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Lightning 'Marriage' Has Been Built To Last

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By CARTER GADDIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2007

WASHINGTON - After nearly six years together as general manager and coach of the Lightning, Jay Feaster and John Tortorella have been through this before.

What have they been through before?

Name it.

First division championship for the Lightning? Check.

First playoff series victory? Check.

Stanley Cup rings? A big, silver chalice of a check. (And the big, golden paychecks that come with that.)

Oh, but that only scratches the shiny, happy surface.

"John and I don't always agree on things," Feaster said. "We've had our share of internal squabbles and downright fights, just like any marriage would have. Ultimately, you find a way to work it out and find a way to reach an accommodation."

That's especially important for a GM-coach combination to remember when things aren't going smoothly. Like the start of this season, for instance.

When losses begin to mount, every soft goal seems a portent of unending disaster. Every one-goal loss seems liable to chip away at the collective confidence of an entire organization.

A 2-8-1 stretch from the middle of October to the first week of November will do that to a team. But then, the Lightning - and the firm of Feaster-Tortorella - have been here before, too.

Like a 1-7-1 stretch Nov. 28-Dec. 16 last season. Or a 1-6-1 stumble Nov. 1-11 in 2005. The Lightning stayed the course, recovered from both those debacles and made the playoffs.

There even was a 3-8-2 stretch Nov. 23-Dec. 16, 2003. Things worked out OK the following spring, you might recall.

Those shared, angst-ridden experiences - the nights awake, wondering where it all went so horribly wrong so quickly - can create a bond almost as tight as hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Sometimes after a particularly painful and infuriating loss, Feaster said, it is (surprise!) Tortorella who represents the calming influence. Although, according to Carolina GM Jim Rutherford (who is in his fifth year with Coach Peter Laviolette), generally in a hockey hierarchy, it's the other way around.

"The GM is the guy that really has to be the steadying force for that," Rutherford said. "It's not that difficult getting along when things are going good. But when they're not going good, that's when you have to have that steadying influence."

Not surprisingly, that steadying influence is more evident the longer a pair remains intact. And that, Feaster said, depends on having supportive ownership as well developing a flair for timing - rather than making the "knee-jerk" roster change when something isn't going quite as planned.

"We've been able to stay together, we've been able to keep the core of this hockey team together," said Feaster, who was named GM in 2002, two years after Tortorella became coach. "As a result, there's a comfort level.

"At the same time, both of us are realists about the bottom-line industry that it is."

The Feaster-Tortorella bottom line? Four consecutive playoff berths and a Stanley Cup championship, built on a foundation more stable than the franchise ever had before their ascent. Credentials like that do not go unnoticed in the dressing room, nor are they unappreciated when a team finds itself battling the inevitable doldrums.

"I know Jay and Torts will trust us as long as it takes," said Lightning center Brad Richards. "Sometimes it's not their decision, probably, either. But I know those two are behind us 100 percent. They always are, and they always will be."

Well ...

Always is an awfully long time. Especially considering that the longest-tenured GM-coach duo in the NHL is Darcy Regier and Coach Lindy Ruff of Buffalo, who've been together for 11 years.

In fact, the average GM-coach duo in the NHL has been together only slightly less than 3 1/2 years.

This year, Feaster and Tortorella find themselves facing a challenge even their relatively long "marriage" had yet to throw in their path: The team is being sold to Absolute Hockey Enterprises, and one of the prospective buyers (Doug MacLean) is a former NHL GM.

"There's an ownership change that's going to take place in this franchise," Feaster said. "I don't think either one of us loses sleep over those things. The two of us believe there's a right way to go about it. At the end of the day, these guys will come in, and if they want changes made, changes will be made."

MacLean, who was GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets for nine years, has said no changes at the top are imminent.

Meanwhile, the Lightning try once again to turn a season around. They've been through this before, as have Feaster and Tortorella.

And they've come through it together just fine.

"There is that trust, and there is that knowledge," Feaster said, "that as long as we stick to it, we're going to be all right."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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