Never thought you’d hear those words together, now did you?

And that’s the NHL season… I’m exhausted but OHMIGODDIDTHISJUSTHAPPEN?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

The floor is yours.

His foot is broken and he was not on the team bus when it pulled into the hotel in Tampa, TSN.ca reports.

But that news is from Yesterday. He may be here tonight to try to play.

**UPDATE** Er, maybe not. Regehr’s season is over and Shean Donovan is also sitting this one out, NHL.com reports.

For those who will be watching in the Tampa Bay region, an extra hour has been tacked on to the Sunshine Network pregame show.

For all of you who don’t already know (and there shouldn’t be many), Sunshine has been broadcasting pre-game shows since they stopped being able to broadcast games in the 3rd round of the playoffs. Bobby “The Chief” Taylor, Rick Peckham and Paul Kennedy broadcast live from Times Palace and give reports with special commentary from the likes of Brian Bradley and others.

I’m getting ready to leave for the St. Petersburg Times Forum for game 7… I’ll be joined by my colleague from the great white north, Keith, who’ll be adamantly hoping his Calgary Flames can win the Cup…

While the Tampa Bay Metro region that surrounds him will be hoping for just the opposite.

We never expected it to come to this. And I can’t believe it’s happening – not only am I going to a Stanley Cup final game, but I am going to the grand finale of the series — Game 7. The Cup will be in the building and, if God wills it, Gary Bettman just may say “Dave Andreychuk, come get your Stanley Cup” when all is said and done.

This is the apex of the Pass the Friggin’ Torch tour — the Lightning / Flames finals may be low rated on TV but they are creating more movement in the league than can be seen. Teams are watching the systems at work and adjusting, or making plans to mimic them, to better their own chances next year.

One team will be left standing tonight. One team that no one thought would be at this point. One team that no one expected to get this far. The question is – which one?

I’ll post another open thread before I leave – so those not in attendance can post during the game…

And my final thought is this:

Want to save a few bucks and see the sites when it comes to parking?

Try Ybor City by way of the Tampa Trolley if you are looking to get out to Times Palace.

“Refs shouldn’t decide hockey games – it should be up to the players.”

This philosophy from certain traditionalists is part of the reason why hockey is failing to bring in a wide American audience. Between the regular season and the post season, rules change. When overtime commences in the playoffs — rules are thrown out the door. It’s an unwritten rule that no one who commits an infraction of the NHL rulebook shall be called once overtime starts, and it’s a mockery of enforcement of the rules every other time during the season.

Hockey’s feature spectacle is an opportunity to bring in new fans, and when they watch the game the rules change from period to period. I finished watching the first overtime of last nights game and how many penalties on both teams were not called? Tripping ran rampant early on, then hooking, high sticking, roughing and interference with a little boarding on the side…

“But it’s always been like this,” is not a valid reason to tell me the lack-of-calls is no big deal. The rules are there for a reason and referees are employed for a reason. If a guy commits an infraction – call it. It’s not the refs fault if the other team scores – it’s the fault of the player who committed the foul and gave the opposition a Power Play

How do you teach new fans the rules if you don’t enforce the rules the same way all season and playoffs long? The only rules that people have to understand are the strangest rules of all — icing and offsides –and if THIS is supposed to bring people into the sport, I’ve got some real nice property I’d like to sell you.

It’s one thing to blow a call,. it’s another thing to miss a call, but it is total idiocy for the league not to call anything whatsoever unless players almost get killed on ice.

This would be a joke in any other league – but for some reason, there are fans that think this is how Hockey is supposed to be played. Unless they make it an official rule to not call penalties in the playoff overtimes, they god damned well better do it.

Thanks to Tommy at Sticks of Fire for pointing this out in the comments: Who does Darryl Sutter look like?

