Pressure On Calgary To Win Cup At Home
June 6, 2004 - Brian Eklund, the Pensacola Ice Pilots' goalie for the past two seasons, is the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team plays for the NHL's Stanley Cup. The Lightning were down in the series, 3-2, after losing, 3-2, in overtime Thursday. Before Saturday night's Game 6 in Calgary, Eklund wrote his daily diary for the News Journal.

(Tampa Bay goaltender Nikolai) Khabibulin has been standing on his head right now. The last game he played (Game 5), he was unbelievable. It's unfortunate that one of the two goalies had to lose that game. He really held us in there that whole time. It could have been as bad as down, 5-1, that second period. We were not playing well at all.

We put it together in the third period. We just didn't come out ready to play at the level we normally do. It's unfortunate, but it happens sometimes.

Maybe it was the pressure of playing at home. We were nervous. I noticed it right away. They're human.

It is true that the pressure is on (the Flames). When I'm walking around the locker room, I don't see nervousness. The guys are excited. There's no pressure in the respect that we're not expected to win. Finally, in the series, we have that underdog feeling again. We had that in the first two (playoff) series.

It took the pressure off our backs. The Calgary fans are expecting a win. The Stanley Cup is in their building.

I was just talking today to (Ice Pilots teammate) Brad Cruikshank, who lives here. He's rooting for Calgary. He already was heading to that area downtown, 17th Avenue, where everybody is going. He went to get a seat at a bar to watch the game. That's the expectation. Everybody's going down there.

The fans up here have been really kind to us. They respect us up here.

The players were disheartened after the overtime loss. They were upset in the locker room. We had an opportunity that slipped through our hands. It's a funny game. One goal had us down in the dumps. It's funny how one little goal separated the two teams and made them polar opposites emotionally. There's a fine line between winning and losing a game.

The great thing about our game, you don't win a series in one night. You have to win four games.

Ray Bourque called (Lightning player) Tim Taylor, left a long phone message on his answering machine after the game, and Taylor played it for the team. Bourque has followed the team all year. He played with Dave Andreychuk in Colorado and Taylor in Boston. They're pretty good friends.

Bourque talked about how the Avalanche was down, 3-2, in the series and went to New Jersey with the Cup in the building and won 4-1, then went back to Colorado and won the Cup (in 2001). So it's not like it's impossible. Have faith. Keep working for it.

When Colorado had lost Game 5, the talk went from, ‘‘Will Ray finally get a Cup?'' to the media taking about him not getting it. They got negative about it. He said we have to stay away from negative media and stay positive.

This is do or die for us. We have to go out there, give it everything we have to get a win. We make mistakes. We're human hockey players. But will the other guys on the ice bail you out of those mistakes?

Coaches Play Games To Help Their Teams
June 3, 2004 - Brian Eklund, the Pensacola Ice Pilots' goalie for the past two seasons, is the third goalie for Tampa Bay as the Lightning plays for the NHL's Stanley Cup. The Lightning play host to Calgary tonight in Game 5, and the Flames will be without the suspended Ville Nieminen. That action led Calgary coach Darryl Sutter to complain that some in the NHL are against the Flames.

It's a classic move by a coaching staff. I know John Tortorella, our coach here, took a lot of the heat in the Philly series when he started the war of words with (Flyers coach Ken) Hitchcock. We had just gotten blown out in the game. Instead of being talked about for two, three days, "What's wrong with us?," it's all about ‘‘Torts'' and Hitchcock. It's a classic move to deflect attention from the team to the coaching staff.

It's not a great time for anything (like a suspension). This is probably the biggest game of either team's career. We're looking at Game 5 in our building. If we win, we're up, 3-2. If we lose, we're down, 3-2, and going to Calgary.

We're in a three-game series. Every game is enormous. You can see it in the locker room. Everybody is doing something extra, whether it's watching extra videotape or getting an extra stick taped up. They're doing everything they can to be prepared.

They don't want to look back on this and say, "If we had only done this or that." They want to cover all the bases.

(Wednesday) was a very spirited practice -- but probably not our best practice of the year. Guys were nervous, gripping the sticks tighter.

Being at home is definitely a good thing. We play better at home. We've been one of the top home teams all year. It feels good not to be in a hostile environment.

I don't think either team has faced an elimination game in the playoffs except when we had a Game 7 against Philadelphia.

You can support numbers for all different angles, like Calgary's road record and that they're coming off a loss, and say they're the team favored to win the game.

