Bolts Rally, Spoil Richards Return

By JC De La Torre

Vincent Lecavalier wasn't about to allow his bud Brad Richards get the last laugh. Lecavalier scored twice (including the eventual game winner) and added an assist to rally the Lightning past the Dallas Stars 4-2. It was also the first time Tampa Bay has beaten Dallas in Tampa Bay since 1996.

The game marked Brad Richards return to the place he started his NHL career and won the Stanley Cup. Lecavalier opened the scoring just 1:33 into the game with a short handed goal. 20 seconds later, Richards answered on the power play to tie the game at 1. It would stay 1-1 until the 4:19 when Richards assisted on a goal by Loui Eriksson to give the Stars the lead.

Tampa Bay tied the game midway through the third by converting a Dallas turnover in their own zone into Steven Stamkos' blast from the low slot. At 14:54 of the third, Lecavalier rocketed a blast past Stars goalie Marty Turco that seemed to sizzle the net, put the Lightning in the lead and left his teammates and coach talking.

"That was a goal in any league," Lightning and former Stars Goaltender Mike Smith told the St. Petersburg Times.

"Not many guys in the league can score goals like that," coach Rick Tocchet added, "That was a special goal."

Lecavalier would assist on Vaclav Prospal's empty net goal to provide the final margin.

Tampa Bay improved to 15-21-10 and now are only 10 points out of a playoff spot. Tampa Bay lost the services of Evgeny Artyukhin, who was suspended for two games by the NHL for a knee-to-knee hit on Florida's Ville Peltonen.

Bolts Blow Two Goal Lead to Panthers, Fall 4-3

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning dominated the first period of their cross-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, outshooting Florida 11-4 and outscoring them 3-1 going into the first intermission. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, twenty minutes isn't an entire game and the Panthers came roaring back with three unanswered goals in the second period to pull off a 4-3 victory.

Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos was a healthy scratch for the second time in five games as the Lightning continue on their strength and conditioning program for the 2008 #1 overall pick.

Vincent Lecavalier opened up the scoring at the 4:37 mark of the 1st and Vaclav Prospal added a power play goal at 13:36 to give the Lightning a 2-0 advantage. Florida got on the board late in the first with Greg Campbell's 9th of the season. A minute later, the Lightning answered with Ryan Malone's 13th goal of the season. That would be the extent of the Tampa Bay scoring.

The second period was all Panthers, as they received goals from Cory Stillman and Richard Zednik, outshooting Tampa Bay 13-9. With only one second left in the period and the game tied at 3, Jay Bouwmeester fired the puck toward the net on the power play and it got across the goal line before time expired, giving the Panthers a 4-3 lead they wouldn't relenquish.

In the third, the Lightning peppered Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun, who relieved Craig Anderson after Tampa Bay's third goal, outshooting the Panthers 13-4 but Vokoun make all thirteen saves and Florida held on for the victory.

"We had started the game great," Prospal told the St. Pete Times, "We didn't give them anything in the first period. In the second period, we gave them all the momentum."

Lightning Dominate Philly, Lawton Says Team Not Shopping Vinny

By JC De La Torre

Amid the dark clouds descending from the north, Vincent Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning put together one of their better efforts of the season, dominating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 during their return to the St. Pete Times Forum.

"He is not being traded today. He's not being traded tomorrow. He's not being traded any time soon. This should put everything to rest," Lawton told the Tampa Bay media in a hastily called presser, "Normally our club policy is to not address rumors. Obviously with Vinny Lecavalier's situation, there has been a lot of speculation floating around - completely unfounded, I might add, Vinny Lecavalier is not being shopped by the Tampa Bay Lightning. It would be erroneous of me to say that people haven't called me on Vinny Lecavalier because they certainly have, and that has started literally from the day that I took this position. Why would something like that happen? Because he's a great player." One would hope that Lawton's forked-tongue is not giving us lip service this time around.

The shame is the fiasco has taken away from a pretty solid run by the Lightning, who now have gone 7-4-1 in their last 12.

After a scoreless first, Philadelphia's Joffrey Lupul opened the scoring on the power play at the 5:21 mark of the second. Tampa Bay tied it at the 14:48 mark on a beautiful blast from Martin St. Louis. The goal would start a rare Lightning eruption of offense with three goals in two minutes and three seconds, Andrej Meszaros on the Power Play and Ryan Craig a minute later.

The victory was cemented by Lecavalier who had his stick snapped during a breakaway, setting up a penalty shot at the 12:34 mark of the third. Lecavalier slowed on his approach, deked, and put the puck between Martin Biron's legs for the goal, giving the Bolts an insurmountable 4-1 advantage. Tampa Bay outshot the Flyers 44-34.

"They're a pretty good hockey team with a lot of pride," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said to the St. Pete Times, "They're getting better all the time. They had a lot of desperation in their game tonight."

Still the focus was on the circus surrounding Lecavalier.

"The last four or five days, especially the first two or three days ... I want to say I wasn't distracted, but I was, I think anybody would because these were rumors that had a lot of legs," Lecavalier told the Tampa Tribune, "But it was nice to go out there and play, when you're on the ice, you don't think about what goes on outside the rink."

Even the Lightning's players find the talk of Lecavalier being traded hard to stomach.

"We're all teammates here," Ryan Craig told the St. Petersburg Times, "We don't want to see anyone from our group go, especially our leader and captain."

"To even think about trading a guy like that, I don't know," added Goalie Mike Smith, ""You don't like to hear rumors that go on, and obviously it's going to happen. The good teams don't worry about what's going on in the media, and try just to play hockey."

"Vinny is a professional," Martin St. Louis told the AP, "I thought he was great out there. It's just the nature of the business. We've just got to be strong mentally."

Tampa Bay is 14-20-10, good for 4th in the Southeast Division and twelfth in the Eastern Conference. Believe it or not, Tampa Bay is now only 9 points out of a playoff spot.

