Max Crozier jokes that he has some Norwegian ancestry on his grandfather’s side, and that’s why he meshed so well and so quickly with fellow defenseman Emil Lilleberg as his pairing partner.
This time last year, the two were entering their first prospect camp with the Lightning. Lilleberg was trying to make the jump from playing professionally in his native Norway, and Crozier was just a few months removed from college hockey at Providence.
On the surface they seem like an odd couple. Crozier is always smiling, and Lilleberg is more steadily stoic. But they found chemistry together almost instantly as a pairing during last year’s rookie showcase.
“I feel like it clicked pretty early on, and when we started the year in the AHL together, your D partner is there, too,” Crozier said. “It’s one of those things, you really don’t know why or how, but it just clicked.”
One of the most difficult things in hockey is finding a defenseman pairing that jells. As the back line of defense, they have to anticipate where the other is at all times and help each other when pressure comes their way.
The Lightning will open this year’s pre-training camp rookie showcase today in Nashville, facing teams representing the Panthers, Predators and Hurricanes. While most of the players participating will start the season in the minors, the quick success Lilleberg and Crozier saw together is a reminder that the NHL isn’t that far away if you’re able to find trust in a partner and build off of it.
“I just think they’re both competitive, quick learners, really good students of the game,” said Lightning director of player development Stacy Roest, who is also the general manager of AHL Syracuse. “They’re passionate. And they communicate really well with each other. You can see them off the ice, they get along really well together.
“And they’ve got each other’s backs. And I think when you come to this camp, go to the AHL and ultimately get called up to the NHL together, it’s a great story. And they know they needed each other’s help.”
After pairing with Crozier almost three months in Syracuse, Lilleberg was a big, physical left-shot defenseman that the Lightning needed when Mikhail Sergachev went down with a left leg injury: he made his NHL debut on Jan. 6. Four games later, Crozier earned his first callup and debuted Jan. 13.
In their NHL time together, Crozier often paired with Lilleberg as his right-side partner, and the two quickly earned praise for the way they worked together to keep the game simple.
“Everyone plays differently together,” Crozier said. “I think we read off each other really well. We know our games very well, like we know when you know the guy’s going to stop, we know what each other are going to do, and we know where each other are, and when we’re kind of getting pressured on and we need and outlet, I know where Emil will be, and he knows where I will be.”
Crozier’s light-hearted demeanor helped bring Lilleberg out of his shell early on in Syracuse.
“My English is not so good, but Cro will take care of that,” Lilleberg said. “So I trust him, really, I can talk to him. We have a good chemistry, and we have some fun playing together. Cro is a fantastic player to play with ... Playing with him (helped me) 100%.”
While injuries to the Lightning blue line opened the door for Lilleberg and Crozier last year, they’ll both have to battle for roster spots this season on a rebuilt defenseman corps.
If the Lightning open the season with defenseman J.J. Moser on the right side, there is an spot for Lilleberg as the third left-side defenseman behind Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh. But it creates a crowd for Crozier on the right behind Moser, Erik Cernak, Darren Raddysh and Nick Perbix.
Lilleberg’s 38 NHL games were the most of any of the eight Lightning rookies who made their league debuts with the team last season, and Crozier’s 13 games ranked fourth. Both players returned to Syracuse briefly, then earned valuable minutes in the Lightning’s first-round playoff series against the Panthers.
“I think we have constant communication, and we’re super easy-going people, and we’re able to learn from each other ...,” Crozier said. “We came into the league at the same time, and I think that kind of helped us, because we were in the same boat for a lot of it, and I think we really did a good job of pushing each other and trying to become the best people and players that we could be.”
