Well, Vancouver has become the first division winner to be pushed to the brink of elimination, as the Flames are hoping to upset the West’s #3 seed at home, in front of perhaps the loudest fans in the playoffs. Apologies to any Nashville fans out there…

The reason for the Canuck’s imminent demise is shown in the +/- rankings. Vancouver has scored one true 5 on 5 goal in five games. The resulting +/- more resembles the scores you would find at the PGA’s Greater Vancouver Open. Not a single player on the Canucks roster is a plus player. Looks like the Canucks have golf in their heads:

Sopel -5
Ohlund -5
Ruutu -3
Naslund -3
Rucisnsky -2
Keane -2
May -2
Chubarov -2

I wonder if Palace Sports and Entertainment would even look into the possibility of adding a feature like this to the St. Pete Times Forum? Long have I wanted something that sets the arena apart from other NHL venues and makes it more home-like for the Bolts (thunder when a goal is scored? Etc) and this little “pyrotechic” isn’t banned by the league…

…yet :smile

“Thunderdome” circa 1996

St. Pete Times Forum, AKA Ice Palace, AKA Times Palace — 2004 Playoffs

Things of beauty — sold out arenas and hockey…

ESPN Has an article heralding the Southeast division for it’s bright future… stating that the division could very well be a beast in 10 years time with the Lightning leading the way… And in a lot of ways I agree with them as I do think Florida is about to turn the corner and Atlanta is already on the verge… Carolina is an underachiever a little too often and Washington is rebuilding.

The biggest disagreement I had with this article was about Vincent Lecavalier being a future scoring title holder and Hart Trophy candidate… As of right now, I see Vinny as a solid center but if there is anyone on the Lightning that is a future Hart trophy candidate and Scoring title winner — it’s Brad Richards. He has not wavered and has been consistent since coming into the league and being a runner up for the Calder Trophy several years ago. If he showed more grit and was a Penalty Kill mainstay, he’d rank up there with St. Louis as a great all around player.

Newsday has an interesting take on the Lightning / Isles series — it’s so damn NICE between the two teams. Oh, of course there is still some bullshit going on between the Lightning and the Isles – Isles equipment manager and Lightning equipment managers were at war yesterday and Mike Milbury and John Tortorella met to say enough was enough. All of this brought on by the “infamous” hotel incident.

But come on, this series has been well played by the Isles and I think they should know they have the Lightning’s respect from not only being outplayed more times than not during the series but being outplayed more times than not during the season as well when facing off against the Isles.

…and my question is do the Islanders have reservations for game 7 in Tampa? If so, they better cancel them :smile

Seriously though, the Lightning faced the aggressive attack from the Isles once again and for the 2nd time in this series, overcame being outplayed and put on their scoring show once more. Officials took a very hands-off approach to calling this game and makes me wonder how rules get interpreted in the Playoffs when a team is facing a top-media market? Do they become twisted somehow to keep the large-market team from doing itself in?

Martin St. Louis — man, if you see any goals Marty has scored that cements his Hart Trophy status, the one in the first period should do it. I really wish I had a replay to post on the site but alas – I do not. It was a defensive thing of beauty as Martin stole the puck and took it to DiPietro.

Frederik Modin and Ruslan Fedotenko rounded out scoring, converting slap shots on Slick rick… I was amazed by the fact that Rick did not cover them better.

This is the 4th 3-0 game in a row… Khabibulin’s 2nd straight shutout., 112-114 shots have been stopped by Nikolai…. And one has to wonder if this series will be sealed up before the Weekend?

From the Web Oddities file…

Reuters Science news on Yahoo reports, as one of their top stories, about Lightning

I don’t know if Boltsmag has any regular readers or those who know me from my Message Board posts know much about me… That being said, one of my favorite places to try talking about the Lightning is on the Usenet at alt.sports.hockey.nhl.tb-lightning. It isn’t filled with homers, it isn’t filled with Lightning Nation fans who use the mob mentality… It’s not over-run with Neo-traditionalists that think any team south of Washington DC should be contracted. It’s just a free speech zone and a good place to rant now and then and have fun with other posters.