Memo to Lightning Brass - Trade Vinny and They'll Be Hell to Pay...

By JC De La Torre

Trade winds are blowing in Tampa Bay and I don't like it one bit. The Canadian press is buzzing about the possibility of Vincent Lecavalier being pried out of Tampa Bay and into the sweater of the most revered franchise in hockey, the Montreal Canadiens. Lecavalier to the Habs is nothing new. Every year there are rumors about Lecavalier and Montreal simply because the fans and media of the Canadiens have a long distance love affair with the French Canadian. Montreal hasn't had a French Canadian superstar in quite some time and has lusting over Lecavalier since former Lightning Owner Art Williams called him "The Michael Jordan of Hockey". Most of the rumors were unsubstantiated B.S....but for some reason, this time feels a bit different.

TSN's Darren Dreger stated in his January 13th column, "The discussions have taken place (between Lightning Ownership and the Canadiens); however what Tampa owners are wrestling with is the short term financial impact of such a bold move versus the long-term hockey benefits expected in the return."

Considering this is the same group that signed Dan Boyle to a mega-deal during the 2007 season only to trade him the next off-season and who traded Brad Richards even after they said they wouldn't, its difficult not to believe the chatter. Rumors are also rampant that the ownership group, OK Hockey, is struggling to meet the financial demands of owning a sports franchise and this may be some money making venture.

"These questions and rumors, I've been getting them my whole career," Lecavalier told the St. Pete Times, "I've been getting a lot of phone calls from friends back home, people wondering what's going on. I tell them they're rumors. That's about it."

Oren and Len...don't do it or they'll be hell to pay. Its not about Lecavalier, players come and go - its about trust. Its about loyalty. Its about having your fans believe in what you are doing because bottom line - if there's no fans, none of you make money. If there are no fans, you won't get TV or radio deals. If there's no fans, there's no franchise. The Tampa Bay fans came into your ownership with an open mind. We were tested when you traded Brad Richards, but allowed it to pass because it meant we'd keep Dan Boyle and received a decent goalie in Mike Smith. We were tested again when Stanley Cup winning head coach John Tortorella was fired for-of all people-Barry Melrose. We were tested once more when Boyle was dealt away for -of all people- Matt Carle. We were tested yet another time when management went crazy, signing every forward with a pulse. We were tested for the final time when Melrose was canned and Rick Tocchet was elevated. There are so many tests one fanbase can take.

The St. Pete Times' Columnist Gary Shelton said it best, "If the team trades away Vinny Lecavalier, it is also trading away one of the last reasons to believe in it. " Vincent Lecavalier is one of the last remaining shreds of dignity this franchise has. He is still one of the elite players in the league and at 28 is entering his prime. The fans know Vinny, they identify with Vinny, he is without question the face of the franchise - its greatest player in its history. When you think of the Lightning, you think of Lecavalier. If he is gone, what is left to believe in? I could take Richards. I didn't like it but I understood the god awful salary cap situation the hockey team was in. I could even take Boyle - I thought it was a horrible deal for Tampa Bay, San Jose fleeced them, but it was pure and simply a salary dump to make up for the spending frenzy during free agency. I hated the firing over Tortorella - it was an awful decision made worse by the hiring of the scumbag Barry Melrose. I totally agreed with the firing of Melrose and understood that Tocchet was the only one of the staff qualified to take over for the interim. But not Vinny.

I could take the team trading away Malone, Smith, Martin St. Louis, Prospal (again), pretty much anyone on the roster - but not Vinny. Trade our 1st round pick...our next five first round picks - but not Vinny.

I pledge to you one thing - if Vincent Lecavalier is traded from the Lightning - I WILL NOT PURCHASE ANOTHER TICKET FOR A LIGHTNING GAME AS LONG AS OK HOCKEY REMAINS IN OWNERSHIP. If Lecavalier is dealt, I won't watch the team on TV, I won't buy their merchandise, and I damn sure won't blog about them until OK Hockey sells. The Lightning will be dead to me. Its not about "being a fan of the jersey, not the players". Its the principle of the thing. The jersey is not treating me, the fan, right and I'd rather devote my hard earned income to a franchise that is - be it the Rays or the Buccaneers (but that's another gripe for another post). If the franchise only cares about making money, has no interest on the on-ice product or its image around the league or its integrity among the fanbase, why should I waste my time on them? At this rate, the franchise will be in Quebec City or Hollywood or Vegas or somewhere other than here. Maybe that's the end game for these guys, maybe they want to ruin this hockey club, destroy the fan base and relocate it somewhere closer to the next SAW movie.

Oren or Len...I don't know if you're reading this or if you even care but I implore you to show this fanbase that you care. Do not trade Lecavalier. If you need to cut costs, find other avenues other than trading our best player. I'm not the only one who feels this way. Listen to the sports radio shows or read the newspapers comments sections online or other bloggers like myself. You've had a series of bad mistakes, we know - it happens. You guys are new at this and you're bound to foul up a few times in the early going. But this goes well beyond a mistake. This would be the death knell for the franchise, something it may take a decade to recover from. Sure, the automatic cop-out was "Gretzky got traded, anyone can be..." but this is different than Gretzky. As much as he meant to the Oilers franchise, it was still going to be supported after he was gone. The league wanted it to happen because they wanted the NHL to succeed in the second largest market in America. He wanted to leave to be closer to his new wife, Janet Jones. The Oilers still had Messier, Fuhr, and the dynasty of four Stanley Cups. The Oilers lived on past Gretzky.

Lecavalier is the franchise in Tampa Bay, without him - we have nothing. There's nothing left to make us believe in YOU the ownership or who you've hired to run the team or the collection of players you've assembled.

We have reached a crossroads. For you as owners, we as fans, for the Lightning as a viable franchise. Not Vinny, Len and Oren. Not Vinny.

