Better late than never… Sun Sports TV (formerly Sunshine Network of Florida) has announced the 2005-06 Television schedule:

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
2005-2006 Sun Sports Television Schedule

OCTOBER
5 Wed 7:30pm Carolina
7 Fri 7:30pm @ Florida
8 Sat 7:30pm Florida
10 Mon 7:30pm Boston
13 Thu 7:30pm Buffalo
15 Sat 7:30pm @ Pittsburgh
16 Sun 6:00pm @ Washington
20 Thu 7:00pm @ Atlanta
21 Fri 7:30pm Ottawa
26 Wed 7:30pm @ New Jersey
28 Fri 7:30pm Washington
*29 Sat 7:00pm @ Atlanta

NOVEMBER
1 Tue 7:30pm Atlanta
3 Thu 7:30pm @ Ottawa
5 Sat 7:00pm @ Toronto
8 Tue 7:30pm @ Montreal
10 Thu 7:30pm NY Rangers
11 Fri 7:00pm @ Atlanta
14 Mon 7:30pm Philadelphia
17 Thu 7:30pm NY Islanders
20 Sun 7:00pm @ Carolina
23 Wed 7:00pm @ Washington
25 Fri 7:30pm New Jersey
27 Sun 5:00pm Pittsburgh
30 Wed 7:30pm Toronto

DECEMBER
2 Fri 7:30pm Chicago
8 Thu 7:30pm St. Louis
10 Sat 8:00pm Nashville
14 Wed 10:30pm @ Anaheim
15 Thu 9:00pm @ Phoenix
17 Sat 7:30pm Detroit
20 Tue 7:00pm @ Carolina
22 Thu 7:00pm @ NY Rangers
23 Fri 7:30pm Buffalo
26 Mon 7:30pm Carolina
28 Wed 7:30pm Montreal
30 Fri 7:30pm Boston

JANUARY
3 Tue 7:00pm @ NY Rangers
5 Thu 7:00pm @ Buffalo
7 Sat 7:00pm @ Boston
13 Fri 7:30pm Columbus
17 Tue 10:30pm @ Los Angeles
20 Fri 8:30pm @ Dallas
21 Sat 7:00pm @ Atlanta
24 Tue 7:30pm Florida
26 Thu 7:30pm New Jersey
29 Sun 3:00pm @ Washington
31 Tue 7:30pm Toronto

FEBRUARY
4 Sat 7:30pm Washington
7 Tue 7:30pm @ New Jersey
9 Thu 7:30pm Carolina
11 Sat 7:00pm @ Boston
28 Tue 7:30pm Florida

MARCH
4 Sat 7:30pm Montreal
6 Mon 7:30pm Ottawa
7 Tue 7:30pm @ Pittsburgh
9 Thu 7:00pm @ Buffalo
11 Sat 7:00pm @ Toronto
13 Mon 7:30pm @ Montreal
14 Tue 7:30pm @ Ottawa
17 Fri 7:30pm Philadelphia
19 Sun 5:00pm NY Islanders
20 Mon 7:00pm @ Florida
23 Thu 7:30pm Washington
25 Sat 7:30pm NY Rangers
27 Mon 7:00pm @ Carolina
30 Thu 7:30pm Atlanta

APRIL
1 Sat 7:30pm @ Florida
3 Mon 7:30pm Florida
6 Thu 7:30pm Atlanta
8 Sat 7:30pm Pittsburgh
9 Sun 5:00pm @ Florida
11 Tue 7:30pm Atlanta
14 Fri 7:00pm @ Carolina
15 Sat 7:30pm Carolina
18 Tue 7:30pm Washington

ALL TIMES EASTERN
SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Available to Sun Sports viewers in the designated Tampa Bay Lightning NHL- territory only (Northern and Central Florida)

*NOTE: 10/29 game will air on FSN Florida

Between SunSports, OLN and NBC, all Tampa Bay Lightning games will be televised this season

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times wrote a piece today with regards to five questions facing the Lightning going into scrimmages…. I thought most of them were predictable (Goalie, #6 Defensiveman, 20 players on the roster, biggest worry (and I addressed this yesterday penciling in injuries) and are they in the position to play for the Cup again]… So here are another set of questions for the Lightning going into scrimmages today in Brandon and with the season looming:

New Rules and the Effect on the Bolts

Everyone says the new rules are going to benefit the Lightning and other teams employing an open system of play… Seeing that there are many teams setting up to be Lightning imitators, how are the Lightning going to be affected by this? Will refs actually call the rules all season or go lax like normal after several games? Are Lightning players going to get lazy on Defense with the two-line pass now in play?

Does Dave still have it?

Almost sacrilege to think about but after the two day testing of Camp “Torturella” in Brandon, Dave Andreychuk must be more aware if he is going to be good to go this season or not. Dave did just sign the two-year deal and had been working out during the work stoppage a bit… But there still is a good deal more rust for Dave to shake off compared to younger players on the roster. The team Captain is looked upon to be strong, and the team is in need of Dave at full strength and raring to go.

Affy Affy, Joy Joy?

He moved up from the 4th line to the 3rd during the season and spent time on the top lines at times during the playoffs in 2003-04… Is Dmitry Afanasenkov in position to break out this year with the Lightning? Or will he continue to be oh-so-close, missing the scoring touch that led to his drafting by the Lightning in the first place?

Can Vaclav Prospal get back to past form?

A year away from the Bolts and a year off from NHL action both factor in with Vinny Prospal…. If negatively, the team is in trouble. Prospal had a disappointing season in Anaheim in 2003-04 even though he notched 54 points (19 goals, 35 assists)… He was sent back to Tampa as part of cost cutting by the Ducks. Is the chemistry still there? Is his touch still there?

Will recovering Brad Richards and Ruslan Fedotenko be affected by their previous Injuries?

For the sake of the season, I sure as hell hope not!

Will the Lightning find an heir to serve between the Pipes?

Everyone can say that the battle is between John Grahame and Sean Burke for the #1 goaltending position in Tampa and that issue was addressed by Tom Jones in the paper (as noted already) but that isn’t what this question really focuses on…. The Lightning have been around for nearing 13 years now and they have yet to develop (and keep) a goaltending prospect / talent of their own. Will Gerald Coleman, Jonathan Boutin or Morgan Cey show the organization that the future goaltending in Tampa is not a question mark? Will Brian Eklund wow all and step up? Or will all four of these aforementioned netminders go the way of prospects such as Zak Bierk, Evgeny Konstantinov, Derek Wilkinson and Dieter Kochan and amount to nothing more than a name that once passed through the organization?

Local reporters talked about how Gerard Dicaire had a bad opening day of Camp Tortorella on Monday. Wednesday’s print editions revealed that Dicaire may be ill in one way or another. Gerard underwent exams at Tampa General Hospital after showing up for the 3 mile evening run on Monday pale and complaining of lightheadedness.

Test results are due later in the week… I’ll post when I hear about it.