My Addled Brain figures out the resemblance to a T

**UPDATED 2:48 PM**

I get this from the Usenet and my friend Sharon:

I sent this a while ago, don’t know if it made it through…

3:48 @ Raytheon. Unfortunately, the Raytheon folks have decided to
barricade their property, so you will have to find a place to park &
then stand along the street that leads from the terminal to Westhore
Boulevard.

See you there!

Thanks Sharon!

If you haven’t had your coronary yet — you are allowed to do so now.

MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP!!!

MARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tampa, Florida, here we come!!!!!

I really have nothing left to say for the time being…. I believe this team can play the heart breaker instead of ending up heartbroken.

The Floor is yours. I’ll comment during the game at times….

Dear Eric Francis, Calgary Sun reporter who said he saw no signs of support for the Lightning in Tampa:

You must be blind —

Much thanks to Sharon Loe for the image.

How pathetic is Eric Francis in this piece?

Mr. Francis tries — or more like lies — in order to justify the Cup returning to Canada in just about every paragraph of the above linked article. (Calgary Sun piece republished in the Tampa Tribune). It seems because Mr. Francis can’t take the Lightning hockey team to task — he takes the Tampa Bay fan base to task.

Hey Eric? If this is the best you can do, please go back to college and spend a few hours in journalism 101.

“Calgary deserves the Cup because of 7 years of bad hockey.” 7 years? Amateurs — try 10 years out of 12 of your very existence.

“Calgary deserves the Cup because the Lightning never had a superstar traded for monetary reasons.” Oh ye of little information. Though we haven’t had SUPERSTARS per se traded for monetary reasons (note – Lightning have lacked a player that resembled a super star for the majority of it’s existence), we’ve had more than our fair share of players, fan favorites and future stars traded away for financial reasons.

“The Flames fans deserve the Cup because they’ve supported their team through 7 bad, heartbreaking and frustrating years and have been threatened with relocation.” Hello, earth paging Eric Francis — are you so ill-informed about the Tampa Bay Lightning that you find this a legitimate reason?

The Lightning fans have supported their team through 10 years of hell, four 50-loss seasons in a row, a couple of horrendous owners, lousy management,
numerous seasons with 50+ players going through the revolving doors, pay more property taxes than all other 29 NHL teams combined and continuously threatened with relocation by numbskull’s such as Mr. Francis or others in the north who’s ignorance proclaims that hockey doesn’t belong in the south and Tampa doesn’t support it’s team.

Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it Eric? You would sure be the one to know….

If you were to tell me that the Lightning were under the most pressure to perform tonight, I would have to disagree with you.

Oh, sure… the Lightning are in need of a game 6 victory to bring the series back to Tampa and get one last shot at Lord Stanley’s Cup… But then again? Think of how it is for the Flames with game 6 and a shot to clinch the Cup tonight. You have 20 thousand fans in the building, you have the entire city riding on them, you have close family and friends in town wanting to see it happen, plus Canada is holding out hope the Calgarians can bring the Cup home and this causes the Flames to feel and added reason to perform…

…And to the potential to make mistakes.

The Lightning are the wounded animal – they have absolutely nothing to lose and that makes them more dangerous… It’s a type of Beast the Flames have not yet encountered during the playoffs – as they have been the one who has been in the underdog slot for the entirety of the playoffs.

If the Lightning react the way they did to the Game 6 loss vs. Philadelphia (angry), this game will not end in a victory celebration. There is no more need for the team mantra “Safe is Death” because there is little to no safety where they sit right now.

Calgary’s got to be hoping Game 5 was a loss the Lightning cannot bounce back from, because for the Flames to lose Game 6 with the amount of pressure to perform on them – there may be no getting up from that.

For anyone not in attendance and on the Internet — Make comments about the game as it goes on right here.

NHL.com News

“We know what we’re up against. We’re the
underdog, we’ve said that. I am not saying it now to make a point, but it’s dead-on true.

“We’re the little team that wasn’t supposed to be here, and a lot of people don’t want us to be here and to make sure that we’re not successful. We know that.”

