Photo by Alexis Boucher
- It was announced yesterday afternoon that the Lightning signed forward Antti Miettinen to a two year $3 million contract. Miettinen most recently played for Minnesota in the NHL and was playing in the KHL for Ak Bars Kazan. Since he was playing in Europe, he had to clear waivers be noon on Tuesday in order to be added to the Tampa roster.
Before fans could celebrate the ingenious lengths the organization is going to to add depth to a depleted line up, Winnipeg snatched Antti off waivers. GM Steve Yzerman admitted that it was a risky move and he’ll have to go back to the drawing board in his efforts to bolster his team. (Tampa Tribune)
- Marty St. Louis was present at the St. Pete Times Forum on Monday and visited his teammates in the locker room. He has to refrain from any physical activity until the blood subsides from his eye, but the good news is that he does have vision in it. As of right now, there is no time table set for his return to the ice. It does seem like he will be wearing a visor when he does come back.
-Steve Downie was fined for leaving the bench to enter the altercation in the game against the New York Rangers last week. Given his history and the fact that he is regularly penalized for being Steve Downie, he dodged a bullet here. No pun intended given Anisimov’s goal celebration. (NBC Sports)
-Brett Connolly is having a great time at Team Canada’s World Juniors prep. His teammates have already given him a new nickname: “Old Man”. Apparently this comes from his ability to grow such a full beard at such a young age. I always wondered about that myself.Connolly did cramp up in the first team practice, but he attributes it to dehydration. (TSN)
Connolly’s teammates wished him well in the tournament. Well, most of them did:
“Pretty much all the guys were wishing me good luck. All the Canadians want me to come back with a gold medal. Some of the Americans … not so much.” Connolly said after landing in Calgary for Team Canada’s camp. (Quote Source: Ottawa Sun)
-Finally, Tampa’s 2011 first round draft pick Vladislav Namestnikov and his London Knights teammate Seth Griffith are spreading some Christmas cheer through song. Don’t worry, boys. I’m pretty sure they can clean that up in post production.
