Dave Feschuk: The gem Nikita: Lightning star Kucherov, shirtless and swigging beers, gives a news conference you haven’t seen before

To set the tone for the championship news conference that possibly redeemed a pandemic’s worth of mundane NHL Zoom calls, Nikita Kucherov showed up shirtless and overserved.

Often a quiet off-ice presence for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Kucherov, in the moments after his team defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 to win its second straight Stanley Cup Wednesday night, suddenly morphed into the loud know-it-all at the end of the proverbial bar who inserts himself into every conversation without invitation. As the Lightning celebrated becoming just the second team in the salary-cap era to win back-to-back titles, Kucherov held stream-of-consciousness court that rarely stuck to the traditional pucks-in-deep script.

He took issue, for instance, with the fact the Lightning were handed what looked like champagne bottles filled with another fizzy beverage.

“That’s a Bud Light. That’s not champagne,” Kucherov warned.

He tagged the abomination with what appeared to be his pet phrase: “No. 1 bulls–,” Kucherov muttered.

His targets were scattershot and silly. His language was certainly not fit for the whole family. But he was as funny as he was unfiltered. And he was just getting started.

He levied a shot at a reporter whose Zoom question didn’t register clearly.

“What did he say? Buy a new mic,” he admonished.

He lobbed some headline-making shade north of the border, mocking the celebration in and around the Bell Centre after the Canadiens prolonged the final with a Game 4 win.

“The fans in Montreal, come on … they acted like they won the Stanley Cup last game. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” Kucherov said. “Their final was the last series.”

At one point he slid an empty can of beer across the lectern before he dramatically cracked another cold one. We were only minutes into the NHL off-season, sure, but it looked as though Alex Ovechkin’s legendary Cup celebration of 2018 had a potential rival in the making.

There were those who later admonished Kucherov’s act as boorish and classless. Judging from reaction on social media, vast swaths of Canadiens fans took exception to Kucherov’s ribbing and will no doubt hold a grudge. Lifetime booing in the Bell Centre seems assured. And fair enough. Thin-skinned-ness is a fan base’s right. And if you wanted to nitpick, Kucherov’s conduct certainly didn’t befit a player who has previously received votes for the Lady Byng Trophy, which rewards “sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct.”

But championship news conferences, if they’re going to be conducted in the boozy aftermath of the catharsis that comes with a career-defining match, probably can’t be expected to be buttoned-down exercises in statesmanlike decorum. This was a rare, raw glimpse of an athlete blowing off steam in the moments after being released from a pressure cooker. So it’s only fair to excuse a guy for laying his feelings as bare as his chest.

“I couldn’t sleep for three nights,” Kucherov said, speaking of the anxiety that accompanied the lead-up to the Cup clincher.

Kucherov earned even more leeway, to this eye, thanks to his otherworldly performance on the ice. The winger’s league-leading total of 32 playoff points was nine more than the next-best NHLer, teammate Brayden Point. It was precisely double the tally of the next-best playoff producers not employed by the Lightning. Montreal’s Nick Suzuki and Vegas’s William Karlsson led the non-Tampa-based scoring race with 16 points apiece.

When you look at Kucherov’s post-season numbers over a two-championship span, his level of play appears even more remarkable. He led the playoffs in scoring last year, too. The only players who’ve compiled more points in back-to-back post-seasons are named Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

Not that Kucherov made any mention of his own stats in Wednesday night’s wayward ramblings.

He spoke glowingly of his teammates.

“I’ve been in love with those guys, ups and downs,” he said. “I said one time, you give us one time to win, we’re going to win twice, and that’s what happened.”

He praised the leadership of team captain Steven Stamkos.

“He was so vocal in the room. He was amazing,” he said. “I love Stammer. He’s so funny, too. He says something, I’m laughing. It’s not even funny, but I’m laughing. He’s funny to me. He’s got good sense of humour.”

But Kucherov was slightly less amused when the topic turned to his beloved countryman, Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Though Vasilevskiy was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP — and though Vasilevskiy, in a show of mutual admiration, insisted he was “surprised” Kucherov didn’t take home the award — Kucherov expressed unparalleled passion in his belief that Vasilevskiy was Tampa’s linchpin. Wednesday’s rare achievement, a shutout in a series-clinching game for the fifth time since the beginning of the 2020 playoffs, only underlined the goaltender’s mastery.

“Vasy was outstanding — MVP,” Kucherov said. “I keep telling him, ‘He’s MVP. He’s the guy. He’s the best.’ ”

Kucherov insisted Vasilevskiy had previously been “robbed” by the NHL general managers who voted Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets and Marc-André Fleury of the Golden Knights as Vezina Trophy winners in 2020 and 2021, respectively. (Vasilevskiy finished third and second, respectively, in those votes). Kucherov derisively referred to Fleury as “that guy in Vegas.” He was on a roll.

“No. 1 bulls—,” Kucherov said, referring to the Vezina voting. “Vasy took both Cups … If he would play in different market, he would take this Vezina year after year.”

Stripped to the waist but for the backward-facing ball cap on his head, the loud know-it-all at the end of the bar kept it coming a while longer. And while someone eventually cut his mic, It’s safe to assume a summer celebration to rival the all-timers had only begun.

“Hey, I kept it the whole year inside,” Kucherov said. “A lot of questions today. I’m used to one, two questions. Today’s like, what? Five? (Expletive) made a record.”