Starting Six: Tampa Bay Lightning All Time Lineup

[LastWordArmy]

The Starting Six series comes to you to dive into the best player at each position all-time for every organization. The biggest and best at each position, with the most memorable moments in franchise history. Here is the Tampa Bay Lightning all-time lineup.

http://lastwordonhockey.com/2017/08/14/tampa-bay-lightning-all-time-lineup/

Click to read more...

 

[Steazy Doo]

Stamkos vs Lecavalier is a pretty tough call.

 

[The Macho King]

Stamkos vs Lecavalier is a pretty tough call.

Honestly - I don't think it is. It's Stamkos. He's 62 goals back and less than 300 points (while in Tampa) from Vinny in about 450 fewer games. Vinny only had two seasons which were really elite.

 

[These Are The Days]

Not a tough call for me at all. If I get to have Vinny at his peak then I gotta go with him. At Lecavalier's peak, Stamkos falls painfully short in my opinion. I mean we get crazy over Drouin's puck handling abilities but Vinny rivaled it. It's easy to forget that Vinny could stick handle in a phone booth because it's been so long. But all you have to do is go back and watch him literally shake off 3 or 4 Calgary defenders in the corner and spotted Fedotenko for the game winning goal in Game 7 of the SCF and it'll all come back and doing stuff like that was almost routine for him. Not to mention he was such a dominant playmaker and a crisp passer. The gap between he and Stamkos' playmaking and passing abilties is the size of a planet compared to the gap in their scoring ability. Vinny could rocket a one-timer from the circle every bit as well as Stamkos could. Stamkos is the better scorer but that's literally all he's got on Vinny. My decision is based on overall attributes and Vinny wins in all of them except for the fact that Stamkos has arguably the best shot of this generation of players save for Ovechkin and maybe Kovalchuk about 10 years ago.

It only lasted a brief, shining moment (particularly 2006) but peak Vinny was the best player in Lightning history and is one of just a few centers (the others being Thornton, Malkin and McDavid) who could rival Crosby's ability to take over a game and dominate. Make no mistake, Sid is the best player on that list and Vinny did it far... FAR less than the others on that list. But the big point is there were a handful times where you could say "Vinny is playing like the best player in the world tonight" and you would not have been exaggerating.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Palat? idk...

Also I would take Stammer over Vinny.

 

[Flat Ronnie]

Stamkos over Vinny - and Vinny might be my favorite player of all time.

Both have the whole "playing like the best player in the world" thing. Vinny is stronger on the puck but Stamkos' ability to score puts him over.

Also, Stamkos/St Louis is the greatest combo the Lightning have ever had. They were unstoppable.

OV has had Backstrom his whole career. If Stamkos had St Louis for a longer period of time (sans the freak injuries) we would probably be talking about 3-4 Rockets by now.

 

[Rschmitz]

If we are speaking peak, Vinny's peak year was definitely higher. 8 fewer goals but he brought so much more than Stamkos's peak year.

Let's take a time out from comparing them and reflect on how unbelievably ****** it is that they both suffered severe injuries which significantly sidetracked their careers. Let's also reflect on the St.Louis golden years.

 

[HoseEmDown]

If you swap Stamkos and Lecavalier there's no way Stamkos puts up the numbers he does and we don't win a Cup, while Lecavalier puts up even better numbers then he did. Lecavalier had a garbage roster for a lot of his years in Tampa plus all the pressure he had on him to carry the organization those early years, not sure Stamkos can handle all that.

 

[Sky04]

If you swap Stamkos and Lecavalier there's no way Stamkos puts up the numbers he does and we don't win a Cup, while Lecavalier puts up even better numbers then he did. Lecavalier had a garbage roster for a lot of his years in Tampa plus all the pressure he had on him to carry the organization those early years, not sure Stamkos can handle all that.

Vinny was the same as Stamkos, neither can handle the pressure of the "C" and both saw their playstyles change (for the worse) upon receipt. Lecavalier didn't have to carry anything once St.louis got going, guy took multiple seasons off towards his end here even got bumped to 2nd line C in the cup year. Same with Stamkos, he didn't have as much pressure because he got to play with/behind MSL.

That being said I'd pick peak Vinny because he had a bigger skillset and his pairing with MSL was much more versatile than the Stamkos/MSL pairing.

