Whew. It was a busy day when it comes to Lightning news. Best to jump right in.
-When Anders Lindback left last night’s game against the Leafs, it didn’t look good. He went in in relief for a struggling Mathieu Garon, and left almost as quickly. The team issued the bad news earlier today. Lindback is out indefinitely with a right ankle sprain. With a little over a month left in the season, it’s pretty safe to say he’s done for the year.
-In light of Lindback’s injury, Cedrick Desjardins has been recalled from the Syracuse Crunch. Twitter buzz suggests Guy Boucher is planning on going with Garon in net for both Saturday and Sunday’s games. Richard Panik has also been recalled due to Ryan Malone’s shoulder injury.
- Tampa signed NCAA free agent defenseman Andrej Sustr to a two year entry level contract. The 22 year old Czech blueliner is literally a huge signing, as he is 6’8″ and 225 pounds. If his name sounds familiar, you may have seen him at last summer’s prospect camp. The University of Nebraska-Omaha Maverick recorded nine goals, 25 points, and 53 penalty minutes through 39 games this season.
-Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Joffrey Lupul was suspended 2 games for his hit to Victor Hedman’s head Wednesday night. The league’s suspension video can be seen here.
It’s tough to know where to begin. Another rough loss that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs score four goals before the Bolts answered. Another late rally that fell just short. Another injury, this time to Anders Lindback who had gone into the game in relief of Mathieu Garon. Victor Hedman felled by a questionable hit delivered by Joffrey Lupul. Rough times indeed. Definitely not the way you want a road trip to get started.
Let’s focus on the positive. Radko Gudas, and his beard, scored his first career NHL goal. Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson teamed up for Tampa’s second goal.
Rest, regroup, and get ready for Ottawa on Saturday. And hope Lindback’s lower body injury is only day to day.
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:
It’s always nice to make new friends. Photo by Alexis Boucher
After the overtime victory in Sunrise on Saturday, a lot of questions faced the Lightning going into their brief home stand. Would they be able to continue that momentum? Would they reap the benefits of having a practice session on Monday? Would the scoring continue or would they fall back into bad habits? It’s still a mighty small sample size, but Tampa seemed to find their stride in front of a vastly pro-Toronto crowd. They answered the bell and continued to put the puck on net, defeating the Leafs 4-2.
When I say the crowd was pro-Toronto… it felt like we were in Canada. I asked my friend if this means we get free health care now. Nature of the beast with a hockey team in Florida. So many snowbirds live down here during the winter anyways. For those who aren’t part time residents, it may be easier and cheaper to get tickets here. No hard feelings, everyone was well behaved. But there was a lady behind me who thought that ever Maple Leafs player was Phil Kessel. Riiiiight.
Negotiations may have continued in secret today, but locked out NHLers continue to devote their time to raise money for charities. In one week’s time Tampa’s Steven Stamkos and Montreal’s P.K. Subban will lead teams in the RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
More than 30 NHLPA members will make up the two teams for a 60 minute 5 on 5 game. Here’s a bit of trivia for you: the sports facility is inside the original Maple Leaf Gardens. The proceeds from the event will go to benefit the NHLPA’s Goals & Dreams fund and RBC’s Play Hockey initiative.
Bolts’ GM Steve Yzerman is checking things off his to do list well before free agency opens tomorrow. Goalie? Check. Depth forwards? Check. Defensemen? Check. Just days after issuing qualifying offers to 4 of their young restricted free agents, three of them have been signed.
Brian Lee inked a two year, one way contract yesterday. Lee was acquired in the February 26th trade that sent Matt Gilroy to the Ottawa Senators. The 6’3″ defenseman ended up playing 20 games in Tampa, recording eight assists and seventeen shots on net.
The blueline was bolstered even further with the signing of Keith Aulie today. Aulie is an imposing figure on the defensive squad at 6’6″. The young d-man was brought to Tampa on the trade that sent Carter Ashton to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 19 games, Aulie had one assist and 17 penalty minutes.
Most of those coming from this:
Free agency begins tomorrow, so more moves are bound to be made. Oh, and happy early Canada Day to our friends north of the border.
Today, June 11th, marks Tampa Bay Lightning and Norfolk Admirals defenseman Keith Aulie’s 23rd birthday.
Aulie, a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, spent much of his time with the AHL Toronto Marlies before a 2012 Trade Deadline deal sent him to the Lightning in exchange for Lightning prospect Carter Ashton. In 19 games played with the Lightning after the trade Aulie had one point and was a minus-5 with 13 penalty minutes. (Source: lightning.nhl.com) He also wasn’t afraid to drop the gloves when needed, something I’m sure most Lightning fans appreciate!
Aulie, after the Lightning’s season ended in early April, was sent to AHL Norfolk to gain experience and help out with their postseason run. He did that, tallying one goal, six points and a plus-7 rating in 18 playoff games with Norfolk. In Game 4 of the Calder Cup finals Saturday afternoon he collected one assist in Norfolk’s 6-1 win over his former team, the Marlies, helping to capture the Admirals’ first Calder Cup. (Source: NorfolkAdmirals.com)
It’s safe to say the Calder Cup playoff experience most likely helped Aulie in the long run. As the Admirals return to Norfolk today, cup in tow, I know he probably has what he wanted most for his birthday. Regardless, we would still like to say “Happy Birthday” and here’s to many more in a Lightning uniform!
Yes, my group of friends did celebrate another friend’s birthday with Lightning prospect Trevor Smith on a cake. Just another example in a long list of reasons why hockey fans aren’t like other fans.
Let’s start with the good news. The sports bar we attended not only had the Bolts’ game on several large screens, but they had what seemed like a million of the other games taking place tonight on at the same time. Talk about sensory overload.
Steven Stamkos scored his 59th goal and has made the final game against Winnipeg all that more dramatic with the whole “will he reach 60?” question.
Another interesting tidbit about his scoring frenzy, tonight’s goal gives him 46 even strength goals on the year. That’s the most for any player since the 1992-93 season when Teemu Selanne, Alexander Mogilny, and Mario Lemieux reached that mark.
Marty St. Louis’ first period goal was his 25th of the year. It also marks the 9th straight season he has scored 25 or more goals, a new franchise record.
Game 82 of the season takes place Saturday in Winnipeg. Will Stammer get there? Will the Bolts end the season with a win? Will I be a blubbering mess when the reality of 6 months separating us from training camp? We’ll just have to wait and see.
As the Tampa Bay Lightning take the ice in Montreal for one of their final games, one man has the eyes of the hockey world on him more intensely than ever.
The Bolts may not be poised to make the playoffs, but their star sniper is poised to make history of his own.
Steven Stamkos sits at 58 goals on the season and has three games left to hit the 60 goal mark before it’s all said and done.
If he does score those 2 goals, he will join Alex Ovechkin as the only players to reach 60 in the last 12 years. Stammer would be the first North American player to achieve 60 since Mario Lemieux scored 69 goals in 1995-1996.
One of the reasons why Steven has run away with the Maurice Richard Trophy race this year is that his game has evolved an insane amount since he first came into the league in 2008-09. His deadly wrist shot is well documented, but now he is starting to go to the net and score more “dirty” goals.
The good news is that Stamkos has had scoring success against their three remaining opponents. He has 2 goals in three games against Montreal, one in three games against Toronto, and three in five games against Winnipeg.
If he stays hot, there’s a possibility he could eclipse 60 and aim even higher.
Update: Or he could be held scoreless in the Lightning’s 5-2 loss to the Habs. Ah well. The hunt resumes tomorrow in Toronto.