When it comes down to it, throw away all the numbers, all the statistics. (Today's) game will be an absolute war, won in the trenches, along the wall. It's who can keep the puck on the stick an extra second to make a play. You do anything in order to block a shot, or to make a play to chip it out of the zone.

Look around the locker room, there's not a guy without an ice bag or a black eye. There's not one guy sitting there with a smile on his face, jumping around. They're beat up and tired. They're going through hell to win one prize, the Stanley Cup. Since they were kids, they were dreaming about winning that trophy, just to get a chance to hold that trophy.

I'd love to say sometime in my career I'll have my name on that trophy. I could bring my kids, down the line, and see my name next to all my teammates' names. There's no better thing than that. Not as an individual, but as a team you earned that.

Eklund Enjoying "High" Life
June 2, 2004 - Brian Eklund, the Pensacola Ice Pilots' goalie for the past two seasons, is the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team plays for the NHL's Stanley Cup. The Lightning evened the best-of-seven series 2-2 on Monday night with goalie Nikolai Khabibulin recording a 1-0 victory in Calgary, Alberta. The Lightning left early Tuesday for home.

Pretty much when we fly in and out of places, we don't go in the airport terminals. We walk out on the runway, board the plane and the plane's rolling out in a few minutes. It's really different (from commercial travel).

We left this morning at 9 a.m. (in Calgary) and got in at 4 in the afternoon (in Tampa). We were in the air for five hours.

I saw two movies: "Blade 2" with Wesley Snipes, and "Enough" with Jennifer Lopez. They're bad movies but great for the plane ride. They kill time.

We're using the Dallas Mavericks' plane, a charter. We had a choice of 12 movies. The screen is built into the back of the seat in front of you. You just flip through the channels and listen on your headphones. It cost us nothing. You should see the smiles on our faces. A lot of these guys aren't used to these types of amenities. They're like kids on Christmas.

I was in the mood for these movies. They had “Old School" and “Dirty Harry," but I wanted to see movies I hadn't seen.

I'd give 1 1/2 thumbs up for "Blade 2." It wasn't bad at all. It was a pretty good movie for what it was. It had corny lines. It was pretty much an action movie.

I was pretty into "Enough" when I saw (advertisements) for it. Jennifer Lopez as a boxer. I personally thought (her character) was dumb in the movie and it was not well-written. But the movie had a good ending.

We got to eat breakfast and lunch on the plane. We pretty much had a choice of anything we wanted for breakfast -- omelets, bacon. ... For lunch we could have chicken and pasta, chicken Marsala, all types of soups and salad. When you're cruising at 40,000 feet, hopefully you don't feel (turbulence).

(Nikolai) Khabibulin had a great game Monday. He was in high spirits on the plane. You should hear him giving (ribbings) to guys on the plane, telling guys they're fat and things like that. People were trying to give it back but they knew not to take it too far because he's god right now. He means everything to the team.

On the flight back I sat next to Vinnie (Lecavalier, injured in the final minutes when Calgary's Ville Nieminen rammed him into the glass). He was doing all right. He needed a couple of stitches.

The two days off before Game 5 on Thursday couldn't have come at a better time. (Defenseman) Pavel Kubina and (forward Ruslan) Fedotenko had to sit out Monday's game with injuries.

It also helps because we had a long travel day (Tuesday). We're losing two hours .(on the clock), and we're in the air the better part of the day. We got a night's sleep in Calgary on Monday night. Calgary wasn't leaving until (today).

There's a big different in the kind of rest you get on a 12-hour bus ride (in minor-league hockey) compared to a four- or five-hour flight. Each person has his own bunk on the bus, but it's constantly bouncing. The guys are practically on top of each other. People are yelling. People have different sleep habits.

Stanley Cup diary: Coach Tortorella Keeps Us Fired Up
June 1, 2004 - Brian Eklund, the Pensacola Ice Pilots' goalie for the past two years, is the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team plays for the NHL's Stanley Cup. On the road in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the Lightning are down in the series, 2-1. Before Game 4, Eklund wrote his daily diary for the News Journal.

We can't give up -- we've got our backs against the wall. If we win, we're in a three-game series with two games at our rink. I think we'd take those chances any time.

The morning skate-around went well. Same drills. There's no undue emphasis on this game. Coach (John) Tortorella is just getting us ready for the game. He's a very fiery guy. It's his way or the highway.

