Lightning Lockerroom Sign Photo by Linda Hamilton

Bobby “The Chief” Taylor said it best during the Lightning post game radio show this evening.  You don’t win games by allowing 39 shots on goal at home. Unfortunately that’s just what happened during Tampa’s game against the Washington Capitals. There were some good things, but the nagging mistakes continued to come back to bite them. The Bolts mustered another late rally, but fell short of securing a point. The 4-3 loss extended Tampa’s winless streak to 6 games.

Woo freakin’ hoo.

» Continue reading “Bad Romance: Sputtering Lightning Lose 4-3 To Caps”

Photo by Alexis Boucher

The Lightning’s 20th anniversary celebration may have been delayed, but they kicked off the shortened season with style. It took a little while for things to gel, but the team looked extremely solid. Some unexpected sources of offense lead the Bolts to a 6-3 victory over their division rival Washington Capitals.

Eric Brewer opened the scoring for the Lightning in the first period and chipped in another goal on the power play in the third. Marty St. Louis also scored two and it felt so good to hear “Louie Louie” ringing out through the Forum again.

» Continue reading “Lightning Defeat Capitals 6-3 In Season Opener”

Lightning At Practice Photo by Alexis Boucher

Tampa beat writers Damian Cristodero and Erik Erlendson are both reporting that the Lightning will be opening the season at home on January 19th. After many rumors flying that the Florida Panthers would be their first foe, it looks like it’s going to be another division rival in the Washington Capitals. Until opening night, there is still a lot of work to be done in a short amount of time.

Training camp will open on January 13th at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Sessions will take place at the arena on Sunday and Monday. Both days will be open to the public according to Cristodero. The Lightning’s Twitter account stated a fan event will take place at the Forum on Sunday as well. No real details have emerged on exactly what that will be yet.

After those two sessions training camp will head south to Estero, Florida. The Germain Arena will host the Bolts on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If the arena’s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because some of you have been to see the Florida Everblades there.

Buckle up, sports fans. We’re in for a frantic and furious start to the season.

Steven Stamkos Photo by Linda Hamilton

The stars have come out for the CBA negotiations. It was tweeted August 14th via Michael Grange that Lightning star sniper Steven Stamkos, as well as  Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, were present when the NHL Players’ Association presented their counter-offer to the NHL Tuesday.

This view, shared by the head of the NHLPA Donald Fehr , basically keeps a hard salary cap but doesn’t link player salaries to overall team revenues. It also calls for more revenue sharing between teams by asking richer teams to distribute more than $250 million to teams that are struggling financially.

After sitting in on Tuesday’s CBA negotiations Stamkos spoke to Tampa Bay Times Lightning beat writer Damian Cristodero, stating that the players “just want a fair deal”.(Source: Tampa Bay Times)

When Cristodero asked why he felt the need to be involved in the CBA negotiations Stamkos had this to say:

“For the young players of this league, this new agreement is going to affect us.” (Source: Tampa Bay Times)

It’s good to see Stamkos taking an interest in these negotiations. It’s yet another example of him maturing into the leader and franchise cornerstone the Bolts need in the coming years.

The gentleman in the photo above is a familiar sight for regular Sons of Andreychuk visitors. He is the one and only Voodoo Strikes. Before he’s put back into a drawer for the summer, it seems only fitting to showcase some of his awesome hockey adventures from the 2011-2012 season.

For the uninitiated, here’s how Voodoo came about. A few years back, there was an NHL commercial where a fan mentioned that part of his routine was sticking pins in his Sidney Crosby Voodoo Doll. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist came on the screen and gave his approval for the previous statement.  It snowballed from there for my friends and I. My friend Linda ordered Voodoo from an actual store in New Orleans. We dress him in the uniform of an opposing teams and stick pins in him when they come to town.

This guy has a more varied wardrobe and is more well traveled than a lot of people. Here’s a few of the things he did this year.

» Continue reading “The Adventures Of A Lightning Hockey Voodoo Doll”