Bolts Get Butts Handed To Them in San Jose

By JC De La Torre

As bad games go, this one was hell...I don't think the diehards stayed up to watch the debacle that the Lightning displayed on the ice last night. The San Jose Sharks emphatically showed why they are among the league's elite and the Lightning are with the dregs. 7-1 was the final, but it felt so much worse. With rumors swirling regarding the Bolts only true Superstar Vincent Lecavalier being on the trading block and playing backup goalie Kari Ramo against best team in hockey, it was a recipe for disaster.

The Sharks jumped on Tampa Bay quickly, scoring just 2:17 into the game. Joe Thorton made it 2-0 in the closing minutes of the first. Tampa Bay tried to rally, young Steven Stamkos scored for the first time since Phil Esposito was playing for the B's to cut the Sharks advantage to 2-1. That would be as close as Tampa Bay would get as Thorton would light the lamp again to make it 3-1, followed by Milan Michalek and Ryane Clowe to build a 5-1 lead going into second intermission.

San Jose added to the embarrasment of the Bolts with two more goals in the first two minutes of the third period, giving them the 7-1 margin. Tampa Bay is dealing with several injuries on the blue line and it showed with the likes of Kevin Quick playing for the Lightning. Ramo was blistered for 42 shots, saving 35.

"The guys tried back there, but it's tough," Tocchet told the Associated Press, "It's asking a lot of these guys to come up and play against Thornton and those guys. That's a tall order. When you give this team any momentum with their power play, you're done. We got it to 2-1, and for a five-minute stretch there I thought we could squeak something out there, but then we took a rash of penalties."

Bolts Win For Third Time on Road Trip

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning won for the third time in four tries, clinching a winning record for the current five game road trip, by defeating the Los Angeles Kings 3-1. Tampa Bay took control of the game late in the first period, getting goals within forty-one seconds of each other by Evgeny Artyukhin at 18:16 and Mark Recchi at 18:57 to give them a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

Vincent Lecavalier added a goal 5:48 into the second to give the Lightning a 3-0 cushion. Late in the second period, Peter Harrold got the Kings on the board. They would get no closer, as goalie Mike Smith made 29 saves to shut down the Kings attack.

Tampa Bay is now 3-1 on their road trip and 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. The Lightning should get a great measuring stick tonight as they face one of the league's best, the San Jose Sharks.

Weekend Round up - Tebow, The Lightning, Bruce Allen, and More!

By JC De La Torre

Hey folks, apologies for the late posts, the old warhorse that was my computer finally past away. So with excuses out of the way - let's touch on some topics that effected Tampa Bay sports over the weekend.

Tim Tebow Returning to Florida
Florida Phenom Quarterback Tim Tebow announced he will be returning for his senior season at Florida, to the glee of all Gator fans. During the Gators celebration of their latest national championship at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the crowd chanted "One More Year" and after thanking his teammates, God, and his family, "Superman" added, "Oh, by the way, one more thing, let's do it again. I'm coming back." At that moment, there was a collective, "Aww...crap..." everywhere in the southeast outside of Florida (and a few in Tallahassee, too). Tebow will have the unique opportunity to cement his legacy as one of the greatest Gators in school history while enhancing his resume for the Pros. We think it's the best move for Tebow and even if he doesn't succeed in the Pros, Tebow will be a legend that all Gator quarterbacks are measured against for many, many years.

Gators Basketball team opens SEC schedule with victory over Ole Miss
Billy Donovan's Florida basketball team held on for a 78-68 victory over Ole Miss to open up their SEC schedule. Donovan, however, was none too pleased with his team's performance. Florida was outrebounded 46-22.

"What really got exposed is the thing that I've always been worried about with our team, is, will be physically compete up front and create a level of confrontation in the paint," Donovan told the St. Petersburg Times, "I don't know the last time, since I've been here, we've been outrebounded by 24 rebounds."

Ole Miss rallied from a 21 point decifit to pull within 2:07 left in the game. Florida would hit their free throws down the stretch to provide the difference.

USF Upends DePaul for 1st Big East Victory
The USF Basketball team got 22 points from Dominique Jones and 18 from Jesus Verdejo to get their first Big East victory of the season, an 80-58 destruction of DePaul. The Bulls opened up the game with a 15-6 run and never looked back.


Bruce Allen Speaks to the Media
Buccaneers General Manager Bruce Allen spoke to the media on Friday on a myriad of issues facing the team. The gist of the conference was yes, the Glazers are as ticked off as the fans are at the end of the season and no, they aren't holding the wallet because of their Manchester United debt. Allen has the go ahead to sign any free agent he deems will improve the team. Allen is never one to get into specifics but it seems the team is tired of using retread quarterbacks for Jon Gruden's system and may seek out a young stud to go along with 2008 5th round draft pick Josh Johnson that the team can build around for the forseeable future. The team also believes Carnell "Cadillac" Williams will return to the Bucs, but aren't counting on him for at least the first half of 2009.

Bolts Blow Another Lead, But Pull Out Win in Anaheim
The Tampa Bay Lighning blew another 2 goal lead Saturday night but Ryan Malone's second of the game gave the Lightning a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Vaclav Prospal and Martin St. Louis also scored, while Kari Ramo made 29 saves in his first start of the season. Steven Stamkos did not play in this one. The Lighting put Stamkos on a conditioning program to build up his strength after a 16-game stretch with only one goal and two assists.

Bolts Owners Amend Financial Deal with Palace Sports
The principals of OK hockey, Palace Sports, and the NHL met in New York to amend the $70 million dollar financial agreement between the OK hockey and Palace Sports. While details of the changes were not released, all sides seemed pleased with the changes.

"The only thing I can say is they're in fine shape," Palace Sports CEO Tom Wilson told the St. Petersburg Times.

