn’t have asked to be around nicer people that cared about you as a person and as a hockey player. Just want to thank everybody and I will definitely see everybody again, I won’t be a stranger to Tampa that’s for sure.’’

After being moved around from St. Louis to Ottawa while looking for his first crack at being a No. 1 goaltender, Bishop found a home in Tampa and became a two-time Vezina Trophy finalist in his three full seasons with the Lightning, leading Tampa Bay to the postseason in three consecutive seasons.

On Sunday he received the phone call he figured might eventually come informing that he had been dealt to the Los Angeles Kings.

”I had kind of prepared myself all season thinking this might happen,’’ Bishop told LightningInsider.com in an exclusive interview on Monday. “Even when you do prepare yourself well, it’s still a little bit of a shock when it happens and then you don’t have too much time to think about it, but I think it definitely helped because if it came out of the blue it would have been a lot harder.’’

Bishop was nearly trade in June when a deal had been worked out between Tampa Bay and Calgary, but the deal was contingent on a contract extension between the Flames and Bishop that could not be agreed upon. So Bishop remained with the Lightning and figured to still be a big part of a team that was predicted to contend for a Stanley Cup once again.

With an inconsistent season, the Lightning found themselves on the outside for most of the season. And despite the recent run of better played, fueled by Bishop’s five-game winning streak, there were not enough gains in the standings to give Tampa Bay enough hope, even as Bishop held out hope he could help lead the Lightning back to the postseason this season.

”There was definitely a small part of me that was thinking that maybe we would just try to go for a run here to get in the playoffs and get in on another run,’’ Bishop said “So that was definitely in the back of my mind. You are kind of hoping that you will be able to stick around and go for it, but the same time it’s kind of out of your control and Steve felt differently.’’

Ever since the Lightning used the 19th overall pick on Andrei Vasilevskiy in the 2012 draft, he was always going to be the goaltender of the future. When he arrived in North America at the start of the 2014-15 season, it seemed inevitable that he would assume the role from Bishop.

But Bishop said he never worried about that, instead looking at the goaltending tandem as a team and as the veteran guy, his role was to ensure he was showing his teammate the ropes, so to speak, just as others had done for Bishop when he as the new kind on the block.

”Until this year, it was more of a starter-backup type thing,’’ Bishop said. “And he’s a young kid and I remember when I was the young guy looking up to the older guys like Manny Legace and Chris Mason and Ty Conklin helping me out. It’s sort of one of those things that you want to do the same thing. I felt like I was playing well enough to keep it going, but it was one of those things where they decided to kind go with him.

“I don’t blame Vasy at all, it’s not his fault by any means. When you are a young guy like that, you look up to the guys that you play with so I just tried to be a good role model for him and teach him. I never really looked at like he was taking my job because I don’t look at it like that. This was more of a business decision, I don’t by any means look at like I lost a job to him.’’

Bishop believes he’s left the mantle in good hand with Vasilevskiy, who just needs time to hone his craft at the NHL level and gain experience.

”I think he’s still young and there are going to be some growing pains that go with it,’’ Bishop said. “As he plays more games and matures, he’ll learn on the fly and he definitely has the skill set. I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be the skill set with him, it will be more handling the different pressures and scenarios of winning and losing and I just think that’s one of those things that you learn as you keep playing to not let it bother you. You can’t really teach that, you have to learn from it.

Just as Bishop did, before he turned in to one of the top goaltenders in the league.

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