Dave at Ya Gotta Believe has moved Rays talk to DRays Bay… Make sure you take a gander…

I feel like someone is afraid to be the chief doctor int eh ER… A patient came in with fluctuating vital signs and for the last few weeks they have been futilely doing triage to bring the patient back to stability.

But please, spare us all, the season is dead. Call it.

Blame Goodenow? Blame Bettman? Blame greedy players? Blame greedy Owners? It is of no consequence.

The patient is dead. The doctors helped kill him. Someone call it… Time of death? Your guess is as good as mine… I would think that it was several days ago when the talks started again because they went no where.

Cover the body, put away the crash-cart and send in the janitor…

Don’t look for a funeral - the family is scattered throughout Europe and those still in NOrth America are focused on other parts of their lives. NHL 2004-05 never had a chance… Apathy has ruled - from players who tucked-tail and ran to Europe and have only listened to what their Reps had to say and not followed news themselves, to owners who can’t figure out Gary is detrimental to the game, to the Fans who have done little to nothing to fight for their game back.

Not that we could do much. I mean, guys like me blogged and tried to rally people with different ideas. Tried to empower the NHLFA but that failed… Partly because no one cared any more, and the greed helped ruin the fun that many find in this sport.

Winter is giving way to Spring here in Florida. Spring Training is goign to be in action within days and I feel hollow inside. No hockey. No Lightning. No Cup defense.

The Patient is dead. Someone please call it. Be humane and stop the suffering - just give up. It’s over.

Well, in “Celebration” of one year of Boltsmag, there’s been a change to the site once more that no one should notice….:roll:

I give you all the Boltsmag discussion forum… This will be a far cry from the message board community that was on the original Boltsmag but still… Be it ever so humble…

Well, today we reach the first anniversary of Boltsmag. A year ago I didn’t have the foggiest clue just how far I could take this site nor how far the Lightning would take me and the rest their fans….

My intentions when I launched were just to show that there are indeed fans of the Bolts out there on the Internet and not just the message board cliques or the rotting-away fan sites that hadn’t been updated in years. I wanted to be able to voice some disgust that I have brooding in me over some of the elitest northern fans who don’t think hockey has a following in the south, much less in Tampa Bay… Some of my posts over this past year should make that clearly evident.

But should this post really be about me? About Boltsmag? I mean, sure, it’s Boltsmag’s birthday but what about the course of the year? When I launched I had no clue the Lightning - who had just added some high-octane to their tank after an abysmal December - were going to go as far as they did nor achieve as much as they did. I love Martn St. Louis but I didn’t think that he would end up getting the credit for his superstar performance. I didn’t think Brad Richards would ever earn the credit he has long been overdue….

And I most certainly didn’t think Dave Andreychuk would finally get his Stanley Cup.

For several months it’s been an absolute whirlwind and now… It’s a doldrum. Not because I’m tired of Boltsmag or sports writing (just the opposite actually) but because of the lockout which is hurting everyone in the hockey blogsphere. It’s because I really don’t give a damn about what Goodenow is whining about, or what Gary Bettman is saying. I have a negative view of Bettman but I certain, and quite justly, hold Robert Goodenow in lower regard.

Lets hope this lockout is over by the time Boltsmag reaches age 2… Lets hope that the NHL is on the road to recovery a year from now and that the Lightning remain a force.

Lets hope.

And I want to give a quick thanks to some of the site regulars and some of the bloggers out there that have both supported Boltsmag and pushed me along with the site… Gary at Missing Monkey Head, Tommy at Sticks of Fire, Eric at Off Wing Opinion, Tom at Canucks Corner, Michael at Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic, Charlie and Jason at Predators Den, PJ at Sharkspage and of course James Mirtle… Thanks guys and othe readers out there who may visit but rarely comment.

Joe Henderson has the analogy of the ages in his take on the Devil Rays this upcoming season:

Forget winning. Simply trying to be not horrible in this situation is a bigger challenge than loading an 8-track into your iPod.

Anyone care to disagree with that?

Credit Tommy at Sticks of Fire over this story.

Well, stick a fork in it - the NHLPA has effectively killed off the NHL this season with it’s non compromising stance and it’s desire to break the owners backs.

Youw ant to tell them off for their tactics? Be my guest, but I doubt they’ll listen to a word you say.

Hey folks —

Having a whirlwind around me right now so I haven’t updated Botlsmag or posted anything in days and that should be the case for a while… I don’t know how much of a while though.

I’ll be around…

Blah, offer made - offer rejected. I’m getting tired of this…

I’ll reffer you to Eric at Off Wing if you’re interested in the latest about the Lockout…. Personally, they burned off any optimism I had left last week.

War is Peace

Ignorance is Strength

Freedom is Slavery

All of the above lines are in part derived from George Orwell’s 1984 which I’m reading right now. I’ve heard references to the book for years with the current state of politics in the United States but I hadn’t really taken the time to read what Orwell wrote.

Now why the hell am I bringing up George Orwell on a hockey blog?

It occured to me that the NHLPA is a perfect example of “Ignorance si strength.” I complained about Bradmaster’s comments a few days ago in the St. Petersburg Times and I know i have complaied time and again about other players mouthing off - speaking straight out of their ass for that matter.

And that’s just what the NHLPA wants. They mis-inform the players who do not invest the time in following negotiations up close. It’s all party line. That’s why the NHLPA hasn’t cracked — because they are great at the mis-information ploy. When someone mouths of, that person is dealt with swiftly and possibly harshly– and then a comment correction/retraction is made — and the unified picture fo the NHLPA is quickly restored.

And yet there are dissenters - those who are going behind the PA’s back and complaining about what is going on - just not publicly because if you were to do that, Big Brother would stomp down on you immediately. And Agents who contemplate representing replacement players will be banned form the NHLPA to further the image of unity (by keeping agents from encouraging possible dissenters and line-crossers).

The lockout is War and the image of peace and harmony about the NHLPA is probably more false than we can know. The proposal by the owners that would allow greater freedom (earlier Free Agency and the like) is actually slavery because the open-ended salary structure would be changed. The Ignorance of the PA continues to be it’s greatest strength as I wonder why would there be dissent if the players continue to keep themselves unaware of what is going on?

Big Brother will sign the best deal for you, Comrade! Trust in Big Brother! Trust in the NHLPA!

When hockey fans who are in the know about Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier’s history together, have to tell you where the two players met — they will point you to central Canada and Notre Dam, the two became fast friends with the Hounds and the rest is history.

Another Notre Dame Hound is heading for Tampa Bay.

Shane McElwain, a gargantuan tight-end (6′5″, 255 lbs) has signed a letter-of-intent with the University of South Florida Bulls.. This takes a back seat to USF gaining the commitment of highly coveted QB Blue-chipper Carlton Hill…

And I guess it’s odd of me to think McElwain might have some bearing on USF’s hockey team (which is not NCAA but it’s crappola either). He has only played football one season and has several seasons of hockey under his belt from both Notre Dame and his former home in Colorado.