"It gives us a lot of room to maneuver and do what we want to do with the team," Lightning Principal Owner Oren Koules said.


NFL Final Four Set
Two of the four teams will make it to Tampa for the Super Bowl and no one had them pegged as likely candidates. The Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Philadelphia Eagles each advanced to their respective conference championship games and play for the right to go to the Super Bowl. The Cardinals shocked the Carolina Panthers 33-13 in a game no one saw coming. The Panthers' Jake Delhomme threw five interceptions in the loss. Baltimore stunned top seeded Tennessee in a defensive battle 13-10.

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles continued their improbable run, beating the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants in a dominating defensive performance, 23-11, while Pittsburgh outslugged San Diego 35-24 to become the only home team to win during the Divisional playoffs. It marks the first time since going to a 16 game schedule that two teams that did not win at least 10 games played each other in a conference championship.

The Philadelphia Eagles will head to Arizona for a 3pm (ET) kickoff of the NFC Championship game, while Pittsburgh will host division rival Baltimore at 6:30 pm (ET) in the AFC Championship game.

Lightning Fall in Phoenix

by JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning faced a team that had been shut out in two straight games and gave up three goals including the eventual game winner in the third period to fall to the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2. Andrej Meszaros scored his first goal as a member of the Lightning and Jeff Halpern had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay. Phoenix's Olli Jokinen ended the Coyotes' scoreless streak at the 12:17 mark of the first period to tie the game at 1.

Peter Mueller scored on the power play forty-six seconds into the first period, giving the Coyotes a 2-1 lead. It would hold until the midway mark of the second, when Halpern put in a rebound off of a Vaclav Prospal shot to tie the game at 2.

At the 8:09 mark of the third, Kyle Turris defelected David Hale's shot past Lightning goalie Mike Smith to give the lead back to the Coyotes. Tampa Bay managed only six shots in the third and mounted few chances against the Phoenix defense.

"I'm really disappointed in the team right now," Lightning Interim Head Coach Rick Tocchet said to the St. Petersburg Times following the game, "That was unacceptable. We never showed up. It's probably the most disappointed I've been as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning."

Unfortunately for Tocchet, there's been far too many of these type of nights.

Bolts Win the Battle of the Worst in SE Division

By JC De La Torre

It's been two years since the Tampa Bay Lightning won a game in Atlanta. That changed Sunday when the Lightning got two goals from Martin St. Louis and Goalie Mike Smith came within 21 seconds of a shutout in route to a 4-1 thrashing of Atlanta. The victory allowed Tampa Bay to hop the Thrashers and get out of the cellar in the Southeast division.

The Lightning jumped on Atlanta quickly, getting a power play goal from Steve Eminger at the 2:41 mark of the first period to open the scoring. Tampa Bay dominated play in the 1st, out shooting the Thrashers 13-7 during the opening stanza. St. Louis made it 2-0 midway through the second when Vincent Lecavalier fooled Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen with a fake shot, passed to St. Louis who deposited it in the opening net. St. Louis made it 3-0 on the power play a minute into the 3rd period and Ryan Malone would add another goal late in the game to make it 4-0. Atlanta's Erik Christensen spoiled Mike Smith's bid for a shutout with 21 seconds left, scoring on a rebound during a scrum in front of the net.

The Lightning notch their 11th victory of the season and will enjoy a four day rest before heading out to the west coast for a four game swing.

Bolts Blow Yet Another Lead, Fall to Canes

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost another game in which they had a two goal lead and returned to the cellar in the Southeast division. The Lightning jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first but didn't score again as Carolina mounted a come back and gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory.

Ryan Craig opened the scoring at the 5:05 mark of the first period, battling in front of the net, finding the loose puck, and tipping it past Carolina goalie Cam Ward for a 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, the Lightning struck again as Vaclav Prospal put it past for a 2-0 lead. It would be an advantage that would last until the 15:57 mark of the first, when the Hurricanes scored twice in 1:11 on goals from Justin Williams on the power play and a seeing-eye shot that went off Chad LaRose's knee pad and into the net to tie it at 2.Carolina took the lead for good midway through the second period, on Joni Pitkanen's fourth goal of the season to give Carolina the 3-2 advantage that they would not relinquish.

Two franchises going in opposite directions. Carolina won their third straight game and seventh in their last ten. Tampa Bay lost their third straight and have lost seventeen of twenty-two one goal games. Since the firing of Barry Melrose, the Lightning have struggled with a 5-11-5 record.

Tampa Bay lost another defenseman during the game, as Andrej Meszaros was struck in the face by the puck midway through the second period. Meszaros didn't return and left the Lightning with a lack of experienced defensemen. Bolts defenseman Jamie Heward continues to recover from a concussion resulting from a hit by Washington's Alex Ovechkin. The news was good for Heward as he was released from the hospital on Friday but a return to the ice good be a little while off. With the call up of Ty Wishart and the injury to Meszaros, the Lightning defense included four players that were playing for the AHL just a week ago.

"It's tough, because defensemen are so important in this league," Lightning Interim Head Coach Rick Tocchet told the Tampa Tribue, "I thought the kids coming up for us did a great job. It's a tough situation for us. The third period was probably our best period. We just couldn't get the goal to get us back in it."

New Year, Same Results for Tampa Bay, Caps Win 7-4

By JC De La Torre

It wasn't exactly how the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted to ring in 2009. Washington Capitals Superstar Alex Ovechkin scored a goal and assisted on two others to lead the Caps past the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4 in a night that Bolts goalie Mike Smith would soon like to forget.

Smith was shelled for all seven goals, the most given up by a Lightning goalie this season. Tampa Bay perhaps partied a little too much in the Nation's capital, as Washington jumped on the Bolts 3-0 in the first with goals from Sean Collins, Dave Steckel, and Mike Green and were outshot 15-8.

