Anders Lindback Photo by Linda Hamilton

New Lightning goalie Anders Lindback’s contract with Ilves Tampere in Finland may have expired, but not before he suffered a freak injury at practice on December 18th. The incident left him with stitches in his right knee, but luckily no structural damage.

The injury occured when Lindback opened up to make a save.

“The puck hit my knee. I wear two sets of knee pads, so it was just one of those things. The puck just slipped through. I thought it was just going to be bruised and when I got into the locker room and took my gear off I was bleeding all over. It was really weird. It was a good shot, I guess,” Lindback said. (Quote Source: Tampa Bay Times)

The goalie will work out on his own now that his stitches have been removed. The outcome of a new CBA will dictate if he returns to play in Europe.

» Continue reading “Nuts & Bolts: Lindback Leaves Ilves, J.T. Brown Injured”

Adam Hall Photo by Linda Hamilton

It’s been a while since we checked in on the Lightning players plying their trade in European league. With NHL negotiations essentially exploding last week, this list is probably going to get a bit longer in the near future.

- Friday’s game that saw the Ravensburg Towerstars fall to the league leading SERC 5-2. The loss was forward Adam Hall’s 7th consecutive game with a goal. Adam Hall: Scoring Dynamo. Who knew?

- Goalie Anders Lindback.. seems to be doing well. We’re assuming this based on the numbers Bolts Prospects is coming up with. Apparently Google Translate has issues with Finnish. For example, a translated excerpt of an Ilves game recap:

“The second tranche was dominated by IFK. Away team statistics, the Lynx did not get any item category one paint the place. Got a great job with Lynx goalkeeper Anders Lindbäck rejected item 15 times.” (Source: YLE.fi)

Sure.

» Continue reading “EuroTrip: Catching Up With The Bolts Abroad”

Anders Lindback Photo by Linda Hamilton

Tampa’s new goalie who has yet to see any time between the pipes in a Lightning sweater is heading overseas. Anders Lindback’s agent Michael Deutsch announced that his client will be playing for Ilves Tampere according to Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times.

Deutsch said that Lindback is “chomping at the bit” to make his debut with the Lightning. Getting some ice time in actual competitive games could be a huge benefit as Lindback only played 38 games in the last two years as Pekka Rinne’s backup in Nashville.

He’s headed to a prestigious team in Finland’s SM-Liiga. Ilves has won 16 championships in their history. Some of these may have come when opponents were distracted by the insane cat on the front of their jerseys. Seriously, look at that thing.

Lindback becomes just the third Bolt to go to Europe during the lockout. Previously Adam Hall joined Ravensburg in Germany and Victor Hedman joined Astana Barys of the KHL. Fellow Lightning netminder Mathieu Garon is playing in exhibition games with fellow NHLers in Quebec and Nate Thompson is suiting up for his hometown ECHL team in Anchorage Alaska.