I’m still trying to stop rolling my eyes at the ill conceived notion by brethren on the official Atlanta Thrashers message forum: Time for the fans to LOCKOUT!

Lets see, what kind of ideas does this one rank up there with? How about “Don’t buy gas on (insert date here) to protest the price at the pumps”? If it accomplishes anything, all it does is show the league there is fan interest in the sport. Whoopty shit, we prove that every single day.

To continue the idiocy of this idea, a Lockout is keeping labor from operating until they reach a contractual agreement with ownership. Ownership keeps labor from doing there jobs. Now, if this was a boycott, then it could be said that the fans were trying to show that they were pissed off. To lock out the fans is just to keep them where they already are, on the outside of the sport, looking in.

If you really want to protest, or really want to show that you are fed up with the NHL and NHLPA’s utter bullshit, please sign up and join the NHLFA. It’s a lot more constructive and they already have a line with the league… unlike any other group now showing up to dispute this labor standstill.

Boltsmag took it upon itself to try to find out what Sunshine Network has in store for Tampa Bay fans if the work stoppage does occur (which is looking more and more certain each day.

Responding to queries, I was simply told “Check back with us after the deadline.”

It sort of aggravates me to be strung along like that. Is Sunshine’s contingency plan simply re-airing Lightning games from the past? What about ECHL or AHL coverage to cover the void — certainly we can try to find enjoyment int eh Springfield Falcons if we can’t watch the Lightning….

Yet Sunshine keeps a poker face and we are kept waiting once again.

For the site regulars – you might notice I have done some hosekeepign ont he site and changed the site logo as well as some other things… Let me know what you think…

Spector’s Season Preview comes out even though things are entirely uncertain at this point for the NHL. With the Players Association bargaining in bad-faith/no faith and Gary Bettman shunning an independant mediator, the next 17 days are not likely to save the NHL seaosn.

That being said, thinking about what would be is still better than thinking about what won’t be…

To give you just a taste of the Lightning’s preview – I bring up the last quote of the paragraph on the Bolts:

The scary part about this Lightning team is many of their key players are only just coming into their prime, meaning the Bolts will be contenders for a long time.

Doug O’Brien has been inked by the Tampa Bay Lightning and will most likely be playign for the Springfield Falcons this upcoming season – if there is an upcoming season.

The Lightning have the option of sending O’Brien back to his QMJHL team ans an over-ager

?I made it very clear to them that that?s not where I want to be,?? said O?Brien, who spent the summer home training.

?I know all about the junior level now. I?ve been there for four years and that?s long enough. I think I?ve proven what I can do.??

O?Brien leaves Tuesday for Gatineau to train until the Lightning?s rookie camp in Traverse City, Mich., Sept. 8-15. He will then return home for two weeks to await the decision on the NHL season and his immediate fate.

The Lord giveth and the lord Taketh Away…

The Quebec Nordik hockey franchise has been terminated by the WHA. and my only question for the few who come across boltsmag is this: Who cares?

The WHA is just not serious when it comes to getting a league off the ground. It’s plans are suspect at best…

From TSN.ca
According to a report in the Ottawa Sun, teen phenom Sidney Crosby has been offered a three-year, $7.5-million contract by the Hamilton franchise in the World Hockey Association.

So, trying to mirror the WHA of old, they have made an offer for a player who is not yet eligible for the NHL draft.

The sad thing is the WHA isn’t even close to being ready for general hockey operaitons and they do something like this? Why sign Crosby when he won’t even have anyone to play against?

And of course Sidney becomes a pawn in the middle of things with the NHL labor war and WHA start-up attempt. Why not take the money when there will be no guarantee he will be able to get the same type of cash in the NHL under the new CBA?

“The Forum isn’t just a Hot Spot for Hockey any more!”

OK, past the terrible pun here… The Lightning will be employing Wi-Fi at St. Pete Times Forum for the 2004-05 season and beyond….

I swear, I want to laugh at this but the only true recourse is :rolleyes and shaking my head in disgust.