As typical for the Lightning, they rallied in the second, getting two goals in the 1st 2:37 of the period from Vincent Lecavalier and Ryan Malone to pull within 3-2. Eleven seconds after Malone pulled Tampa Bay within one, Matt Bradley reestablished the two goal cushion on a poor clearing attempt by Mike Smith. Vincent Lecavalier would again show some late period heroics, as he scored with 0:16 second left in the 2nd period to make it 4-3 going into intermission.

At the 8:07 mark of the third, Boyd Gordon would victimize a lazy clearing attempt by Smith again, putting the Caps back up by 2 goals. Mark Recchi pulled the Lightning close at the 12:22 mark of the third with his ninth of the season, but twenty-five seconds later, Chris Clark would get his first goal of the season, giving the Caps a 6-4 advantage. Ovechkin would score late to give Washington their final margin of victory and Tampa Bay their second straight defeat.

There was a very scary moment in the hockey game in the third period, when Lightning defenseman Jamie Heward was checked hard into the board by Ovechkin. Heward's head appeared to hit the class and he crumpled to the ice, lying still for several minutes. A stretcher was brought on to the ice and he was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital. Heward had a concussion but movement in all of his extremities and is being held at the hospital for evaluation.

"It was an accident and I'm very sorry," Ovechkin said to the AP following the game, "I never want to hurt somebody, especially my old teammate. It's hard and I'm very sorry, but it's a game and it's a moment. He turns and I have speed. ... I hope he is OK."

The hit by Ovechkin was a clean one and Heward's injury was just a tragic reminder of the physicality of NHL Hockey.

We at the TBSB wish Jamie a speedy recovery.

Bolts Win Streak Ends at 3 - Offense/Shootout Woes Continue

By JC De La Torre

Well, it was nice while it lasted. The Tampa Bay Lightning's modest three game win streak was snapped when the offense failed to produce and the bugaboo of the shootout reared its ugly head in a 2-1 shoot out loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

It was a tough, competitive hockey game for the Lightning against a playoff caliber opponent, a good measuring stick to see how far away they are from being a contender. The answer? Not too far if the last four games are to be believed. Tampa Bay has scoring power with superstars like Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and young players like Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos. They just haven't been converting on their opportunities. Tampa Bay has scored three or less goals in thirty-four of their thirty-six games this season and in the new NHL, where scoring is a premium - that's just not going to get the job done.

Tampa Bay took the lead midway through the first on a power play goal by Vaclav Prospal. The 1-0 lead would hold until early in the third period, where 46 seconds into the period, Guillaume Latendresse tied the game on the rebound that hit Mike Smith and went into the net. Each team had chances to win in winding minutes of regulation, Tampa Bay's 6'5" behemoth Evgeny Artyukhin showed his strength and speed, bulling past the Montreal defense with 1:48 left in the period and slipped the puck through the five hole of Montreal goalie Carey Price but the odd angle saw the puck skid through the crease and safely wide of the net. Montreal's Andrei Kostitsyn's blast went off the goal post with six seconds left in regulation, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra session, Artyukhin again showed his skill, bulling past a defender, exuding patience as Price flopped to the ice, but he couldn't get the shot high enough to finish the play, a minute later, Montreal's Maxim Lapierre had Mike Smith down and dead to rights but Smith robbed him with an unbelievable glove save that had Lapierre looking up to the hockey gods.

In the shootout, Smith wasn't very good, allowing Montreal's Alexei Kovalev and Maxim Lapierre to score pretty easily. The Lightning got a nifty goal from Jussi Jokinen, but Vaclav Prospal and Vincent Lecavalier failed in their opportunities to give Montreal the victory.

Tampa Bay earned points for the fourth straight game, while Montreal improved to 5-0-1 in their last six. Montreal did lose Alex Tanguay in the first period after being checked hard into the boards by Artyukhin. He reportedly has an upper body injury and is expected to undergo an MRI exam on today.

Three of a Kind - Tampa Bay wins their 3rd straight

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning's stars aligned for a 6-4 smashing of cross state rivals, the Florida Panthers in a game that was not as close as the score indicated. The Lightning's Vincent Lecavalier nabbed two goals and an assist while Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone scored four points each as Tampa Bay won their third straight game for the first time in the Rick Tocchet era.

Steven Stamkos opened up the scoring at the 7:06 mark of the first, then, midway through the period, Evgeny Artyukhin on a rare power play chance powered home a goal on a 5-on-3 opportunity to give the Lightning a 2-0 going into first intermission. Tampa Bay outshot the Panthers a remarkable 21-3 in the first and it was the play of Panther goalie Tomas Vokoun that kept this one from being ugly early.

The second period got a little dicey for Tampa Bay. Usually their strongest period, it was the Panthers who showed some fire coming out of the dressing room as David Booth sliced the Bolts lead to 2-1 at the 3:09 mark of the 2nd. A little over a minute later, Vincent Lecavalier would net his first of the night to restore the Lightning's two goal cushion. They say the two goal lead is the most uncomfortable in hockey and Tampa Bay found out why. With Tampa Bay defensemen Matt Smaby and Paul Ranger off for interference and tripping respectively, the Panthers took advantage of their 5-on-3 advantage, getting a goal Nathan Horton at the 16:27 mark of the second period. Seconds later, the Panthers would strike again on the second half of the two man advantage, this time it was David Booth getting his second of the period and Tampa Bay's commanding lead suddenly evaporated. Vincent Lecavalier found a gift in the closing seconds of the period as he gloved a flying puck, dropped it quickly to the ice and blasted it past Vokoun with only five second left in the period to give Tampa Bay the lead going into intermission.

