Photo by Alexis Boucher

Prior to the match up with the Ottawa Senators the Lightning honored Vinny Lecavalier for reaching his 1,000 game milestone.  It’s kind of a big deal. Many of us remember when a lanky 18 year old Vinny was drafted first overall back in 1998. He’s been a constant on the team for so long it’s hard to think of Tampa Bay’s hockey club and not think of #4.

The evening began with a pregame ceremony to honor the captain. I can’t lie. The video montage made things get a tad dusty. In case you missed it:

» Continue reading “Celebrating VL4′s 1K”

Andre Roy Photo by Linda Hamilton

It’s not often you find touching stories during a work stoppage. Warm fuzzy feelings aren’t exactly running rampant in the hockey world right now. While flipping channels last night, I happened upon a Sun Sports broadcast of a Lightning vs. San Jose Sharks game from November 15th, 2002. It was a memorable game which saw Dave Andreychuk score his record setting 250th power play goal.

My blood boiled a bit as I watched the action unfold. We shouldn’t be watching decade old games. There should be brand new, never before seen hockey on our tvs and in our arenas. We should be watching Steven Stamkos lighting the lamp all over North America, damn it.

» Continue reading “Let’s Do The Time Warp Again: Lightning Hockey Memories”

Steven Stamkos & Marty St. Louis Photo by Linda Hamilton

September 15th is a few short days away without any formal negotiations for the NHL and NHLPA in sight. If no new CBA is in place, Gary Bettman has said the players will be locked out and the season will be delayed. It’s understandable that some NHLers are looking for contingency plans with both sides seemingly still miles apart.

Various European hockey leagues saw an influx of NHL talent during the 2004-2005 season lost during the last lockout. Vinny Lecavalier and Brad Ricards suited up for Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL. Dan Boyle headed to Djurgårdens IF, then a part of the Swedish Elitserien. Marty St. Louis played for HC Lausanne in Switzerland and Pavel Kubina for HC Vítkovice in the Czech Republic.

If you think it’s tough keeping up when your team is on a West Coast road trip, try when they’re on the other side of the world. Unfortunately it’s looking like many of us are going to have to renew our relationship with Google Translate.

» Continue reading “St. Louis & Stamkos Look Abroad With Lockout Looming”

In the face of a large issue like an impending lockout, you wouldn’t think there was anything that could tick off hockey fans more than that. Apparently this isn’t true for some Lightning fans. Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times wrote a piece that sent some into a tizzy. All over a number.

For the first time since former captain Dave Andreychuk retired after the 2005-2006 season, a Bolts player will have the #25 on their sweater. As the news spread, so did the Twitter outrage. It’s easy to understand why some people are so upset.

That may be why this next statement may be surprising. There is NOTHING wrong with Matt Carle wearing #25 when he takes the ice for Tampa Bay.

» Continue reading “Dave Andreychuk, Matt Carle, & The Number 25″

Matt Carle Photo by Bridget Samuels/ Flickr

As Suter & Parise go, so go the rest of the free agents. This is especially true for the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight as they have announced that they have signed defenseman Matt Carle to a six year contract. The deal is worth approximately $5.5 million per year.

You may remember Carle from a brief stint with the Bolts during the OK Hockey era. He was one of the returns on the trade that sent fan favorites Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich to the San Jose Sharks. Carle played a whopping 12 games in a Lightning sweater before being sent to to the Philadelphia Flyers with a third round draft pick in exchange for Steve Eminger, Steve Downie, and a 2009 fourth round pick.

During the 2011-12 season he played in all 82 games for the Flyers, recording 4 goals and 34 assists. Carle is versatile in a number of different situations, which will be an asset coming into Coach Boucher’s unusual playing system.

Some fans still have some residual bitterness when it comes to the transaction that sent Danny Boyle out of town, but the bottom line is that the defensive squad improves with the addition of Carle. Last season’s d-men had a lot of problems preventing goals from being scored, the addition of Carle and netminder Anders Lindback should definitely improve that aspect of their game.

If Carle can play and contribute, some fans will just need to get over it.