 

[JFleegs]

man all this talk about lecavalier and st louis makes me miss watching those two guys play together. Might have to dig up the old 04 cup dvd. Lecavalier fight vs iginla, his assist to fedotenko, st louis OT winner! Lecavalier will always be my favorite bolt, hes the reason I became a Lightning fan

side note: Ea NHL should add classic teams like the nba 2k series. That 04 Lightning team is stacked!

 

[The Macho King]

Vinny was the same as Stamkos, neither can handle the pressure of the "C" and both saw their playstyles change (for the worse) upon receipt. Lecavalier didn't have to carry anything once St.louis got going, guy took multiple seasons off towards his end here even got bumped to 2nd line C in the cup year. Same with Stamkos, he didn't have as much pressure because he got to play with/behind MSL.

That being said I'd pick peak Vinny because he had a bigger skillset and his pairing with MSL was much more versatile than the Stamkos/MSL pairing.

I don't buy the pressure of the "C", and Stamkos' 60 goal season was the best individual offensive season by any player we've ever had.

For all the talk about the "C", the fact is he also came back from the worst injury he'd ever suffered, spent most of his captaincy hurt, lost his partner-in-crime, and has had a revolving door of linemates since. That isn't to say that he is without fault, but blaming it on the captaincy seems a little odd. Moreover, he at least looked at the beginning of last season like he was back (whether that would have continued over a whole season is up for debate, but his shot totals per game were up significantly and he was scoring goals at a very good clip again).

 

[Sky04]

I don't buy the pressure of the "C", and Stamkos' 60 goal season was the best individual offensive season by any player we've ever had.

For all the talk about the "C", the fact is he also came back from the worst injury he'd ever suffered, spent most of his captaincy hurt, lost his partner-in-crime, and has had a revolving door of linemates since. That isn't to say that he is without fault, but blaming it on the captaincy seems a little odd. Moreover, he at least looked at the beginning of last season like he was back (whether that would have continued over a whole season is up for debate, but his shot totals per game were up significantly and he was scoring goals at a very good clip again).

Not sure how coming back from an injury results in a clear mentality switch he had from 2014-2016 trying to do things above his capabilities instead of sticking to his norm. This is much more in line with recieving the C and having more percieved responsibility and leadership role. Sure he was in the spot light before he was always falling behind msl as the team leader.

He couldve done what he did last year the previous 2 years had his head been on straight, I dont buy the injury excuse, even you have said he looked fine physically during those years problem was clearly mental.

Sure 60 goal Stamkos was a great individual threat but peak Lecavalier was much more rounded and makes his enite line a threat

 

[The Macho King]

Not sure how coming back from an injury results in a clear mentality switch he had from 2014-2016 trying to do things above his capabilities instead of sticking to his norm. This is much more in line with recieving the C and having more percieved responsibility and leadership role. Sure he was in the spot light before he was always falling behind msl as the team leader.

He couldve done what he did last year the previous 2 years had his head been on straight, I dont buy the injury excuse, even you have said he looked fine physically during those years problem was clearly mental.

Sure 60 goal Stamkos was a great individual threat but peak Lecavalier was much more rounded and makes his enite line a threat

I'm not saying the problem wasn't mental, I'm just saying I wouldn't attribute it all to the C. It was a lot of things happening at once (first major injury + MSL leaving + taking the C, and let's not forget this was the start of the youth movement in Tampa so there was a ******** of roster turnover in the locker room).

 

[HoseEmDown]

Vinny was the same as Stamkos, neither can handle the pressure of the "C" and both saw their playstyles change (for the worse) upon receipt. Lecavalier didn't have to carry anything once St.louis got going, guy took multiple seasons off towards his end here even got bumped to 2nd line C in the cup year. Same with Stamkos, he didn't have as much pressure because he got to play with/behind MSL.

That being said I'd pick peak Vinny because he had a bigger skillset and his pairing with MSL was much more versatile than the Stamkos/MSL pairing.

Stamkos had 329 points and 179 goals his first 4 years in the league, Lecavalier had 183 points and 81 goals his first 4. He played with bums his first two seasons, St. Louis didn't show up till season 3 and he wasn't St. Louis just yet while he got hurt in season 4. Richards showed up in season 3 so he had at least another good forward to help him. The C had some affect on Lecavalier what did more was being called the Jordan of hockey and asked to bring life back to the franchise that was starting to fade some in the late 90's.