The Bolts reestablished their dominance (boy, its been a long time since I typed that) in the third getting a beautiful spin-a-rama goal from Malone to make it 5-3 and then a crazy goal by Marty St. Louis. St. Louis missed badly but stayed in front of the net, the puck ricocheted off the boards, right back to his stick and St. Louis dropped it past a thoroughly confused Vokoun to give the Lightning a 6-3 advantage at the 7:46 mark of the third. Six goals was a season high for Tampa Bay. Stephen Weiss' seeing-eye goal at the 13:57 mark sliced the lead to 6-4 but that would be as close as the Panthers would get. Tampa Bay killed off a questionable holding call on Ryan Malone and missed a couple chances at an empty netter for Lecavalier to get his first hat trick of the season.

"The last three games, I really feel guys are on the same page - the most we've been on the same page all year," right wing Marty St. Louis told the Tampa Tribune, "We're seeing it in the results."

Tampa Bay's third straight victory gets the Lightning to the 10 win plateau (finally) and shockingly gets the Bolts out of the cellar in the Southeast division with a 10-16-9 record that's good for 29 points. Despite their little surge, the Bolts remain 10 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning go for their season high fourth straight victory Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

Break Up the Bolts - Lightning win 2nd Straight

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning won their 2nd straight game - Lightning fans, that's called a winning streak - for the first time since October and did it in shocking fashion - a shoot out victory over the Florida Panthers 4-3. Its only the second victory for the Lighting in a shoot out this season (Tampa Bay is now 2-6 in shoot outs, snapping a 5 game losing streak in games decided by shootout) and the Lightning will go for their first 3 game win streak of the season tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum on the second half of the home-and-home with the Panthers.

The teams exchanged goals in the first period with Tampa Bay's Steve Eminger opening the scoring at 11:24 mark, then Florida's Keith Ballard tied it with only 1:32 left in the period. Tampa Bay took control of the game late in the second, getting goals from Mark Recchi and Evgeny Artyukhin with two minutes of each other, the last coming with only 1:23 left in the period to make it 3-1 after two.

The Lightning held that advantage until the 13:37 mark of the third, when former Bolt Corey Stillman converted on the power play to shave the Tampa Bay lead to one. It would hold up until the final minute of the game, when the Panthers pulled their goalie for the extra attacker and it paid off with 0:14 seconds left when Bryan McCabe tied it at 3, a devastating blow to a Tampa Bay hockey team struggling for victories.

Still, the Lightning proved some resiliency, fighting through the overtime and getting it to the shoot out, where Ryan Malone won it with a wrister past goaltender Craig Anderson and sent the Bolts into celebration.

"We talk about building on things," Steve Eminger told the St. Pete Times, "We played a pretty good game, and we ran into some trouble in the end, had some penalty trouble, and that will happen. To build on it, you have to find some way to win, and if it's a shootout, then it's a shootout. We just have to keep on."

Tampa Bay goes for double digit victories tonight as they remain the only team in the NHL not to reach 10 victories on the season. Goalie Mike Smith was solid again, making 25 saves on 28 shots.

A Merry Christmas for Bolts, Blank Pittsburgh 2-0

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning have given what is tantamount to a lump of coal in Lightning fans stockings all season, but on Christmas Eve, Tampa Bay's coal broke into a gem of a game against one of the NHL's best offensive powers, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tampa Bay limited the Penguins to just 15 shots and no goals while getting some unexpected offensive production from one of their role players to defeat Pittsburgh 2-0.

It was the first victory for Mike Smith since November 21st. "It's like a sigh of relief," Smith told the Associated Press, "You almost forget how to win."

After a scoreless first, Tampa Bay's Matt Pettinger lit the lamp at the 5:15 mark of the 2nd period on a great feed from behind the net by Paul Szczechura to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 advantage. Tampa Bay's defense limited the opportunities of the Penguins, especially superstars Malkin and Crosby, holding the Penguins to only 4 shots in the second period.

At the 11:14 mark of the third period, Szczechura would put the Lightning up 2-0 with a redirect of Jussi Jokinen shot toward the goal. Tampa Bay's much maligned defense would once again play strong, limiting the powerful Penguins to only 3 shots in the third and held on for a surprisingly easy 2-0 victory.

While definitely not playing their best hockey, the Penguins described the loss as embarrassing and coach Michel Therrien blamed the schedule but also his team's effort.

"The schedule is pretty tough. We just played four games in six days. Those are excuses," he told the AP, "We don't have the right attitude. We like to complain about each other on the bench and on the ice. They better wake up pretty quick. ... I'm really disappointed with their work ethic and the concentration. Until they change their attitude, we are going to have the same results."

Tampa Bay on the other hand was happy to give this Christmas gift to their fans, "You can't say enough about the way the guys played," Goalie Mike Smith said, "The defense was great. As a core, they played outstanding. The forwards were coming back and helping the defense out. In order for us to win, we have to have that full commitment from everybody."

Bolts Lose Another 1 Goal Game

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning's inability to win close games reared its ugly head once again as they fell 4-3 to South East division rivals, the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in a wild contest at Phillips Arena. Kari Lehtonen was making his first start in a couple weeks for the Thrashers and gave up goals on the first two shots he faced but saw his team rally in the first period to give him a lead going into the 1st intermission.

Just 0:18 into the hockey game, Slava Kozlov found a lose puck, skated in and put it past Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith to give the Thrashers a quick 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay would tie it at the 3:54 mark of the first period when Martin St. Louis ended an 0-for-26 power play streak for the Lightning with his eleventh goal of the season. At the 8:15 mark of the first, Adam Hall would get a rare goal to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. Atlanta exploded back late in the 1st period, getting goals from Eric Perrin and Todd White to jump back ahead 3-2.

After a scoreless 2nd period, Atlanta increased their advantage at the 4:06 mark of the third period to make it 4-2. Tampa Bay would make one last rally, as St. Louis got his second of the night on the man advantage to pull the Lightning within 1. Tampa Bay dominated the third period, outshooting the Thrashers 24-6, benefiting from three straight penalties called on Atlanta. The Lightning could only cash in on one of their opportunities and that would be the difference in the game. Lehtonen was sensational in the third, making 23 saves to preserve the Thrasher lead.

