Flash back to last June 15, a little after 10 p.m. inside the visitors locker room at Chicago's United Center.
The Lightning had just lost the Stanley Cup and captain Steven Stamkos was nearly in tears, talking about how the Lightning simply didn't do enough to beat the Blackhawks. Across the room, goaltender Ben Bishop, still wearing his pads, said, "It's kind of hard to talk about now. It's a terrible feeling. I don't know how to describe it. Listening to (the crowd celebrating) just makes me sick."
I was in that room that night. It felt like a morgue.