Tampa Bay Times Forum & Esposito’s New Statue Photo by Linda Hamilton
When the NHL realignment plan first came to light, there were a lot of questions. What about old rivalries like Detroit & Chicago? How does this make more geographic sense than the current lay out? With a league comprised of four conferences back in popular conversation, there’s been a lot of talk about how this would effect the Tampa Bay Lightning. In short, it could be great for the Florida teams and it could be terrible.
In hockey, as in life, it often helps to make a list of pros and cons:
Instead of getting mired down in another loss, let’s look at the positive. The Lightning had their strongest first period in recent memory. They converted on the power play twice in the first period. Mathieu Garon stopped 24 shots. Alex Killorn had a hell of a game in his return to Boston. There were definite positives, but the end result remained the same with a loss in regulation.
The first period had all of the fire the Bolts were lacking against the Rangers. Fast on the puck, physical, and went to work quickly on the man advantage. Steven Stamkos opened the scoring with his 15th goal of the season just 5:32 into the game. How he got this past Khudobin on that angle, we may never know. Seriously, his left foot was behind the goal line.
Death. Taxes. Conacher. All things in life that are certain. That rang true tonight at the Tampa Bay Times forum even though the Lightning ended up losing the game 4-2. Cory scored his 6th goal of the season to tie the game in the second period. For those of you keeping score at home, he leads all NHL rookies in scoring with 15 points. Still a bit early for Calder talk, but it’s hard to argue with the numbers.
The Famous Voodoo Strikes. Photo by Linda Hamilton
- Well, it’s official. The NHL has announced that the Lightning & Bruins game has been postponed and will not take place this evening. Per Damian Cristodero, the league is working on rescheduling the game now. The team will travel by bus to New York this afternoon as Logan airport remains closed. The game against the Rangers is set to go on as planned… at least for now anyways.
It’s the right move to make. The amount of snow that fell and continues to fall is pretty insane. Wishing the team safe travels on the way to the Big Apple.
- Bob McKenzie of TSN tweeted that the Lightning have placed center Dana Tyrell on waivers. No word from the team as of yet, but it is an interesting move. Tyrell hasn’t been seeing a lot of ice time. Should he clear waivers, he would be assigned to the Syracuse Crunch.
Given the number of injuries that have already taken place in the shortened season, there’s a very good chance that another team could pick him up. Some of the current rumblings are that Jay Feaster, GM of the Calgary Flames, could be
Acquired from the St. Louis Blues over the summer, Crombeen has yet to play a game in a Bolts sweater. In the last three seasons in St. Louis, he had 15 goals in 32 points in 199 games. Add on 393 PIMs to round out the statistics.
His contract will allow B.J. to decide if he wants to continue playing on a week to week basis. The decision to start playing came as the lockout stretches on and since he missed 42 games last season with a shoulder injury.
Apropos of nothing, here is Crombeen and Adam McQuaid fighting.
- Newer hockey fans may know former Bolt Chris Dingman for his work in the media than on the ice. A staple of the Sun Sports television broadcast, he shared some of his favorite hockey memories with The Hockey News.
Dinger played for Calgary, Colorado, and Carolina before landing in Tampa. The two time Stanley Cup Champion known for his tough play shared some great stuff. Ever wonder how he got the nickname “Dish” or the funniest hockey person he came across? Wonder no more.
The summer of 2011 saw the Lightning weathering Stammergeddon. This summer seems destined to be known as The Goalie Games for Tampa. Ever since Cory Schneider came onto everyone’s radar during Vancouver’s first round series, many pundits seem to have written him off as a possible off season acquisition for the Lightning. A number of other names are coming out of the woodwork. First Roberto Luongo, and now Boston Bruins netminder Tim Thomas.
On the surface this doesn’t seem too far fetched, if the Bruins are looking to trade Thomas with 1 year left on his contract that is. The Bruins have to re-sign Tuukka Rask, Thomas’ current back up and the man largely viewed as the future of the position for the black and gold. That’s going to take some cash if they want to keep him in Boston.
The gentleman in the photo above is a familiar sight for regular Sons of Andreychuk visitors. He is the one and only Voodoo Strikes. Before he’s put back into a drawer for the summer, it seems only fitting to showcase some of his awesome hockey adventures from the 2011-2012 season.
For the uninitiated, here’s how Voodoo came about. A few years back, there was an NHL commercial where a fan mentioned that part of his routine was sticking pins in his Sidney Crosby Voodoo Doll. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist came on the screen and gave his approval for the previous statement. It snowballed from there for my friends and I. My friend Linda ordered Voodoo from an actual store in New Orleans. We dress him in the uniform of an opposing teams and stick pins in him when they come to town.
This guy has a more varied wardrobe and is more well traveled than a lot of people. Here’s a few of the things he did this year.