Frustration has set in for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who now have lost 17 of their last 19 games.

"It's frustrating," St. Louis told the Associated Press, "I don't think there are enough guys that really want to win."

Refs Rob Lightning in Shootout

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning have found a myriad of ways to lose this season but in this game, the Bolts deserved a better fate. A terrible call by referee Tim Peel cost Tampa Bay in the shootout as the Bolts fell 2-1 to the Colorado Avalanche. Peele ruled that Lightning goalie Mike Smith threw his stick at Milan Hejduk during his shootout attempt and awarded a goal. Video replays showed that there was no throwing motion, Smith went for the poke check, missed then spun around to try and get his blocker on the shot, as Smith lifted up his blocker, he dropped his stick to the ice and made the save.

The call ruined a terrific performance by Smith, who made 34 saves, some in spectacular fashion to get the Lightning to the shootout. Paul Stastny scored at the 3:46 mark of the 1st period to give Colorado an early 1-0 advantage, the lead would hold until the midway through the second, when Jeff Halpern made his triumphant return to the Lightning line up with a goal. Halpern's offense was sorely missed and as he works himself back into the flow of the game, he'll make a big impact on the Lightning.


Tampa Bay outshot the Avalanche 38-35 and dominated the overtime, with Vinny Lecavalier, Vaclav Prospal, and Martin St. Louis each just missing opportunities to end it. Then came the controversial shoot out where Jussi Jokinen, Wojtek Wolski, and Vincent Lecavalier were stopped on their chances setting up Milan Hejduk's opportunity. Hejduk skated in, deked and fired a shot toward the Lightning goal that Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith saved with his blocker. Hejduk then yelled at the referees that Smith threw his stick, the officials huddled for several minutes, then referee Peel made the call. Mike Smith darted from his goal line screaming at the officials, the Lightning bench exploded in protest. Head coach Rick Tocchet demanded from the officials "Who made the call, who made the call?" and was told by Peel, "Its a consensus of all of us." Tocchet said he asked again, "Who saw him throw the stick at Hejduk?" but no one would take responsibility. Martin St. Louis pointed to the video replay on the jumbotron and shook his head in disgust when told by the referees that it wasn't a reviewable play. With the call made, St. Louis tried his penalty shot, but fired into the pads of Andrew Raycroft and the giddy Avalanche erupted in celebration, causing the frustrated Lightning fans to shower the ice in debris. Definitely not the proudest moment for Lightning fans but their dismay is definitely understandable.

This hockey team needs every victory they can get to have a victory robbed from them is just a travesty of justice. The NHL instituted the shootout as something exciting for the fans, something that would eliminate sister-kissing ties but the fact they don't have the foresight to make something like this reviewable is just ridiculous.

"I guess if you're winning, if you're up in the standings, those calls seem to go your way," Mike Smith lamented to the Sun Sports Network after the game.

If, by some miracle, the Lightning rally but miss the playoffs by one point - this will be a game that will be remembered. If Colorado wins a division or beats out another team for the final playoff spot by 1 point - it will be because of this farce. I don't believe the fix was in, I just believe in what I've always believed, the NHL referees' incompetence.

Tampa Bay Sports News Cavalcade

By JC De La Torre

The local fishwraps were actually worth reading today as they had several interesting stories about our various favorite teams.

Rays

The St. Petersburg Times is highlighting Rays Manager Joe Maddon's "Thankmas" initiative. It's a program Maddon began three years ago to raise awareness of the homeless situation in Tampa Bay. Maddon, along with a couple of dozen Rays employees, spend an afternoon cooking spaghetti, meatballs, sausage and pierogies in the Tropicana Field kitchen, then travel around the bay area for several days delivering meals at homeless shelters.

The Times also reported that Rocco Baldelli's medical condition was misinterpreted as mitochondrial disorder. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic have reviewed more sophisticated testing that indicates his condition is a channelopathy, which is a treatable condition that involves dysfunction of ion channels for such things as potassium, sodium, chloride and calcium according to medterms.com.

"It's definitely an encouraging development," Baldelli told the Times, "Knowing this is a treatable condition, I feel this is a very positive thing for me and my baseball career. With this less severe diagnosis, I hope to be on the field on a much more regular basis."

Lightning

The Lightning return to the ice tonight against the Colorado Avalanche after a four day layoff and some good may have come out of it. Other than getting some much needed practice time to continue the process of implementing Rick Tocchet's system, Tocchet and team captain Vincent Lecavalier got a chance to get on the same page.

"Tocc is talking to players. He's listening to players," Lecavalier said to the St. Petersburg Times, "He's telling us things and how to be better. It was a good conversation. It's not like we're out of control, but we can be more precise in what we do, It's not only the coaching staff that has to tell guys to be on time, when the bus is, and all the other stuff that surrounds the locker room. It has to be the players. Myself as team captain. I have to do that."

"You've got to be in a situation where you can't let your team be sloppy," Tocchet told the Tampa Tribune, "What I mean by sloppy is sloppy with your sticks on the ice, taking stupid penalties, little trivial things, late for the bus. It has to come from the room. The coach has to mandate it, but it has to come from the room."

Player accountability has been something the Lightning have sorely lacked since Dave Andreychuck's retirement. Let's hope that Lecavalier can grow into and assume that role.

Buccaneers

Head Coach Jon Gruden is confident Jeff Garcia will be available for Sunday's critical game against the San Diego Chargers. Garcia practiced on Wednesday and told the St. Petersburg Times, "I really just have to do my best to block it out, I really just have to take the approach that I'm going to be me and do whatever I have to do in order to be successful and not think about what I'm trying to overcome. And hopefully at that point on Sunday, it won't even be a question mark."