Well, some asshole took that away from me.

As of Monday evening. alt.sports.hockey.nhl.tb-lightnign was a place I could view but not post on. This seems to be an epidemic for all Tampa Bay Road Runner subscribers as no one on this broadband ISP has access to the Usenet now.

I don’t want to go to Sunshine to talk, I don’t really want to go to Metroboards and talk… And I sure as hell don’t want to post on FanBone….

Game 4 is tonight… The Lightning could really put the Isles on the ropes with a win, but seeing how tough first round matchups are turning into – this could very well be the Isles game. My prediction is a scoreless thriller that lasts 3 overtimes.

After Game 3, I wondered if the Lightning’s health luck had run out as Jassen Cullimore had left the game early with a shoulder injury after an aggressive-yet-clean check by Roman Hamrlik into the boards during the 2nd.

The Tampa Tribune, in a wide sweeping article about the Bolts,, listed Cullimore ad Day-to-day but also noted that the team talked about Jassen as if he would surely play versus the Islanders on Wednesday.

Nolan Pratt is the next Defensiveman if Cullimore ends up not able to go.

3-0 Lightning Prevail over Islanders (Game 1)

3-0 Islanders Triumph over Lightning (Game 2)

3-0 Lightning Conquer the Islanders (game 3)

Has there ever been a playoff series with 3 consecutive shutouts? Let alone 3 consecutive games with the exact same score??

Those who stayed in on this beautiful spring day (at least in Florida) got to see exactly how to beat the Lightning.

Aggressive checking and a backstop worth a damn will do wonders…

Moving on to Nassau Collesium…

I realize that the trash tabloid, the New York Post, is not the center of Long Island coverage and give the Isles a back seat to more “City” teams like the Yankees, Mets, etc…

But having one article on last nights game while the New Jersey Devils get two, and giving the isles the final billing on their web site… Disrespect IMHO…

All of this after trying to make a lot of hoopla over a non-story with the Isles and the Marriott Waterside Hotel

So head over to Newsday.com if you want any views on yesterday’s game and Lo and Behold the Isles get some coverage…

But then again? So does Fredrik Modin.

Newsday and the Post both find Eric Cairns to be the scapegoat for last nights loss. There’s also a “Talkback” page on the Newsday site where you can find such such worthless gems as “Milbury should run for president – he’s as full of shit as John Kerry” along with a lot of whining that the team needs to start over and rebuild. Newsflash, people, it’s one game. :rolleyes

Chronicling the first period of the the game — it’s goalie vs. goalie and Referee vs. Lightning. Nikolai Khabibuilin was somewhere I haven’t seen him in years — the Zone. I’ve seen him pitch shut outs the last two years but nothing came close to how he played his first season in Tampa

The first period came close to that… That’s my opinion at least.

Meanwhile, calls of interference, hooking and tripping have been thrown the Bolts way.. Martin St. Louis almost scored on a short handed situation, but hitting the cross bar and having the puck stay out is the result of his breakaway

There have also been two scuffles — one at the back of the Lightning end and the other along the boards in the Islanders zone which resulted in Trent Hunter being called for roughing with ten seconds left in the first.

2nd Period gets delayed by a clock malfunction. Go figure

Second period recap in brief: When you think of breakaway goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning, you always think of Andr? Roy, don’t you??? :biggrin

When you think of goaltending — you think of the tandem of Nikolai Khabibulin and Dan Boyle… Seriously though, folks, Khabibulin is playing so focused… More focused than I have seen in years. I went into this fearing the Isles had it made — Five hole — and right now the Builin Wall is standing in front of them..I write this 10 minutes into the 2nd

Meanwhile — Modin goes five hole on DiPietro. Up by a deuce.

