How Frantz Jean has helped guide the Bolts' goaltending tandem in Andrei Vasilevskiy's absence

Since the start of the 2017-18 NHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have played 571 hockey games between the regular season and playoffs. And for 432 of those games, Andrei Vasilevskiy has been the starting goaltender. In fact, only four other goalies have started more than 10 games for the Bolts during that span.

So when the news came out 12 days before the start of the regular season that Vasilevskiy underwent a successful microdiscectomy to address a lumbar disc herniation and would miss approximately the first two months of the season, it was probably time to hit the panic button, right?

Wrong.

When Julien BriseBois announced Vasilevskiy had successfully undergone surgery, the Lightning were a little over a week into training camp. The team had played two preseason games, one with Syracuse Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt in net and the other with free agent signing Matt Tomkins between the pipes.

Tampa Bay dropped the preseason opener in Carolina with Alnefelt making 19 saves on 24 shots against. The following night in Nashville, the Predators iced an NHL-heavy lineup and Tomkins was more than up to the task, stealing the show on Broadway with 30 saves on 31 shots against in a 2-1 overtime victory.

“I didn’t know a ton about him,” said Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper after the game. “I knew he was coming over from Europe, but he stood in there. He was calm. He was poised.

“He didn’t look like anything was rattling him at all, especially when everything was buzzing around him in the third period. It was great to see that performance.”

Two nights later, it was Jonas Johansson’s turn to man the crease for the first time in Bolts blue after signing a two-year deal with Tampa Bay on the first day of free agency last July.

Originally slated to be the backup for Vasilevskiy throughout the season, the spotlight was on Johansson in the Lightning’s first preseason game on home ice. Bolts fans weren’t sure what to expect with Johansson, who came to Tampa with just 28 career NHL starts under his belt.

And in his preseason debut, the big goaltender from Gavle, Sweden couldn’t have made a better first impression. Johansson was perfect against the Hurricanes, stopping all 42 shots he faced and leading the Lightning to a 4-0 shutout win.

“He's a kid that's been in the league a little bit, but he's not ever really gotten his chance,” said Cooper after the game. “You never know when you're going to get it. He obviously signed here knowing it wasn't coming in to be the starting goaltender and, all of a sudden, he's thrust into a situation where playing time might go up.

“You want to see if he's going to take this opportunity and seize it. It's a small sample size, just one game tonight, but he sure made a case. For him, confidence-wise, this has got to be great for him.

“Like I said, it's an exhibition game. He's getting his feet wet. Hasn't played in a game yet, but that's a heck of a night one.”

While Johansson arrived at training camp with limited experience at the NHL level, Tomkins arrived with none. Originally a seventh-round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012, Tomkins played college hockey at Ohio State University before bouncing up and down between the ECHL and AHL for the first four years of his professional career.

When Chicago decided to move on from the goaltender following the expiration of his contract, Tomkins went overseas to Sweden, playing two years in the SHL and also starting three games for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“My experience was great over there,” said Tomkins. “I enjoyed my time over there. I certainly wanted an opportunity to come back to North America and the opportunity came up with the Lightning.

“It was a no-brainer for me to come back and try to play in the NHL. It’s always been a dream of mine. I’m just trying to seize every day here and take advantage of the opportunities when they come.”

After two terrific performances from Johansson and Tomkins in their first game action with the Lightning, it was decided that the two of them would make up Tampa Bay’s goaltending tandem while Vasilevskiy recovered from surgery.

And while media across the hockey world speculated if the Bolts would go after a more experienced goaltender via waivers or trade, that option was never really in the cards.

“Right away,” said Lightning goaltender coach Frantz Jean when asked at what point he felt comfortable rolling with Johansson and Tomkins as the team’s two goaltenders. “That’s why we did it. That’s why we recommended to do it and do it now.

“We felt that both guys were having a really good training camp. We felt we were going to be fine until Vasy comes back.

“I never felt that we had to look for another goalie and that's why we didn't. I felt both guys were having great camps, were ready to play in the NHL and were deserving of the opportunity.”

With Vasilevskiy’s return around the corner, it certainly looks like Jean made the right call. As of November 21, the Lightning have recorded 22 points through the first 19 games of the season, just one point shy of the team’s 23 points through 19 games last year.

And while the absence of Vasilevskiy has made things different for everyone, nobody’s day-to-day duties may feel more unfamiliar than Jean’s. For nearly a decade, Jean has come to the rink and worked with the same goaltender almost every day. And it’s not just any goalie he’s working with. It’s one of the best to ever strap on the pads.

But this year, Jean went from working with one of the more experienced goalies in the league to coaching a tandem trying to find their way in the NHL.

“It is different,” said Jean. “With a guy like Vasy, you’re so used to being in a routine. It’s been close to 10 years that we've been working together, so there's a routine that’s established and there’s lingo. We do things a certain way.

“Now, you’ve got to start over. You’ve got to teach the guys coming in a little bit of the rigors of the NHL and what to expect and a little bit of how to work on a practice day versus how to work on a game day. And you have to mix that with how they've done it all their lives. They’ve got to kind of find the right mix with what you bring to them and what they've been doing.

“On the ice, it's a question of developing that relationship and that trust over time, so to be honest, it’s been refreshing to be able to work with newer players. That's a big part of our game. There are always new guys coming in and you can see their excitement to be full-time NHLers, so you’ve got to match that excitement too, even if you've been around a little longer.”