Steve Thomas, live on The Score in Canada last night, broke rank with the NHLPA and seemed to be his own man with the following comments:

“The fact that football and basketball both have a salary cap … we can learn from how the day-to-day operations of those two entities work out and try and find some kind of a common ground between what they’re going through and what we have right now.”

All NHL fans would smile upon this — the 41 year old Thomas breaking rank and actually showing the LEAGUE as a whole (players and owners) matter more than just petty squabbling.

But wait! There’s more ladies and gentlemen! Hours after this live interview on Canadian Television, a written statement was released by Steve Thomas, denouncing what had been said:

“I never have and never will support a salary cap and any reports that say otherwise are totally inaccurate.”

If that letter released was signed by Thomas himself or Bob Goodenow on behalf of Thomas remains to be seen.

Contradictions such as these are normally seen in rhetoric from the current United States Presidential Administraiton, which has denied comments it has made on television programs ever happened.

Whatever the case, the fans are still getting screwed as incompetance meets ineptitude in the NHL Labor War.

Lately a lot of people have been jumping to this site from Google’s Image Search, trying to find Lightning Championship wallpaper…

Of course, I am letting them down because I only have a large image of the Southeastern Division Championship desktop wallpaper on the site.

So let me see what I can do? I can give you guys links to other sites or perchance design an image of my own? We’ll see if I can do the latter in the future but in the meantime — I’m scanning the web trying to find Lightning wallpaper from the championship:

The St. Petersburg Times offers in-game photos as Wallpaper for your desktop

Tampa Bay LIghtning Entertainment hosts two Desktop images of the Lightning Ice Girls

Mccanner.com offers several different wallpapers for you.

I found the following two wallpapers online at one point or another:

Here’s the 2003-04 playoffs from the CBC for you to love as your own:

For all the Vincent Lecavalier fans, here’s another one I found on the web:

Bolted Down provides the following Wallpaper for users:

And Boltsmag offers you these wallpaper images:

Big thanks go out to reader Joshua Bernard who sent in this desktop wallpaper image to Boltsmag:

Just click on either image to get a bigger size version, then right click and select SET AS WALLPAPER or SAVE AS…

If you have a lead to Lightning desktop wallpaper — post a link on the comments or email me

Update: December 20th, 2007: Everything SEEMS to be working now. I would appreciate it if anyone experiencing problems (ie not seeing all the graphics) would email me or post a comment and let me know

It would seem Shane Willis continues to be stuck with the Tampa Bay Lightning, re-signing with the team. Shane has played mostly in the minors since his acquisition with Chris Dingman for KEvin Weekes…. While Dingman has earned a roster spot as a 4th line grinder.

Willis seems destined for Springfield as it stands….

Well, well, well… looks like Boltsmag has some competition in the Southeast Division…

I already was aware of the Washington Capitals Blog — even thought it was much more active when I had found it on the web than it is right now. It’s the new Blog that I want to give a hello to that should make people’s blood boil just a tad…

Hello and adieu to Florida Panther’s Hockey. From your rival to the north — I say good luck… For rivalry sake, I can’t say much more than that.

I missed this news story because of other pressing matters at the time… However it is getting covered a week late and a dollar short, thankyouverymuch…

It would seem the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL are no longer the ECHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, being replaced by the Johnstown Chiefs.

The Ice Pilots gave the Lightning mroe advertising, of sorts, in the state by being the Lightning’s sole full affiliate hockey team the last few years. This move seems related to the Springfield Falcons becoming the Lightning’s AHL Affiliate. It’s logistics and things like that which make a ECHL team closer to Springfield more effective than having one in Pensacola.

Then again, I could very much be wrong and speaking out of my ass on that one.

Joe at Tasca’s take has an article up with regards to the latest fruitless session between the NHLPA and the Owners… This lead me to try to comment on the idea but a 1000 character reply field really stopped me dead.

My comment wasn’t goign to be on being anti-union and pro-league, it wasn’t going to be pro-cap to anti-free market (both stances I do support). It was another means of adding salary limitations on the players directly and not on teams directly. I don’t know if this is anything like what has been proposed by either side..