I also have to point out that the 2nd played through with nary a penalty. Oh sure there was a call early on against Brad Richards but after the start of the period — there were no calls for a good 17 minute span until Martin St. Louis got called for hooking Too many men on the ice gets called shortly thereafter against the Isles… the four on four is uneventful.

I said before the series that solving DiPietro was the key to winning this series — I stand by that as the 2nd period ends…

I’ve been lauding Khabby and I apologize to Isles fans for ignoring the work of Rick DiPietro. First full playoff game of his career and he is standing tall as well but he’s only faced ten shots…

Lightning fan perspective on the game before the 3rd period starts: “Thanks to Cairn’s for our two goals. The officials are allowing severe Islander’s obstruction, but TB is playing horribly even considering that.” (Taken from alt.sports.hockey.nhl.tb-lightning)

Third Period — Roy lost his starting job and earned Torts wrath during the playoffs last season. IMHO he’s earning them back with his play tonight…

Rick and the Chief on the Sunshine Network telecast talk about contrasting calls and non-calls in the first and third periods. I’m really getting sick of officiating after hearing about last nights Vancouver / Calgary game and strict calling of the game there. What’s this? Is the East getting off easy?

I wrote the above while the Bolts were on the PP… Go Figure….

And speaking of that Power Play – Modin notches his second of the night… 3-0

As the game winds down, Steve web gets called twice… The Isles look increasingly frustrated. Aucoin gets called seconds into Webb’s second penalty. A 5 on 3 to close out the game? Unheard of…

Lightning close thing sout safely with the puck in their own zone and take a 1-0 lead in this best of 7 series. This is the first ever Lightning series opening win (some stat huh?) and I believe the first playoff shutout the team has ever registered.

So the playoffs have finally arrived. The time of year when men are men, goaltending wins championships, and the referees put away their whistles and let ‘em play.

Somebody didnt get the memo.

More accurately, somebody did get the memo. After 1,230 regular season games where the officials ignored virtually all obstruction and interference calls, Gary Bettman apparently dropped a memo to the officials ordering them to start calling obstruction.

Why didnt you do that in the regular season, Gary?

After night one, the only game that was marred by the memo was the Calgary-Vancouver game, where 16 powerplays were handed out, 7 of the 8 goals scored were potted with the man advantage, and all flow, consistany and enjoyment of the playoffs was sucked dry.

Is this what we have to expect in this years playoffs? Confusing calls, fans on both sides in agreeing that the offiicals are ruining the game? Hopefully Calgary vs Vancouver game 1 was the exception.

Given Bettman’s history, I doubt it.

Note to Brian Bradley who appeared on Lightning Ice Time before tonights game —

Focus on the camera or near the camera and stick to it.

It was hilarious to watch Bradley sitting between Bobby “The Chief” Taylor and Paul Kennedy, scanning in front of him to find a spot to look at. He might have been reading cue cards and switching back to the camera, he might have been lost in the spotlights that were shining on eh Sunshine Network commentary desk.. Whatever the reason, he looked hilariously ridiculous and out of place on TV up until the point where he was looking at his two desk-mates.

This isn’t the type of story I like to see tied to playoffs at all…

You know what, guys? It’s one thing to piss on people’s colors with good natured ribbing, it’s also for the good of a country for there to be political debate – even the heated ones — over any issue for the sake of the Nation you live in…

But to come to this — to go to blows just to put down he opposition? You’re not only pissing on your own colors (in this case, showing the Vancouver Canucks in a terrible light) but you are pissing on your community, on the sport you attended as well as yourself.

There’s no room in Sports or anything else for this shit. You take the fun out of the game when you make it unsafe for people of an opposing team to attend a game in your own house. I expect this in Philadelphia, or Oakland, but not Vancouver…

Just for those who don’t surf the web enough:

CBS Sportsline posts their point by point breakdown of the matchup between the Isles and the Lightning, giving the Lightning the edge in the series.,

ESPN.com limps along with their own series preview giving the Lightning the edge in five… I agree with the assessment that the Bolts could end the series in five games — but I also believe Rick DiPietro could hand it to the Isles in four.