But in matching that excitement, Jean also has to be a calming influence. Playing under the bright lights of an NHL arena would be nerve-wracking for anyone, let alone a goalie. The game moves faster than ever before and things can get crazy quick. It’s a lot to handle.

That’s why Jean has preached patience.

“A wise man, one of my mentors, gave me some advice when I started to coach in the NHL,” said Jean. “He said it's always better to take one step forward than try to take three steps forward and end up taking two steps back because you've tried to do too much.

“You really need to take it one step at a time and really attack one element at a time.”

But the patience isn’t only applied in how much information Jean gives his guys. It’s also how he wants Johansson and Tomkins to play.

Jean teaches them to let the play come to them. Be patient. Don’t force anything.

“His big thing with Jonas and I this season has been patience,” Tomkins shared. “Obviously, for me, trying to make the adjustments at this level, the biggest thing was trusting that the rest of my game is there, but just being patient so that I'm able to read the plays and be as efficient as possible.

“You never want to get caught being late or being out of position. That was the biggest change for me and something that we still work on to this day is just the effectiveness of being efficient by being patient.

“You want to be calm, controlled and really just constantly put yourself in positions so that you can see pucks, execute saves and be ready for the next one when they come. It's one thing to make a save, but it's another thing to be ready for the next one. That’s one thing that I've seen so far being here. That’s what separates good goalies from great goalies.

“It’s just the fine details and Frantz has an amazing understanding of that. Obviously, working with the best in the world in Vasy, he really has the bar set as high as it can go. But that's an amazing benefit for Jonas and myself, that he’s been able to see that every day and has been working with Vasy for so many years now. He can impart some of that wisdom on us now and help us understand what the elite guys do and what separates them from the rest.”

But what about the mental side?

Does any player on the ice carry more weight on their shoulders than the goaltender?

Their job is to prevent the puck from going into the net. Half the time, when it does go in, a blaring horn goes off, over 15,000 people stand up and scream, and a strobe light flickers right on top of the crease.

As important as the physical side of the game is, goalies need mental strength. It’s bad enough when one goes in. But what about when five go in? What about when six go in the following game?

The mental fortitude has to be there. And as much as Jean has helped with the technical side of the game, he’s been right there for the other half of the battle as well.

“You try to be a positive influence as much as you can and you try to keep it real as much as you can,” Jean explained. “Sometimes you’ve got to challenge guys. Sometimes you’ve got to be really encouraging. Sometimes they’ve got so much going on and you may want to simplify things for them, pinpoint what's really important and remind them what's important. It’s a little bit by case. It's a little bit by feel and by context.

“I lean on our mental performance coach, Ryan Hamilton, a lot and just bounce my thoughts on things off him and he'll tell me if I'm going in the right direction or not. It's a team effort, but for me, I remember back to when I played.

“I liked when my goalie coach was positive with me. We would always have a positive narrative. Even if we needed to improve certain things, even if he needed to challenge me, it was always in a positive way.

“That doesn't mean that you need to paint a rosy picture all the time. But when you tell the truth, and you tell it like it is, there's always a way you can say it with your words and how you present things.”

As a guy who was itching to get one more chance at playing pro hockey in North America, Tomkins surely had a lot going on in his head when he arrived in Tampa for training camp. Jean was there to help.

“It’s not always about the technical side of things,” Tomkins said. “It's more about helping you go through the ups and downs of the season and kind of dealing with the human element. That's his biggest strength and what he's so good at and why he’s been doing it for this long.

“He understands when to push you and when he needs to back off. He always just seems to know the right things to say. That’s been great.

“He just has that general sense of directing your focus in the right areas. When you come into new environments as a goalie and there's a lot of moving parts, it's easy to get distracted and maybe focus on the wrong things. He does such a great job of helping Jonas and I understand what's in the realm of our control and what we can really focus on to be as consistent as possible and make as many saves as possible to help the team win. He really just understands how to direct your focus and help channel that energy in the right areas.”

Starting 16 of the Lightning’s 19 games this season, Johansson has felt a big impact from Jean as well, both mentally and physically.

“He’s just a really calm and stable guy,” said Johansson. “Working with him every day, he’s just so good at keeping us relaxed and loose and making sure we’re enjoying every moment.

“I’m really happy he’s here and I’m really happy I get to work with him. He’s just someone that always has your back and someone you can always talk to.

“At the same time, he sets high standards. If you’re not doing something right or you’re not sharp enough in practice, he’s going to tell you. I think that’s a really good thing because it translates right into the game. He’s always making sure we’re staying sharp in practice and staying on top of every shot.”

With the return of Vasilevskiy right around the corner, the Lightning are right in the middle of the playoff hunt. One of the biggest reasons for that is the goaltending room of Jean, Johansson and Tomkins.

Sooner rather than later, that room will have to make room for a Big Cat.

“That’s a guy that comes in and works extremely hard every single day,” said Jean. “He competes every day, every game, every practice.

“He really cares about winning games and just has that intensity on every puck, whether it’s in practice or in games. That’s what makes great athletes. It really confirms what I thought all along over years and years of coaching before getting to the NHL.

“I always thought an NHL goalie needs to be like that. I thought they needed to have intensity. They needed to have that compete. Vasy confirms that.”

Vasilevskiy’s work ethic, intensity and love for the game make him one of the best. You could say the exact same thing about Frantz Jean.

That’s why both of their names are on the Stanley Cup, twice. And they’re not done yet.