You thijnk you’re the only case, Darryl? Yes, the Flames have a lot of adversity and a lot of anger after game 4, but please don’t label yourselves at the only team in these finals that the League office didn’t want in the Stanley Cup final.

The Bolts have been conviently painted as the pansies each series they have been in, and it’s been widely circulated we’re half of who the League never wanted to see in the final unless there was a big name against us.

So now the League has to pick the lesser of two evils and if youw ant to give a big “fuck you” to league execs for finding either team “evil”, you’ve got my full support…. But please don’t paint it like you’re the only team the didn’t want in the finals.

If the league is indeed “helping” the Lightning win the cup just because, say, we’re an American team… Then yes, there’s a big problem. But then again. there’s a big problem if the league tried to keep us down throughout the playoffs just because we’re in a non-traditional market. You can’t say that for Calgary…

Tampa nd Calgary are wunderkinds — it’s not just Calgary. No one saw either team making it this far and you know what? Screw the guys who have a problem with it.

The league needs a wake up call and instead of bitching about the series outcome, we should be bitching about how this wakeup call hasn’t been deleivered with the Pass the Friggin’ Torch Tour — aka this Stanley Cup matchup.

From 620 WDAE

In an effort to try and create even more atmosphere at the St. Pete Times Forum, and maybe to try and trump the sea of red at Calgary’s Saddledome, the Lightning announced on Wednesday that Game 5 will be a “White Out” at the Forum. Every fan attending the game will receive a “White Out” T-shirt compliments of Bright House Networks.

All right, I admit it – I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth and of course Keith is already giving me shit with regards to this.

You see, a couple of weeks ago for all you non-regular readers, Keith had brought up the un-originality of the “Orange Crush” that Philadelphia employed during games at the Wachovia Center.

I went along with it, in fact I ridiculed Philly pretty bad for lack of support of the Orange Crush concept and how the team had to give out shirts.

Now the Lightning are doing it — which is imitating countless franchises before us that have imitated Calgary’s “C of Red”. That’s pretty sad. :mad I apologize for criticizing Philly – as we have now sunk to your level :-p

Instigator? I love thee!

Attention Calgary Fans: Try not to riot, please.over this news.

“Nieminen used his forearm to deliver a forceful hit from behind to the head of his opponent,” NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell said. “This hit was more severe than any of the other plays that were brought to our attention during the final.

“This was a hit that clearly crossed the line and was directed at the head. Even if Lecavalier is able to play in Game 5, this type of hit must be subject to supplemental discipline.”

And in news certain to piss off members of my staff here at Boltsmag, though still listed as Day-today, Vincent Lecavalier will likely play in Game 5 (though still listed as uncertain in the above article).

How do you entertain a bunch of Hockey fans waiting in the heat before game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals?

Play a Trick on them, i mean a really Cheap Trick :wink

So there will be a concert before the game, and Cheap Trick’s lead singer will be performing the National Anthem (which is good news for Flames fans as the Lightning have only lost once when Brooke Bollea — AKA Brooke Hogan — has performed that National Anthems and her father riled the crowed up before the game. This change of pace might hurt things :tongue ).

Also, for those who cannot get tickets for the game, the above article states that the 80 foot screen will be used during the game again so those who want to watch in the Plaza adjacent to Times Palace can do so.

“That 5 on 3 was bullshit on Monday! That’s the reason why the Lightning beat the Flames! Stupid Kerry Frazer!”

Lets review this, shall we? Tampa Bay got a 5 on 3 extremely early in the game and converted to make it 1-0. The Calgary Flames had 57 minutes — basically the entire game — to score once to tie the game.

And yet I find more Calgary fans who make the statement that the Lightning didn’t deserve to win that game and that it was handed to them by the Refs. Well, here’s a newsflash – neither did Calgary with how they played on ice.