Meanwhile, NHL.com salivates over the Toronto / Ottawa matchup, as well as posting a link to the Islanders / Lightning matchup. A very thorough breakdown with no prediction – as it should stand.

And last but not least in this short roundup — TSN.CA chimes in with their preview. I like Torts quote to end the “article” page… Now the Fun begins :smile

Round One…. Fight!

Martin St. Louis and Marek Malik share the Bud Light + / – award

I posted a few days ago that Vincent Lecavalier was eying Europe if and when the lockout happens. I also stated that more players would be making announcements like this in the coming days. Jaromir Jagr has proved me right.

The prima-donna Czech has told the New York Daily News that he has a conditional contract to play in Russia next fall pending the NHL Lockout. CSKA and Dynamo Moscow are the most likely places where Jagr would land.

I find it rather odd that any player int eh NHL would say that they would play in Russia — much less sign a contract to play in Russia. This is not taking a jab at Russian hockey at all, but this is taking a jab at the Russian Mafia as well as corruption that has been noted in the past (ie Alexandre Svitov).

Rick Dudley must be crying today… If not crying, he is incredibly upset.

For the first time since god-knows-when, he will not have the chance to trade the #1 overall pick in the draft. Dudley, who has traded the pick 3 times (and is on record as the only General Manager in league history to trade the #1 overall pick,) and the Florida Panthers scored the #7 selection in this years entry draft while the Washington Capitals secured the #1 selection.

Of course, Dudley tried drafting Alexander Ovechkin – the likely #1 overall selection this year – last year… So he can claim he had the #1 pick twice last year (ha ha ha )

The complete draft order is:

1. Washington Capitals
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Chicago Blackhawks
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
5. Phoenix Coyotes
6. NY Rangers
7. Florida Panthers
8. Carolina Hurricanes
9. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
10. Atlanta Thrashers
11. Los Angeles Kings
12. Minnesota Wild
13. Buffalo Sabres
14. Edmonton Oilers

Well, Damian Cristodero makes mention of the first controversy of the Lightning – Islanders series… Off ice trash talk? No. Starter status in question? No.

It’s about the Hotel the Bolts are staying in and the fact the Islanders inquired about it.

Must be a slow news day seeing we are making a big thing about this. The Isles will stay at a hotel 2 blocks away from the arena while the Lightning play next door to the arena. Boo hoo, this is terrible folks! The insanity of it all! I can’t take it! :rolleyes

And of course, our favorite trash tabloid, the New York Post decided to make a big thing about the “incident.” Only problem is the incident is Islander created because they refused to share the Marriott Waterside Hotel with the Bolts.

Brian Eklund joins the Lightning for only a couple of days. Eklund was called in from the Pensacola Ice Pilots to serve as a practice goalie while John Grahame took a break to sooth an injury.

Brian will be back with the Pilots soon enough so fear not, Pensacola fans, who fear we’ll keep Brian on roster while the Ice Pilots go into their own playoffs.

Meanwhile, suspected call-ups pending Utah and Hershey making the AHL playoffs, happen to be Shane Willis, Timo Hebling, Sheldon Keefe, Nikita Alexeev and Gerard Dicaire.

Visit this link which will magically transport you to TBL.com

Then, drag your mouse over the schedule, making sure to hold down the left mouse button while you do it so the entire schedule is highlighted.

Behold – the fixing of the NHL! :smile

Yes, we’re all aware that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are regularly referred to as the Second Season (and why not? Between 16 and 28 games are to be played by any team reaching the Stanley Cup Finals) but it’s important to note that the THIRD Season has also commenced.

“Third Season?” Why of course the third season — trophy time, baby! :woot

With Joe Sakic failing to score a point on Sunday, Martin St. Louis clinched his first post-season award with the Art Ross Trophy. The Hart, the Pearson, the Selke are all possible awards for Martin.