Baseball has a very flawed tax system that gets teams money from big payroll clubs like the Yankees and the Red Sox… It’s not directly limiting payroll but it’s supposed to be an influence. It’s a failure because it charges the teams and not the players specifically. Why not have a tax system on salaries themselves? If, say, a player agrees to a deal for a million dollar contract (one year, one million dolars), why not tax it something like 10 percent? (Ten percent of that million dollars — 100 grand — goes to the league) It’s like an income tax…

Players can still get their huge windfall contracts BUT they have to put some of that money towards the league. If someone signs a contract worth 11 million a year over 5 years (55 Mil contract), a portion of that moolah should be going into a income tax pool. It would be a higher tax bracket than the players only making a few hundred thousand a year…

Is it a failed idea or does it have some merit? I hate the idea of teams having to police themselves with their spending on an open market, and yet I also hate there not being restrictions on pay that is just exploding. Having an income tax might influence players to take smaller contracts in order to get around taxation and even out payrolls.

But then again – the players don’t want any salary limitations period, and that is why the league is in trouble in the first place as salaries escalate and income faulters.

From Spectors Hockey:

MSG NETWORK: Stan Fischler reports the re-signing of defenceman Janne Niinimaa by the NY Islanders “virtually guarantees” blueliner Roman Hamrlik won’t be back with the club. Fischler notes the Tampa Bay Lightning have wanted to re-acquire Hamrlik for some time.

Spector’s Note: Given the fact the Bolts are focussing attention on re-signing Martin St. Louis and the fact they walked away from Cory Stillman’s arbitration award to bring back the more affordable Vaclav Prospal, I doubt they have the money available to bring back Hamrlik unless he agrees to a pay cut. Given his Group II free agent status, Hamrlik likely won’t be moved until after a new CBA is in place.

Interesting thought… But as the piece says, the number one priority right now is Martin St. Louis’ resigning. That si going to eat up money as well as time. If the Lightning were still set on acquriing a vet D-man and had their sights set squarely on Roman Hamrlik, the cost will surely go beyond draft picks. Of course, the Lightning also has Nikita Alexeev to trade (there is no guarantee he will make the roster and he cannot be sent down without going through waivers).

I had visions of Grandeur to have hockeyboards.net operational for next season… I would have been using PHPBB and starting from scratch on a new NHL forum…

Yet there are too many out there as is.

So, by my decision, I have linked Boltsmag’s official message board to Hockeyforums.com One might be wondering why I did this and there are a few:

For starters, I didn’t want to make the corny decision to link to the Tampa Bay Lightning officail message boards which has “relevant” discussions about what type underwear Brad Richards wears and who Vincent Lecavalier is dating this week.

Likewise, I didn’t want ot link to Sunshine Network’s web message boards due to the cliq I like to refer to as LightningNation — know-it-alls and blunderkinds mixed in with season-ticketholders that rarely let newbies into their group or make you feel welcome if you have a varying opinion from there own.

Hockeyforums gives a link to an NHL forum with discussion among general NHL fans as well. Unlike, say, FanHome.com — You will not see Montreal Canadien fans jump into the Lightning forum solely to propose Vincent Lecavalier trades. They’;; appear to discuss the team or a move that is made by the team.

So click on the FORUMS button on the left navigation menu and be mystifically (purposely mispelled) transported to the HockeyForums web message board.

Oh my god… It happened.

Months after the rumored Vaclav-back-to-the-Bolts deal at the Trade Deadline, Vaclav Prospal has bene traded back to the Tampa Bay Lightning for all of a Second Round draft pick.

Corey Stillman, who had gone under contract through arbitration last year, was making more than Prospal was set to make (minus his signing bonus) per year… Stillman, of course, also was looking for another pay raise and was reportedly awarded a 3.9 Million dollar contract from Arbitration and Jay Feaster said “No thanks”, Stillman is now an Unrestricted Free Agent.

