Many of you are already where that Mats Sundin suffered a horrific eye injury on opening night… Which seems to be a trend in the NHL - someone has either a terrible facial injury or a bad eye injury with thanks to a puck or stick to the face.

And players, trying to keep a macho attitude, don’t want to be forced to wear one even if it’s for their own safety.

Tom Jones in the St. Pete Times noted this morning that visors were on the table during CBA negotiations and the NHLPA board was receptive to the idea while the players themselves wanted to be pro-choice… (No link available, sorry)

Meanwhile, Jes over on Hockey Rants writes another one of his great pieces regarding the topic:

What kind of union doesn’t care about the personal safety of its members? Oh, right, the NHLPA Guild ( 8-| ).

It might be worth noting I brought this subject to light during negotiations this summer… And didn’t expect anyone to really catch on to the point that face shields or masks were a huge issue that didn’t seem to be discussed much at all in public disclosure of talks:

With all the other changes to the game that are ongoing during CBA talks, should face protection be one of the stipulations by ownership? Or tossed aside as a concession to the players? Ownership has an obligation to protect it’s investments from injuries, and if facial gear can be grandfathered in - it shouldn’t be looked as a bad thing.

Now another player has been hurt because of a hands-off facial protection policy… The league and the players don’t realize how much this hurts the game, and the players need to realize sometimes personal freedom playing a dangerous sport isn’t worth it.

From Lyle at Spectors —

- The Colorado Avalanche are shopping veteran blueliner Bob Boughner and have held talks with “a couple of teams, including Tampa Bay, Detroit and Calgary”.

Spector’s Note: Uhhh, that would be three teams, Bruce, not a couple. Anyway, the Wings recent signing of Jason Woolley probably takes them out of the running. Given the Flames blueline depth I can’t see them being interested, although they do have the cap space. The Bolts have been seeking a veteran fifth or sixth defenceman, but they’re almost maxed out on their cap.

With $950,000.00 going to Bob to begin with, that sounds like he is not an option - period… Unless we are giving up more for more, so to speak, and clearing cap space through the deal, which is not Feaster’s M.O. Jay tends to want to keep the locker room intact and trading away a high-cap value player would likely mean a core player on the Lightning roster.

Trading draft picks or minor leaguers doesn’t create the space the team needs…

I cringe at the thought of this deal — Bob’s an undersized physical D-man who has played a lot in the Southeast in the past.

It should be noted that the Lightning are 3-3 in their last six regular season games going back to 03-2004 where they lost two out of three of their final matchups (OTL to the Ottawa Senators, win vs. Florida Panthers, Loss to Atlanta Thrashers, Win vs. Carolina on opening night. loss to Florida on Friday and the win on Saturday Night).

That being said, Tom Jones best sums up the home-and-home series vs. the Panthers:

For those who skate under the Stanley Cup banner, there is no such thing as a night off. Nothing resembles a “gimme game.” Every shift is a dog fight, every game a struggle. Even when the buzzer sounds, you can’t be positive the game is over.

On Friday Night - well, let me be honest, Friday was my birthday and I didn’t see as much of the game as I would have liked… Or most of the game for that matter. Roberto Luongo got the Shutout and John Grahame had the challenge of going Mano-y-Mano with the best goalie in the league right now - and stumbled by giving up a softy (by his own admission).

That was Friday. Saturday? Saturday was a different story as Fredrik Modin ended Luongo’s season-opening shutout streak at 140 minutes. Martin St. Louis Capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play (Mr. Hart’s first points of the season) and it was John Grahame’s turn to play All-World goalie… His leg work alone preserving the win in the final seconds of the game.

….

On a very separate note I would like to make mention that Boltsmag might not be updated much int he coming week. I am headed out of town for a few days and will be back Saturday Night (hopefully in time to see the Lightning / Penguins matchup).