Photo by Alexis Boucher

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.

Tyler Johnson Photo by Alexis Boucher

As the third period was about to get underway at the Tampa Bay Times Forum last night, the scoring summary was shown on the video board as per usual. What was a but of a change was the names showing up on that list. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, and Cory Conacher. All recently played for the Syracuse Crunch. All have joined the parent club and have been impossible to ignore on the ice.

Johnson scored his first NHL goal last night and also registered an assist. Sadly there were no fisticuffs to complete the Gordie Howe Hat Trick, but the W is more important. Ondrej Palat also scored his first NHL goal last night as well. The “green” players lead the Bolts to a 4-1 victory over the division rival Carolina Hurricanes.

Take a look at Johnson’s goal. The hard work of that line helped the Lightning to open the scoring. The magic these guys were creating in the AHL has definitely translated to the bigger stage of the NHL. It couldn’t come at a better time for Tampa Bay.

» Continue reading “Luck O’ The Crunch: Rookies Lead Lightning to 4-1 Win”

Photo by Linda Hamilton

At the risk of getting into trouble by littering this brief recap with four letter words, I’ll keep it brief. Instead of censoring, here’s a short list.

- Can’t blame this one on Anders Lindback.

-Radko Gudas remains a beast, trimmed beard or no.

- Congrats to Tyler Johnson on his NHL debut.

As for the rest? Well… we’ll let 2006 Michel Therrien take it from here.

» Continue reading “Lightning Lose 2-0 To Islanders. Yes, The Islanders.”

Vincent Lecavalier Photo by Linda Hamilton

Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier wasn’t out on the ice for morning skate today and for good reason. Per the team, Vinny is out indefinitely with an unspecified lower body injury and has been placed on injured reserve. It doesn’t sound like surgery is necessary, but the IR move does mean he’ll be out a minimum of 7 days.  The injury appears to have been sustained in the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Panthers.

As with most things in life, you take the good with the bad. In losing Lecavalier, the Lightning lose their leader. Vinny was also second on the team in face off percentage and leading the squad in hits. He also sees a significant amount of time on the power play. That’s bad.

The good? Center Tyler Johnson has been called up from the Syracuse Crunch and will make his NHL debut tonight against the New York Islanders. Through 59 games with the Crunch, Johnson has 31 goals and 57 points. 11 of those goals came on the power play. He did take part in the Lightning’s abbreviated training camp in January before the start of the season. Johnson will wear #63 on his sweater this evening.

So what happens now? The Lightning continue to struggle or they channel the Ottawa Senators and keep right on playing. The latter is infinitely more appealing.

With great mustache comes great responsibility

With the April 3rd trade deadline less than a month away, the time is now for teams to begin assessing their playoff chances and deciding what kind of moves, if any, need to be made.  My goal is to do a few of these over the coming weeks, hopefully with more and more conviction as the standings continue to take shape. » Continue reading “Trade Deadline Talk: Nate Thompson”

Cory Conacher Photo by Alexis Boucher

Three glimmers of light could soon give way to an entire sky full of shining stars.  This lame analogy is in reference to the three Lightning rookies currently on the roster – Alex Killorn, Cory Conacher, and Richard Panik – and how their success at the NHL level could be indicative of what’s to come for this franchise.  » Continue reading “Lightning Rookies Providing A Glimpse Of The Near Future”

A number of their players may have stayed up with the Lightning following training camp, but the Syracuse Crunch are going to be well represented at the AHL All Star Classic. Five representatives of the team will be participating in this week’s festivities in Providence.

Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas will represent the Crunch blueliners. The forwards will also be more than accounted for with Tyler Johnson and Richard Panik there. Head coach Jon Cooper will also be there as part of the Eastern Conference coaching staff.

So the Lightning’s AHL affiliate will have the most players of any other team at the game and the most in franchise history. Not bad.

» Continue reading “Syracuse Crunch Invade The AHL All Star Classic”

Pierre Cedric Labrie Photo by Linda Hamilton

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced their opening night roster well ahead of Friday’s deadline. Here’s how the team is going to look:

Forwards: Vinny Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos, Marty St. Louis, Teddy Purcell, Ryan Malone, Benoit Pouliot, Tom Pyatt, Dana Tyrell, Adam Hall, Nate Thompson, B.J. Crombeen, Cory Conacher and Pierre-Cedric Labrie.

Defensemen: Victor Hedman, Sam Salo, Eric Brewer, Matt Carle, Brian Lee, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Keith Aulie and Brendan Mikkelson.

Goaltenders: Anders Lindback & Mathieu Garon.

So there you have it.That’s how the 2013 Bolts ( Not 2012-13. There was no 2012 involved in this season) will get started. The coaches seemed extremely positive about Conacher, so his addition isn’t exactly a surprise. Labrie on the other hand? Wow. For a while it seemed like Tyler Johnson could make the jump to the main club. Both he and Conacher have been insanely prolific when it comes to scoring. Johnson’s time is definitely coming, but not this Saturday.

The addition of Labrie and Crombeen have the potential to change the landscape of the on ice product if you will. With the exception of Steve Downie, the Lightning have been more about skill and finesse since Yzerman & Boucher came to town. The mantra was reacting to the opponent. Labrie and Crombeen play their game with a healthy amount of grit and physicality. They’ll be expected to play with discipline, but it could make other teams think twice before they take physical advantage of the Bolts.

Yup. Officially getting excited.

Photo by Alexis Boucher

A shortened season means an abbreviated training camp. With their season opener set for Saturday night, the Lightning coaches have to decide on their roster by the 3 pm deadline on Friday. The deadline to place players on waivers to be reassigned to the AHL is noon tomorrow. On top of all those time restrictions, a smaller camp means fewer positions up for grabs.

That doesn’t mean guys aren’t making an impact. All of the news about Cory Conacher has been positive. He’s spent a large amount of time playing on a line with Teddy Purcell and Vinny Lecavalier. Coach Boucher has been impressed.

» Continue reading “Battles For Roster Spots Rage On At Tampa’s Training Camp”

Photo by Linda Hamilton

The Lightning issued an announcement on Sunday that they were going to add 4 additional players to their training camp roster. J.T. Wyman, Mark Barberio, Tyler Johnson, & Radko Gudas have joined the squad by now ahead of their first session in Estero, FL this evening.

Syracuse is well represented during this week’s session. Mike Angelidis, Cory Conacher, Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Keith Aulie, and Matt Taormina took place in Sunday’s session.

Defenseman Evan Oberg was placed on waivers, ending another rash of “Oberging” before it even begins.