In joining Tampa Bay Lightning, Chris Kunitz believes fit is right to chase fifth Cup

By Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
July 13, 2017

Chris Kunitz knows how to throw a Stanley Cup party, having just hosted his fourth earlier this week.

This time around, the party was a little more tame than the previous ones as the family held a private pool party at their home in Pittsburgh. Things were so tame, the Stanley Cup didn’t even end up in the bottom of the swimming pool.

”Maybe it’s okay for the owner or the captain to get away with that,’’ Kunitz said with a grin.

Kunitz hopes to be able to host a fifth party with the Stanley Cup next summer. After signing with the Lightning as a free agent on July 1, he believes is in the right spot to make that happen.

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”The lightning have an unbelievable chance to win a Stanley Cup and that’s the reason why we came here,’’ said Kunitz, who was in town with his family this week to look for a place to live in town.

And Kunitz should know what it takes to put together a Stanley Cup winning team having been a member of four teams to lift the Cup at the end of the season. And undrafted free agent from Ferris State University, Kunitz just emerged as an impact player with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 when he captured his first Cup at the age of 26 during his second full season in the NHL.

During the 2008-09 season the versatile winger was dealt by Anaheim on Feb. 26 for Eric Tangradi and Ryan Whitney and instantly became an impact player with the Penguins as he found a spot playing alongside Sidney Crosby to help lead the Penguins to a Stanley Cup title for the first time since 1991.

Kunitz would go on to become a mainstay in the Pittsburgh lineup registering four 20-goal seasons and picking up 169 regular season goals and 23 playoff goals, including the overtime winner in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against Ottawa last season. Along the way Kunitz helped the Penguins to three Stanley Cup including winning back-to-back titles as Pittsburgh became the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.

Having played against Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference finals in 2016, Kunitz feels the Lightning are close to becoming a team that will fulfill the expectations surrounding the team for the past few seasons, even though Tampa Bay missed the playoffs all together last season.

”I would say it’s in those top three or four teams that everybody would agree they’re just that close,’’ Kunitz said. “When healthy, any team with this dynamic of a roster can beat everybody every single night. They have position players who can win a game on their own, like a goaltender or dynamic forwards or D-men who can step up. Has to be one of the favorite teams that can go in and try to make a run at it.’’

After facing the Lightning in the conference finals – which Tampa Bay was missing Steven Stamkos and Ben Bishop – Kunitz knows who difficult of a team the Lightning can be to go up against.

”The forwards they can throw at you and the speed and skill they can play with,’’ he said. “They were missing key players at that time (in 2016 conference finals) and had us on the brink. It’s a tough thing to do when you’re missing those key guys. Every team has played without those players and you know how much better you can be with your top players in the lineup. All those guys get that added experience of stepping into a different role they’re not used to and a lot of them thrived and that’s one of the reasons why this team is heading in the right direction.’’

For Kunitz, this is a new direction all together. At the age of 37 – he’ll turn 38 before the regular season starts – he’s spent most of his career in one place, playing the past nine seasons in Pittsburgh before the Penguins opted not to re-sign the veteran forward this season allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. While he said there was interest from other teams, he and his family zeroed in on Tampa pretty quickly and it didn’t take long to agree to join the Lightning as he signed a one-year, $2 million contract (there are bonuses that could earn him an additional $1 million) just hours in to free agency.

Having to leave a team he’d been a part of for so long and has a long history with is not an easy situation for any player, but there is no time for sentiment for Kunitz, who is already embracing his new surroundings less than two weeks after signing with his new team.

”It’s tough. Our kids have all been born in Pittsburgh. I spent a large part of my career there,’’ Kunitz said. “But I think we’re looking at it as exciting, as something that’s new and really just excited about how this team can get to the Stanley Cup. They’ve obviously shown being there three years ago, going to the conference finals two years, and having different injuries, understanding that this is a team that’s always been scary to play against every single moment depending on who’s in the lineup or who isn’t, so I think we’re just excited to be here and be part of the community.’’

Even the Kunitz kids have switched allegiances, with a bit of swag to sway them.

”They already have the sticks and jerseys, t-shirts, fidget spinners,’’ Kunitz laughed.

Now it comes down to Kunitz getting familiar with his new team, which won’t start full bore until training camp rolls around. But once it does, Kunitz feels he’s ready to embrace his new surroundings and is ready to help out his new teammates in whatever way he’s asked, including adding his experience in to the mix.

”I think everybody knows you go out there and do whatever you can to help your team win,’’ Kunitz said. “I’ve been fortunate to be on teams that made a good run and won a few times. If you can be in there, be a calming influence and let the guys know that there’s not a certain moment that things will have to change the momentum swings or whatever it may be, but I don’t think there’s something you’re going to bring outside of how you play the game and change the outcome of a game.’’

And he’s ready to bring his hard style of play to the lineup as somebody that Steve Yzerman has described as “hard to play against’’ on a nightly basis.

”I try to play a straight forward game, straight lines, try to be physical on the forecheck, turn pucks over, go to the front of the net, go around the battle areas, go through people rather than around them,’’ Kunitz said of his playing style. “I’m not a guy who’s going to skate through the neutral zone and make a bunch of fancy plays, but I’m going to try and be a guy that brings that physical aspect to the game and someone who makes it tough to play against.’’

He hopes to add that fifth Cup to his resume along the way while hoping all those Lightning fans that harbor hard feelings toward the Penguins will embrace the former Pittsburgh star.

”Hopefully Penguin fans will despise me now if I’m doing my job and playing good hockey,’’ he said.

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