Jay Feaster has overseen just a bit of the Lightning in his tenure as GM with the Bolts. He wasn’t the man who oriignally built the Lightning, nor was he the man who helped resurrect the franchise with a revolving door policy - trying to find cogs as well as stock the system. Jay’s general task has been to take the fruits of Rick Dudley’s and Phil Esposito’s labors and turn the franchise into a contender - putting them over the top.

Not only did Jay achieve that goal — he put the Lightning over the top of the entire NHL as the Lightning roster achieved the ultimate goal — winning Lord Stanley’s Cup.

But now Jay is in a different position - he is in the middle of a tough spot (as are the other 29 General Managers in the league) where he not only has to re-sign but most likely also retool the roster under the new CBA rules of the National Hockey League.

11 players are under contract for next season and like it or not - the roster will change over from the champions-redeux that Feaster had secured for the 2004-05 campaign (had it happened). How the roster is molded from here on in will be a true telling of Jay’s ability. Who’s cut loose? Who’s promoted from the minor leagues? Who’s signed? Who’s re-signed? Who’s cast adrift? How do they deal with holes as they become visible (the most glaring possible hole is at Goaltender with Nikolai Khabibulin a Unrestricted Free Agent).

Feaster reportedly met with several players agents today in New York… It’s just the start of a very long processes that needs to be hammered out in a very short time frame and will ultimately cement his status as one of the leagues best executives or bring into question the abilities as a contract-lawyer-come-General-Manager.

I’m a little put off with a rumor I’ve heard (from Sun Sports message board) that has been compounded by Erik E. over at the Tribune…

The reigning Stanley Cup champions, in the first game of the 2005-06 season are supposed to take on diviison rival Carolina to begin their title defense and reign in the new NHL…

Say what?

Carolina? You want to open Tampa Bay’s season against Carolina? WIth no offense to the Hurricanes and certainly not pissing on the concept that the league is trying to push division play, the Lightning versus the ‘Canes to start the season is about as exciting and broadcast worthy as a root canal performed without novocane. You want to lure the fans back and you offer them a matchup like this?

The Southeast is no powerhouse, one can cite, and Tampa Bay would be matched up with any one of the mediocre teams in the SE…. The thing is, the fans - who Bettman and the players are all saying deserve better, are getting the worst of the worst when it comes to division rivals. Washington is not a strong rivalry but they are ahead of the ‘Canes. Atlanta is up and coming and was the only true thorn in the Lightning’s side in 2003-04.

And then there is the Panthers in Miami. The team that Lightning fans love to hate (though the reasoning behind this is just pure spite. We’ve never had a true rivalry with the Panthers as they have been lousy while we have been good, and vice versa). The Kitties are always a draw and raising the Stanley Cup banner in front of them would be sweet to do.

But no, it’s Carolina, and I remain put off by it.

The new scheduling format that is being employed by the league can be found here.

The cost of Vaclav Prospal’s acquiring last season just went up.

Reading the Times coverage of the draft lottery, I was reminded we have no 2nd round draft choice (#31 overall) nor 3rd round draft choice (90 overall) which was sent away for extra draft picks in 2004.

#91 is our second seleciton. Yeowch