The Tampa Tribune reports that just in case, the Bucs are getting Brian Griese ready to go. The paper also reports that Chris Hovan and Jovan Haye returned to practice, which could be great news for the Bucs run defense that has given up 474 yds in the last two games. Derrick Brooks also appears to be improving with his rib injury. He's still a gametime decision but Gruden told the Trib, ""We did get good news (Wednesday), that doesn't mean Brooks is going to be out there running around (today). But there is at least a better chance that he can play. Knowing Derrick Brooks the way I do and you do, he'll find a way to get to the field. And chances are he'll play one of his best games."

USF Bulls

There's apparently plenty of tickets still available for the inaugural St. Pete Bowl that has the powerhouse matchup of USF vs. Memphis. Yeah, the Bowls are more important to college football...who needs a playoff when you can have USF vs. Memphis in the Magic Jack St. Pete Bowl?

Tampa Bay Storm

The Arena League owners have voted to suspend the league for the 2009 season and hopes to return for 2010, but the AFLPA (who knew they had one?) has rejected the board of directors' move to suspend the 2009 season by voting against it according to an arena league blog called Arenafan.com. Arenafan.com reports a "team representative for the AFLPA told ArenaFan that the Executive Board for the AFLPA has not requested a revote of the owners. The source went on to state that the players are under belief that the vote for the Orlando Predators was not made by the majority owner, and that a minority owner gave their vote to a different team. The vote for suspending the season passed the Board of Directors by just one vote."

Power Outage - Bolts Blanked By Sens 2-0

By JC De La Torre

The two worst scoring teams in the NHL got together tonight and the outcome could have easily been predicted as the Ottawa Senators edged the Lightning 2-0. Ottawa didn't get their second goal of the hockey game until Daniel Alfredsson fired into an empty net with 0:45 left in the game, despite having 8 power play chances (they were 1-for-8).

Penalty was the word of the night for Tampa Bay as one after another, members of the Lightning paraded to the sin bin, eventually totaling in 29 total penalty minutes and 8 short handed situations. While on the penalty kill, the Lightning offensive attack was downright offensive, generating very little pressure on Ottawa Goalie Martin Gerber, who at times looked like he was fighting the puck a bit. Ottawa would finally break a scoreless deadlock when a former Bolt (albeit was a brief tenure) Alexandre Picard fired the puck past Mike Smith on the Power play for a 1-0 lead. Smith was sensational again on the night, stopping 31 of 32 shots against, while Gerber stopped all 24 shots he faced.

While some of the calls seemed borderline at best and the Lightning had grievances the way the linesman was dropping the puck on faceoffs (appearing to give Ottawa center men clear advantage), the coup de grâce came in the final moments of the game. With Mike Smith pulled for the extra attacker, the linesman dropped the puck on a face off in the Ottawa zone. Inexplicably, as the lineman Derek Amell tried to get out of the way of Mike Fisher and Jussi Jokinen battling for control, he flailed his legs and at one point lifted his skate arching upward behind his body, the skate would catch Martin St. Louis in the face as he reached down to try to gain control of the puck. St. Louis went immediately down, but play continued as Ottawa got control. As St. Louis struggled to the Lightning bench, Alfredsson put the puck in the empty net, clinching the game.

The Lightning were furious and Paul Ranger earned a 10 minute misconduct penalty. St. Louis suffered a nasty gash and needed eight stitches to close up two separate cuts on his forehead. It didn't matter as the final seconds ticked off, the Lightning were shut out for the fourth time this season and have scored three or fewer goals in twenty-eight of their thirty games this season.

Tampa Bay falls to 7-15-8 on the year and are 2-8-4 since Rick Tocchet replaced Barry Melrose as head coach.

After a tumultuous month with little to show for their troubles, the Lightning will get four days off, not playing again until Thursday.

"There will be a lot of practice time in the next four days," Tocchet told the Associated Press.

We can only hope that some of the time is spent re-teaching the scorers how to put the biscuit in the basket.

Bolts Find Victory! Atlantis Next?

By JC De La Torre

Like the lost continent of Atlantis or the Ark of the Covenant, its been a long arduous search for victory for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nine straight games, the Bolts went without the second point, making the fans begin to believe that it was a myth. Its not, Lightning fans...your hockey team just got two points for their 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Its almost poetic justice that the Lightning broke their skid in Montreal, where the two stars who combined for the Lightning goals hail from, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier.

Monteal's Patrice Brisebois scored at the 5:34 mark of the first period and the Lightning appeared to be in for another long night. Tampa Bay controlled the play in the first period, outshooting the Canadiens 11-8 and were finally rewarded when Martin St. Louis lasered a shot past Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak at the 10:49 mark of the first to tie the game at 1. A couple minutes later, Vincent Lecavalier scored his 12th of the season to give the Bolts their first lead of the game.

From there, apparently the apalling idea that Tampa Bay could potentially win the game was too much for referrees Marc Joannette, Dean Morton to take as four straight penalties were called on Tampa Bay in the 2nd period. It wouldn't matter - as with Marek Malik off for interference, Martin St. Louis rekindled some of his old magic, stealing a puck at center ice and skating in all along on Halak, putting it past him to give the Bolts a 3-1 lead that would hold through the rest of the 2nd and most of the third.

The game wouldn't end without adventure though, as Vinny Lecavalier was called for hooking Alex Tanguay with 1:39 left in the game. Lecavalier gave a little noise on the way to the sin bin and was nailed will an unsportsmanlike as well. The Lightning managed to kill it off and taste victory for the first time since November 21st and erased the disappointment of previous night's 4-2 loss in Buffalo where Tampa Bay blew a two goal lead.

Tampa Bay finally gets their 7th win and improve to 7-14-8 on the year.