Brett Connolly Photo by Linda Hamilton

The topic du jour today is the apparent leap forward in the NHL’s labor negotiations.  Optimism seems higher than ever before and many people think the lockout could end as early as this Friday.  While I’m not denying the importance of this, these injury updates from Syracuse should make Lightning fans happy as well. » Continue reading “Crunch and Grind: Injury Updates from Syracuse”

Keith Aulie Photo by Linda Hamilton

One of the good things about organizational depth is that it protects a team from taking a big hit if a trade doesn’t pan out. » Continue reading “Interesting Times For Keith Aulie”

Tyler Johnson gets low for faceoffs…so low that no one saw him on draft day. Picture from the Syracuse Crunch FB page

This Syracuse Crunch team sure is special, isn’t it?   The NHL lockout drags on, but one benefit for the Tampa Bay Lightning is the ability to see its young guns play together and grow as a dominant team.  The Crunch played three games this weekend (2-1 loss vs. Binghamton, 4-1 win at Albany, 6-1 win at Worcester) and are now 12-3-1-1 through 17 games.  This puts them in first in the East Division as well as the entire Eastern Conference.

Take some time to absorb all of these bullet points and try not to get giddy (I couldn’t resist) thinking about some of these guys contributing at the NHL level. » Continue reading “Number Crunch: Syracuse Dominating As A Team”

Brett Connolly Photo by Linda Hamilton

Need another sign that the NHL lockout is looming without hope of being stopped? Teams were assigning players to the AHL in droves this morning, the Lightning included.

The following players were assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL:

Forwards: J.T. Brown, Cory Conacher, Brett Connolly, Danick Gauthier, Alex Hutchings, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat and Richard Panik.

Defensemen: Mark Barberio, Radko Gudas, Dmitry Korobov, Charles Landry and Dan Milan.

Goaltenders: Dustin Tokarsaki, Riku Helenius and Pat Nagle.

As if that weren’t enough, JT Wyman was placed on waivers as well. He will be assigned to Syracuse on Saturday if he clears waivers at noon on Saturday.

Yup. This sucks. We should be prepping for training camps right now.

Dmitry Korobov Photo by Artem Korzhimanov via Wikimedia Commons

Lightning GM Steve Yzerman continues to stay busy. Today he announced that Tampa has signed defenseman Dmitry Korobov to a two year, two way contract. The financial details of the contract have not been disclosed yet.

The 6’3″, 230 pound native of Belarus played in 82 games over three seasons with Dynamo Minsk of the KHL. He had 2 goals, 20 points, and 46 points during the regular season. In 9 playoff games with Minsk, recording a goal and three points.

Korobov went undrafted by the NHL, but has seen his share of international competition for his country. He has represented Belarus at the IIHF World Championships for the last three years.

Other international appearances include the 2007 World Junior Championships and the 2006 World Under-18 Championships.

And we’re still not sure if his first name is spelled Dmitry or Dmitri. Oh, Eastern Europeans.

According to BoltProspects.com, the Lightning had their eye on Korobov after his performance in last year’s Worlds. A good move to add depth on the blueline, most likely at the AHL level in Syracuse.