MONTREAL — It is here in the city where the Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to dash hockey dreams that one of their most dangerous forwards redefined himself.
A year ago Nikita Kucherov was a healthy scratch for playoff games at the Bell Centre. He was a slightly stubborn soul and an occasionally unwilling pupil. By the time training camp opened in September, some inside the organization wondered if he would even crack the NHL roster.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: | Broadcast Schedule
Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE | Stanley Cup Playoffs Fantasy Hockey
New Sportsnet app: iTunes | Google Play
Now look at him today: Kucherov is leading this second-round series with four goals in four games, and is a key member of an organization chasing the Stanley Cup.
Many of the seeds for his rapid ascent were planted here, in Montreal, where Kucherov chose to spend last summer along with a handful of other Lightning prospects. They trained with Mark Lambert, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, and it was during those sessions Kucherov decided to take a different approach to the game.
“I worked hard,” he said.
His rookie campaign in the NHL had been filled with incredible highs and lows. There was a goal against Henrik Lundqvist on his first shift and first shot in the league, but also some tense moments with the coaching staff during prolonged periods of ineffectiveness.
When it came to the deciding games of a first-round sweep by Montreal, he was sitting in the press box.
Like so many young players finding their way in the NHL, the Russian had much to learn about his positioning away from the puck. Last spring, coach Jon Cooper couldn’t fully trust that he would make the right decisions under playoff pressure.
“We had some battles during the year,” Cooper recalled this week. “He made that conscious choice: ‘Do I want to be a hockey player and understand that being on the right side of the puck (is important)?'”
His offensive gifts were obvious — and got him drafted 58th overall by Tampa in 2011 — but they would only ever be of limited use if the coach didn’t feel comfortable having him on the ice when it mattered.
Needless to say, that is no longer a problem.
Kucherov had the best shot attempt deferential among Lightning forwards during the regular season and finished with 28 goals and 64 points — the highest totals of anyone in his draft class this year. Against the Canadiens, he’s scored the winning goal in Games 1 and 2, and continues to form one of the most productive lines in the league with Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat.
“I’ve grown a lot and learned how to play defence, how to play for the team and not for my own stats and everything,” said Kucherov. “Team-first and defensive-zone first and I think I understand the situation now and (how) I have to play there.”
His current hot run will only last so long — the four goals against Carey Price have come on 10 shots — but even if the goals dry up he will continue to play important minutes for the Lightning.
That, in itself, is a testament to how far he’s come.
At this time a year ago, it was still unclear if he would ever make good on his tremendous promise.
“I’ve watched players go both ways,” said Cooper. “Some guys haven’t made the choice and they just still want to try to do it their way and there’s other guys that have said, ‘you know what, I’m going to be a complete hockey player.’
“Kuch made that choice, and he chose wisely.”
The 21-year-old’s adaptation to the North American game actually began in 2012, when he spent the majority of the season playing for the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. While there, coach Andre Tourigny would show him video clips of how the Lightning players are expected to play and encouraged him to mimic the style.
“There was never any doubt about his offensive potential,” Tourigny told Jean-Francois Chaumont of Le Journal de Montreal recently. “But I just wanted to make sure he developed as a complete hockey player. And this is exactly what he’s done.”
No one could have forecasted how quick and dramatic the transformation would be. The credit for that goes to Kucherov, primarily, but also the summer spent in Montreal where he chose to start embracing change rather than fighting it.
“I had a really good time,” said Kucherov.
One win away from the Eastern Conference final heading into Game 5 on Saturday night, his level of enjoyment only seems to get higher with each successive trip to this city.