I take Vinny because he was good on both ends of the rink when he wanted to be, he just didn't want it all the time. Stamkos is a much more driven player, he just doesn't have the skill Vinny did.

 

[berlin]

As of now they're pretty equally matched, but remember Stammer still has another decade of playing.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Not a tough call for me at all. If I get to have Vinny at his peak then I gotta go with him. At Lecavalier's peak, Stamkos falls painfully short in my opinion. I mean we get crazy over Drouin's puck handling abilities but Vinny rivaled it. It's easy to forget that Vinny could stick handle in a phone booth because it's been so long. But all you have to do is go back and watch him literally shake off 3 or 4 Calgary defenders in the corner and spotted Fedotenko for the game winning goal in Game 7 of the SCF and it'll all come back and doing stuff like that was almost routine for him. Not to mention he was such a dominant playmaker and a crisp passer. The gap between he and Stamkos' playmaking and passing abilties is the size of a planet compared to the gap in their scoring ability. Vinny could rocket a one-timer from the circle every bit as well as Stamkos could. Stamkos is the better scorer but that's literally all he's got on Vinny. My decision is based on overall attributes and Vinny wins in all of them except for the fact that Stamkos has arguably the best shot of this generation of players save for Ovechkin and maybe Kovalchuk about 10 years ago.

It only lasted a brief, shining moment (particularly 2006) but peak Vinny was the best player in Lightning history and is one of just a few centers (the others being Thornton, Malkin and McDavid) who could rival Crosby's ability to take over a game and dominate. Make no mistake, Sid is the best player on that list and Vinny did it far... FAR less than the others on that list. But the big point is there were a handful times where you could say "Vinny is playing like the best player in the world tonight" and you would not have been exaggerating.

Yeah, even though it was only really two amazing seasons, you found a pissed off 4 control games in ways that Stamkos never has.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Prime Vinny was a beast, his prime was short-lived but still. 5 years from now this could look differently but for now #4 would be my pick.



(Don't look at my avatar. )

 

[FinnLightning26]

**** Matt Cooke for starting Vinny's injury woes. There's a guy I hope absolutely nothing good on. I don't care about fights but god damnit, this is beautiful.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Prime Vinny was a beast, his prime was short-lived but still. 5 years from now this could look differently but for now #4 would be my pick.



(Don't look at my avatar. )

4 was dominant in his prime. Stammer was too but Vinny took over games while Stammer was more a dangerous goal scorer. I'll take Vinny by a hair.

 

[These Are The Days]

Yeah, even though it was only really two amazing seasons, you found a pissed off 4 control games in ways that Stamkos never has.

You're not freaking kidding man. This rivals anything Stamkos has ever done even though it's 8 goals less.





And the crazy thing is Vinny was stuck on 49 goals for a while there. If he hadn't hit the wall for a few games he might've been closer to 55 that season. It rivals anything Stamkos has ever done.

And here's just a few assists and goals from his peak all within about that few year span of his prime. And it wasn't even just Marty. He made everyone on the ice better



It's not even close how much more dominant Vinny is in comparison to Stamkos. #2 should tell anyone watching how much bigger and better that box of tools was.

 

[MattM92]

You're not freaking kidding man. This rivals anything Stamkos has ever done even though it's 8 goals less.





And the crazy thing is Vinny was stuck on 49 goals for a while there. If he hadn't hit the wall for a few games he might've been closer to 55 that season. It rivals anything Stamkos has ever done.

And here's just a few assists and goals from his peak all within about that few year span of his prime. And it wasn't even just Marty. He made everyone on the ice better



It's not even close how much more dominant Vinny is in comparison to Stamkos. #2 should tell anyone watching how much bigger and better that box of tools was.

There's the usual hyperbole

 

[These Are The Days]

There's the usual hyperbole

But...but... I added videos this time!!

 

[Felonious Python]

Vinny/Stamkos depends on if the coach for the starting six is Torts or Coop.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Vinny/Stamkos depends on if the coach for the starting six is Torts or Coop.

Meh coaches. What do they do all day anway?

 

[Hoek]

Count me in the peak Vinny crew, but hear me out here:

Stamkos-Lecavalier-St. Louis

Now THAT is a sick line.