I like this move — heck, I love this move. I saw Stillman as the problem area in the off season — because he’d just be making too much — and re-acquiring Prospal fills Feaster’s requirement of chemistry along with affordability.

Second Montreal Gazette article features Eric Perrin and Martin St. Louis back home in Laval, Quebec with the Cup….

Read it all..

Doug Giravin once again does me a service and sends me two articles from the Montreal Gazette. The first of which happens to be Vincent Lecavalier’s day with the Stanley Cup

Read it all..

Thanks Keith Primeau for those blows to the head….

Seriously, though, this makes the second Lightning player to take a step back from teh World Cup. Nikolai Khabibulin had already bowed out of the Russian Team. Kubina will sit instead of participating for the Czech Republic, which will certainly be a blow for the Czech team.

4 down, 1 to go.

Corey Sarich and the team reached an agreement on a two year contract extension on Monday…

But stop the presses ladies and gents, the Mod-do-meterhas just gone haywire. The Lightning and Fredrik Modin have come to terms on a multi-year deal as well, this announced Monday.

All but oen of Tampa Bay’s arbitration-eligible players have been dealt with now, except Corey Stillman.

I was going to post this rant on Boltsmag but because of the fact it went so far off topic from hockey and the Lightning (who have no say in this fiasco and aren’t to blame), I posted the rant instead on my personal web log — The Stonegauge.

It’s nice to be asked to advertise the Stanley Cup Championship DVD… IBut it isn’t nice to be asked to do so when I can’t even enjoy the thing myself.

No autographs? Lightning’s Richards angry at P.E.I. newspaper | CP

Richards reportedly called the Summerside Journal-Pioneer this week and told staff he would never do another interview with the paper. The Tampa Bay Lightning sniper was apparently upset about an editorial in the paper that chastised him for not signing autographs at a parade and celebration held in his honour earlier in the week.

Reading ove rthe article I can’t help but see it as pointed towards putting down Brad as a pompous and arrogant player. He won’t sign autographs, he was charging for autographs elsewhere and he talked to the writer of this article via airplane on his way to a golf tournament…

The smear machine is in high gear — maybe this is payback to Brad for keeping Lord Stanley’s Cup from a Canadian team?

I’ve got a news story that I want to write a feature piece on in the near future — not on the Lightning directly but on something that I just had happen to me online… Something ironic and aggrivating for me…

I can just say that the championship DVD has something to do with it.

If you’ve been skipping out on Boltsmag lately, you haven’t missed much. There’s some news for the team and the franchise but at the same time — I haven’t been posting due to computer problems that kept me offline most of last week sans my post about Hockeybay, USA.

Nikita Alexeev and Dmitry Afanasenkov both took their qualifying offers. Afanasenkov, who is playing on team Russia in the World Cup this summer, will be making slightly less than 900 thousand dollars while Nikita Alexeev will be making 1.182 million dollars next year…

Both players will have to clear waivers before they are sent down.

This is a make-or-break year for Alexeev and if he comes out of training camp (if there is a training camp in 2004 ) without making the squad, it’s my personal opinion that he will be shipped off ffor a defensiveman. It’s sadly ironic that it mirrors, in reverse, the trade that brought Fredrik Modin to the Tampa Bay Lightning (he was traded from Toronto for defensiveman Cory Cross).

Meanwhile on another front, Pavel Kubina and Rusland Fedotenko are back in black — way in the black for that matter. Kubina has been re-upped after his arbitration hearing, for two years at an average of 3.25 million a year. This is much less than his request of 8-odd million for 2 years that Petr Svoboda (yes, Lightning fans, that Petr Svoboda) was arguing for.

Meanwhile, Rusland Fedotenko took home a nice raise in his arbitary hearing. He is scheduled to make 1.5 million in his one year cotnract while having made 950k last year. fedotenko proved to be a crucial cog for the Lightnign during the playoffs and erased many doubts and qualms fans had after he was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers.

three Arbitration hearings are still yet to happehn for Lightning players — Fredrik Modin, Corey Sarich and Corey Stillman.