Ben Bishop left his legacy with the Tampa Bay Lightning

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
November 15, 2017

TAMPA – So much about Ben Bishop’s practice routine on Wednesday felt familiar.

The 6-foot-7 netminder moved across the Amalie Arena ice, going through shooting drills with teammates. His signature glow-in-the-dark goalie helmet rested upon his head.

The only thing different was instead of wearing blue, Bishop donned victory green as he practiced before departing the ice and headed down the visiting team hallway currently occupied by the Dallas Stars.

On Thursday, he figures to occupy the visiting team net, making his return visit, now a member of the opposing team.

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For all that Bishop meant to the Lightning during his four-plus seasons with Tampa Bay, his first game back will hold a lot of emotion. For Lightning fans. For Lightning staff members. For former Lightning teammates.

For Bishop.

”I’m going to be excited I think,’’ Bishop said while sitting at his locker stall in the visiting dressing room on Wednesday. “I’m going to try to treat it like any other game but I’m sure there’s going to be a little bit different feeling coming in and going into the other locker room. But it should be fun. I’m lucky to be able to do this. It’s a great sport and this just makes it that much more fun.’’

When Bishop arrived in Tampa via trade from the Ottawa Senators, the Lightning were a team in search of an identity. Head coach Guy Boucher had just been fired and Jon Cooper just stepped behind the bench.

Anders Lindback, acquired the summer before from the Nashville Predators, was still a question mark. So, too, was Bishop, who made an immediate impression and offered a hint of what was to come when he debuted with a 45-save shutout in Carolina on April 4, 2013.

Whatever questions there were about Bishop were quickly answered the next season when he was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, just the second goaltender in franchise history up for the award. The next season he led the Lightning to the Stanley Cup Final and in 2016 he was once again named a Vezina finalist and carried Tampa Bay to the Eastern Conference finals.

The rise to prominence for Tampa Bay was made possible due in part to the large shoulders of Bishop as he carried a lot of that load.

”It’s not any secret how much Ben Bishop has meant to this organization,’’Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s my fifth season with the team and if you look at the strides we have taken as an organization in that short of time, you have to put Ben at the front of the list of guys that has major impact in a positive way with us. I’m a Ben Bishop fan, everybody in our locker room is, we cheer for him, just not (Thursday) night.’’

When his name used to be announced over the public address system by Paul Porter – “And in goal, No. 30, Bennnnnnnnnnnn Bishop’’ – it would create a frenzy in the crowd.

His return to Tampa, when his name is announced as the starter for the opposing team, it no doubt will elicit the same reaction from the same fans who cheered for him for more than four years.

”He was a huge part of the success we had here in the past four or five seasons,’’ Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “Everyone knows that. He was a great guy in the room and still a close friend to a lot of us. It’s going to be a little weird (facing him). But when the puck drops we’re going to try – just like every time in practice when he was here – we’re going to try to score as many goals as we can. But he meant so much to this community and hopefully he gets the reception that he deserves.’’

No doubt Bishop left his mark on the franchise with his 131-64-20 record. 2.28 goals against average, .921 save percentage and franchise record 17 shutouts. He also owns a playoff record of 21-13 with a 2.09 GAA, five shutouts and .927 save percentage.

”He was such a good goalie for us,’’ winger Alex Killorn said. “He meant so much for this team for a good amount of time on all of those playoff runs, so he’s going to be appreciated.’’

His legacy will live on in franchise history, but he left the Lightning net in more than capable skates.

When Bishop was acquired by Tampa Bay, the Lightning already had drafted Andrei Vasilevskiy with the 19th overall pick in 2012. From that moment, Vasilevskiy seemed destined to for greatness, it always felt that at some point, the Lighting net was going to be owned by the Russian goaltender.

Bishop’s presence and success may have caused hesitation among some, but the Lightning never wavered in the plan. Even Bishop knew that eventually his time with Tampa Bay was going to come to an end and Vasilevskiy would take over.

Yet Bishop was always there to help Vasilevskiy, show him what it meant to prepare as a pro. It was a strong relationship between the pair for two-plus seasons, a bond that went well beyond the mentor-student pairing.

”He’s like a little brother almost,’’ Bishop said. “I’m so happy for him right now. Proud of him. To think that he’d be 13-1 right now, I don’t know if I saw that coming but he’s worked so hard to get here and I’m glad to see that work pay off. He deserves it.

“He’s always been one of the hardest working guys I met. He is a good listener too. He wanted to learn. It’s fun to see him doing this well. I think people are surprised around the league but anybody that’s known him the last couple of years isn’t surprised.”

The respect between the two was evident from the start and carries through now that the pair are no longer a tandem.

”It’s funny, that first year he tried to act like he didn’t know much English but I think he understood it,’’ Bishop said. “The next year he had a couple of jokes and last year he was a guy you messed around with all the time. We always text each other. He’s pretty funny. He’s always sending emojis.’’

Vasilevskiy, now the undisputed No. 1 in Tampa Bay, is off to a fantastic start in his first full season as the starter, building his own resume as a potential Vezina Trophy candidate. Heading in to his first head-to-head showdown against Bishop, Vasilevskiy leads the league with 13 victories, is tied for second in save percentage at .930 and tied for seventh in GAA at 2.32.

While he doesn’t exactly owe everything he knows to Bishop, he picked up a few things along the way.

”Lots of good things,’’ Vasilevskiy said with a laugh. “I took some good habits from him. I will not tell him.’’

Now, the former tandem go up against each other for the first time. Vasilevskiy in blue. Bishop in green. The teacher and the student. The big brother and the little brother.

The legacy and the future.

”I don’t think you ever stop learning, but when Vasy was in his true development stages, Ben was always there to help him out,’’ Cooper said. “At some point, to become a No. 1 goalie, at some point you are a No. 2. I think when look at guys to learn from, there was no better guy to learn from than Bish, especially in some of the other parts of the game. Maybe it wasn’t so much stopping pucks, but come in to big game play, how to play the pucks and I think Vasy took a lot from that.’’

Through all the pucks stopped, saves made, victories earned and cheers in his name, leaving his mark through Vasilevskiy might be Bishop’s greatest Lightning legacy.

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