Keith and me argued Monday night after he attended the game at Saddledome and one thing was for certain that we could agree on at the end: The game was garbage from top to bottom. Of course, I would think that Calgary fans wouldn’t bring up the crappiness of the game if they were the ones who won… Instead? They’re complaining about Kerry Frazer (nice toupee Kerry, now go join Dick Clark as the oldest wanna’ be teenager) and one call that resulted in a score. It sucks, but stop whining about it already and focus on game 5….

(…or, to the pathetic media in Calgary, stop trying to slander Tampa to make up for the fact that this Southern Hockey franchise is tied with “Canada’s Team” in the Stanley Cup Finals, all because you don’t know how else to re-assure the fans that they and their team are better than the Lightning)

Lets say Vinny can’t play game Five in Tampa on Thursday due to concussion, that leaves only Martin St. Louis on the top line…

That being said — what does the Lightning do?

First things first — Modin/Richards/St. Louis is reunited once again. A consistant force for years, this is not a problem. The next line is a bit more iffy though.

Cory Stillman still exists on the 2nd line with his linemates promoted. That’s where the guesswork starts. Dmitry Afansenkov was promoted to top line duty without the services of Ruslan Fedotenko after Robyn Regehr’s hit in game 3. Assuming Ruslan is still a no go, Affy does indeed play the left wing on the 2nd line once more. And who would play at center? That’s another good question. You could promote checking line standards Tim Taylor or Dave Andreychuk to center the line, or perchance take a risk and use Eric Perrin. I’m for the latter as it would allow lines 3 and four to stay intact. Perrin has played well in a checking/defensive line role and has shown flashes of offensive brilliance in his limited time with the Lightning. Why not take the handcuffs off and let the guy play?

Defensively, the Lightning have depth to cope with possibly losing Dan Boyle and Pavel Kubina for some time… Though for me to mention Stanislav Neckar is sacrilegious to some Lightning fans, it’s better than the alternative — Darren Rumble anyone? There is also minor league depth that has been playing on the Taxi squad, but to be honest — i’d sooner give Mike Eneger a chance than those guys, meaning it’s Neckar or bust.

Ben Clymer playing game 4 gave the Lightning an added dimension – at two-way forward, literally. Clymer can be moved to defense if needed, and if Neckar is indeed playing, I would take that extra precaution and start Clymer once again. Down an attacker is a lot easier to cope with than down a defensiveman.

Some believe it was the wrong call or too harsh a penalty, others believe it was a gruesome hit that deserves disciplinary action, or just a stupid penalty taken by Ville Nieminen. Whatever the prognosis, Ville Nieminen’s check on Vincent Lecavalier may be the turning point fo the Stanley Cup Finals.

Tom Panaccio of the Philly Enquirer (by way of MSNBC) brings up that a suspension could define the playoffs, but it’s also easy to see that if Lecavalier and Ruslan Fedotenko don’t play in game 5 that all bets remain off. Two of the Bolts top producing forwards being gone could tip the scales in the Flames favor.

But if Fedotenko plays? If Vinny gets clearence to play? And Ville is indeed suspended for his role? That could be a devestating blow to the Flames morale. Then again, I won’t make any wagers ont he Flames and how they take the disciplinary measurers after the Lightning came back from a “Devestating” game 6 loss to Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference finals. All the team had to do was be angry at the loss and remember the team mantra – Safe is Death – to overcome and win game 7.

What happens from here is anyone’s guess. We’re back to a best of 3 series. It’s one more number to add to the Pass the Friggin’ Torch Tour’s encore performance.

“Not today.”

That’s a quote from league spokesman Frank Brown when asked if the League woudl release anythign with regards to suspension stuff on Ville Nieminen.

Just click the hyperlinked text above to get the full story.

It’s nice to see the St. Petersburg Times finally got the nerve to update their Tampa Bay Lightning page. They did it earlier in the playoffs but there were still links that were irrelevant and out of date on their page.

You can see an example of their previous Lightning page here, it’s an older version of the site that is closer to being “Up to date” because it is from 2003, but it’s still out of date (seeing it’s talking about “the upcoming season” in January?).