He's instilled a lot of confidence in the team that we can get it done. He's so fired up, it's like he's going out there with you. He's almost too fired up. Deep down, he's just trying to get the most out of his players.

Calgary is nice.

I'd never been here, never been to the western United States, except for Denver. It's a lot like that. It's in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. It just sprung up in the prairie.

It's very different from Florida, very different. Down South is a different lifestyle for me. A lot less hustle and bustle than Massachusetts.

A lot more laid-back. It's really nice.

We Have No one To Blame But Ourselves
May 31, 2004 - Brian Eklund, the Pensacola Ice Pilots' goalie for the past two years, is the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team plays for the NHL's Stanley Cup. On the road in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the Lightning are down in the series, 2-1. Game 4 is set for tonight. Eklund is writing a daily dairy for the News Journal.

We're down 2-1, but the team`s mood is, we did it to ourselves. We know we can play better as a team and we have to do that if we want to win. We just have to go out and execute.

We dominated the first period Saturday. They had few faceoffs in our zone. A few shots. The bounces went their way and they managed to capitalize. They're a good team, they take advantage of mistakes and we have got to get better at controlling the puck.

We have to continue to play hard out there.

We had an optional skate Sunday afternoon.

I'd say pretty close to half of the team showed up. That`s pretty good.

Right now, we're a little banged up. We have some guys that needed some rest. There were a lot of big names out there. They wanted to work on some stuff and the skate was good for them.

The seats we got for the last game weren't that good. There wasn`t enough room in this building. I sat in the clubhouse with the reporters and watched the Canadian broadcast of it.

Seeking A Good Seat In Hockey-Crazy Calgary
May 30, 2004 - Brian Eklund, the Pensacola Ice Pilots‘ goalie for the past two years, is the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team plays for the NHL‘s Stanley Cup. On the road in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Eklund is writing a daily diary for the News Journal.

Saturday‘s practice was pretty much business as usual. We watched some video on Calgary to reiterate what we need to do to get the win.

The big thing was that the Flames had broken a pane of glass during their practice and the crew was fixing it while we were skating. We could only use half of the rink. Nikolai Khabibulin took all the shots. (John) Grahame and I just stood off to the side.

It‘s different here. When you pull into the stadium parking lot, people are already camping out for the game. They boo you as you walk in. Once inside, there‘s no Tampa logos. It‘s all signs and posters by schoolchildren saying ‘‘Go Flames‘‘ and stuff like that.

It‘s great, though, to see a city that is in love with hockey and its team.

We have the opportunity Saturday to take over the series. A win could really swing the momentum and turn the series.

I‘m going to do whatever it takes to watch the game live. (Eklund does not dress for the Lightning and usually watches the game from the stands.)

On the road, they don‘t always give us a seat. I know it‘s a sold-out game. I‘ve had to sit in the press box before. Now, that‘s a cool atmosphere. Everybody up there knows what it takes to win the game, or what they think it takes. They all have their keys to the game. I might have to find somewhere to stand to watch, though.

Oh, Brad Cruikshank (Ice Pilots‘ winger) says "hi." I‘m visiting him while I‘m here. He lives about 10 minutes from downtown Calgary.

Traveling In NHL A Definite Step Up
May 29, 2004 - The Tampa Bay Lightning traveled Friday to Calgary after tying the Stanley Cup finals at one game each with a 4-1 win Thursday at home. Lightning reserve goaltender Brian Eklund said Friday that his team must get a least a split on the Flames' home ice before heading back to Florida. Eklund, a Pensacola Ice Pilot the past two seasons, is writing a daily Stanley Cup diary for the News Journal.

It was a long flight (to Calgary) to say the least, but it was pretty good. We ended up getting the Dallas Mavericks' plane. It was a pretty comfortable, top-notch plane.

It was a regular commercial plane with all first-class seats. Every two chairs had a TV and about 12 movies to select from. You don't have to worry about just having peanuts — they had soups, salads, even a steak if you wanted. The flight attendants treat you very well.

(The Lightning) have a charter plane, but it couldn't make it on one tank of gas. It was a five-hour flight to get out here.

(The atmosphere in Calgary) is pretty cool. Riding on the bus to the hotel, every other car had (Flames) flags. There were at least 20 to 30 reporters taking pictures as we got off the bus. I felt like a superstar; it was pretty funny.

(The hype) is the same at home, but up here you get the opposite side. You're not the team getting cheered for.

Our first goal is to get at least a split on their ice, but obviously we want to win them both. If we lose both, it would be a huge letdown. We just have to keep doing what we did last game. We have to jump on them before they establish a forecheck, pretty much like we did last game.

Tampa In Must-Win Situation
May 28, 2004 - The Tampa Bay Lightning went into Thursday‘s Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals down, 1-0, to the visiting Calgary Flames. Reserve goaltender Brian Eklund, a Pensacola Ice Pilot for the past two seasons, is writing a daily diary for the News Journal. He wrote today‘s installment before Thursday night‘s game, won 4-1 by the Lightning.

Every game, especially at this point in the season, is a must win. Coach (John Tortorella) said it‘s wrong to think otherwise.

Every game is a must-win. If you think otherwise, you shouldn‘t be here. Every game is the biggest of the year.

Calgary came in here hoping to split the games. Now, with a 1-0 lead, they‘re thinking they want both. When you win the first game on the road, you want that other one.

They forced us into mistakes and it cost us.

The two mistakes (a pair of unsightly goals by Calgary) were bad. But that‘s the thing about Nikki (Nikolai Khabibulin): not much really shakes him. That‘s one of the biggest things I‘d like to take away from this experience. Whatever it is — goals, off-ice — it doesn‘t bother him. He‘ll bounce back.

This series is not going to turn into a slow, grind-it-out series. Both teams are built around speed. To slow it down would take us away from our game. We want to push them every bit and force them to make mistakes.

I might not be the third-best in the organization, but I‘m the third best they have here.

Kiprusoff‘s situation just goes to show you, you never know what will happen tomorrow. (Calgary‘s Miikka Kiprusoff was the third goalie for the San Jose Sharks last season. Eklund currently is the third goalie for the Lightning.) I just take it day to day.

Me being here just shows they recognize my hard work the past two years.

Lightning Need Quick Recovery
May 27, 2004 - The Tampa Bay Lightning suffered losses of different sorts Tuesday night, when the visiting Calgary Flames captured Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, 4-1. An electrical fire caused $300,000 in damage to the home of Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle as he played across town. Lightning reserve goaltender Brian Eklund, who did not dress for the game, said Wednesday that the team has to win tonight's Game 2. A Pensacola Ice Pilot the past two seasons, Eklund is writing a daily diary for the News Journal.

Boyle seems OK. He was saying, "I've never heard of a person's house burning down while he's playing a game."

He lost so much stuff - clothes, sports memorabilia. The team's rallying around him. We've got a whole bunch of apartments by the rink.

The fire department did a good job. They tried to save as much as they could. It was difficult.

We really squandered something (with Tuesday's loss). I think we were overconfident for it. For sure, we squandered a great opportunity to get a lead in the series. We have to find a way to regroup and get out there. We have to get back to what got us this far. Take that mentality and be the aggressor. Not sit back and expect talent to win the game.

Game 2 is a must win for us. Every game in the playoffs, every game in the Stanley Cup is a must win. Every game is the biggest of the series, the biggest of our careers.

(Calgary's first goal) was a fluke. Those things happen. It's all about bounces in the playoffs. Our bounces bounced over our sticks. They got it on their sticks and buried it. They got the bounces, and we didn't.

They're a good defensive team. They play to dump it off the glass, rim it around the boards and get it out. If you don't have the puck in your zone, you can't score. Their goalie played very well.

When you're out there (for Game 1), you hear the speeches, hear the crowd, feel the anticipation. There's (ESPN's) Barry Melrose sitting five rows away from you. All of a sudden, you feel goose bumps on your back.

I wanted to be down there, be a part of it. The players' legs were probably jelly-like when they hit the ice. It was even better than I thought it would be. I was sitting probably 20 rows up, behind the net (in one end zone). It's pretty cool to be able to be there, see what (goalie Nikolai Khabibulin) sees. Obviously, I'm not down there in his helmet. I see how he moves, how he plays the puck, which can help me later.

No Question, Stanley Cup Is A Big Deal
May 26, 2004 - For the past two seasons, Brian Eklund has been the primary goaltender for the Pensacola Ice Pilots. Now, he's the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning, which is playing the Calgary Flames in the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. Eklund is doing a daily dairy for the News Journal, which talked to him before Tuesday's Game 1.

For my 24th birthday (Monday), I got a lot of ribbing more than anything else. Little jabs and little jokes -- anything to make you feel embarrassed for a few minutes. I really didn't get any presents. Just a couple of shots off the head (pucks at practice).

From my family, I got a couple of phone calls early in the morning, but no presents. They put up with me for 24 years. It's more an ode to them.

A few guys on the team did know it was my birthday. I'm close to a few guys -- about five or six of us all have our birthdays within a month of each other in 1980.

(Tuesday) was a little bit different from past series. There was a lot more media working us. Normally on Day 1 there's a pregame skate and we go over a few little things about the other team like goaltender tendencies. (Today) we had to do more because it's such a short turnaround. We went over (the Calgary Flames') system, broke down each individual player, their good and bad. It's every player. Everybody on the ice is a skilled player. They're here for a reason.

Pretty much what was said about Jarome Iginla was he's a great player, has been great all year. You hope to contain him. Their top (forward) line is by far their most skilled line. We preached you can't get beat by them. Most of their scoring is coming from their top line. If you can stop their top line, you cut down their production.

(Tuesday) we had a meeting for 30-45 minutes, and we were on the ice for about 30 minutes. We got our legs moving again, and let "Habby" (Nikolai Khabibulin) and (John) Grahame get a few shots.

There's a lot of things we're not really used to. There's more pressure. There's more media. There's probably double the media of the last series. There are a lot more NHL executives walking around the rink. There's a heightened sense of the magnitude of the Stanley Cup. It's a big deal.

The finals comes down to a few things. I think we have to shut down Iginla's line and stop their forechecking. We stop them and forecheck them.

I think we have a deeper team than they do, more offensive power spread out. And it comes down to goaltending, if Habby outplays (Miikka) Kiprusoff. You think of this as a true team game, but one person can make a huge difference. Habby and Kiprusoff played well to get their teams to this point.

Ice Pilots’ Eklund A Player In Hockey’s Biggest Spectacle
May 25, 2004 - A few weeks ago, Brian Eklund was helping the Pensacola Ice Pilots get into the ECHL playoffs. Today, he`s the third goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the team tries to claim the NHL`s Stanley Cup. Eklund is doing a Stanley Cup diary for the News Journal, describing the experience of playing for hockey`s top prize.

Today was Media Day.

At the practice center, we have two rinks side by side. There was so much media here they had to cover one entire rink. The players stood at podiums, and the reporters walked around to the players to get their interviews.

It was the first time I've ever been a part of something like that. There were 600 people on hand … it was a circus.

Honestly, I think I only talked to one guy. It was a "Hey, how are you doing?" type of thing.

The line in front of the podium occupied by (Tampa star) Martin St. Louis was, like, seven deep. It was amazing.

After that, we did some goalie work before full practice with the team. After that was more practice. It was upbeat, some of the fastest skating I`ve seen. If you had looked into the stands, you`d have seen (former NHL coach and Canadian broadcast legend) Don Cherry looking back at you. To see him in person is just unbelievable.

During practice, I took about 20 minutes' worth of shots. (Tampa star goalie Nikolai Khabibulin) Nikki and backup John Grahame needed some work. We had a day off Sunday, so they wanted to get ready.

After practice, Dave Andreychuk and I took some extra shots and played little keep-away games. It really boosts your confidence to stop shots from a future Hall of Famer.

The difference between the ECHL and the NHL is the little stuff. Guys in the ECHL shoot just as hard and just as accurately. The difference is the consistency. Guys in the NHL do it all the time. In the ECHL, there are some guys with some great shots. It`s the small things that separate the ones here and the ones who don't make it.

Tampa is a lot of fun. It's an up-and-coming city … a lot more urban than Pensacola. It's a young person`s town, for sure. The whole atmosphere is incredible.

It has turned into a hockey town real quick. You look up and see signs on the buildings saying "Go Bolts" and "Good luck, Lightning." It's really impressive.

The team is great. Khabibulin is playing at a level we`ve never seen. He made a save at practice Monday, and everybody stopped.

But, just to be able to sit and ask him questions about hockey and life in general is cool.

St. Louis is a great guy. He went to the University of Vermont, and I went to Brown. One of his coaches later was my coach, so we had that to talk about.

I first met him about four years ago. He was new to the Lightning, and his goal was to just make the team. Now he's one of the best in the NHL. He`s proof that if you work hard, good things will come of it.

I played the entire season in the ECHL just to get this opportunity. When you get the call, it's a little bit of gratification because others recognize you`re working hard to get here.