No offense intended, Darren, but this sucks.

Craig Ramsey will undergo prostate surgery prostate surgery on Friday in an effort to deal with early stages of prostate cancer. Darren Rumble, former perpetual healthy-scratch defensiveman for the Lightning and current Springfield Falcons coach has been promoted to the Bolts for immediate fill in purposes.

There has been a lingering worry of mine something was up with Craig Ramsey – as if he was worried or not focused on the task of coaching with the Lightning this year… As if he was letting one thing or another slip through due to this worry. Now my fears have been realized that something was indeed wrong with Rammer — who already has had his stomach removed in order to deal with ulcers, and almost died dealing with things before the removal — and all I can do now is hope and pray that he gets well soon.

Tampa Bay Lightning fans are with you, Coach Ramsey.

In 2003-04, you watched the Lightning and if there was a one-goal defict going into even the final minute fo the game, you had this sense that the Lightning still had a chance. The Lightning could lay you flat and beat the hell out of you or just barely stay with you until that final period – then come back to win it.

You don’t see that in 2005-06. It’s not even close.

While fans continue optimistic predictions, waiting for the Lightning to just have their lop-sided, “return to form” game, they keep getting into situations like they were in tonight: tie game going into the third, they give up a go-ahead goal and can’t quite produce to tie the game one last time — or take the victory for that matter. And almost always they are victims of the empty net goal during a failed comback attempt..

In another loss (where Rob DiMaio played like a madman once again) the Lightning left fans hanging again as they went into the 3rd period and could not convert when it counted. That’s not trying to put down Hannu Toivonen’s spectacular effort in goal – including a fantastic display during a flurry on the Bruin goal latein the third – and his 32 saves… This is putting down the Lightning’s luck yet again.

2-1 the final at Times Palace tonight. Wayne Primeau decided to celebrate returning to Tampa with a goal. Patrice Bergeron scores the Game Winner at 12:49 of the third… Rob Dimaio was named one of the three stars of the game and Sean Burke started between teh pipes — allowing 2 goals on 24 shots.

24 shots, two games in a row. 24 shots and still the Lightning (who have taken some 70+ shots over those two games) can’t put together a win.

Inquire within

Joe Tasca, writing for Off Wing Opinion a few weeks ago, started talking about Howard Baldwin’s attempts to bring back hockey to the City of Hartford, Connecticut…

Well, someone else is talking about Howard Baldwin right now and it sure isn’t pretty… It sure IS funny though.

Chris Dingman has been waived by the Lightning and Darren Reid re-assigned to Springfield of the AHL…

…

…

…I’m searching for another line here with a positive spin but that’s not coming to me. The Lightning reverted to mediocrity and John Grahame allowed 4 goals on 24 shots as Les Habs ended their 9 game road losing streak. The Lightning peppered Jose Theodore with 44 shots but… shit, what’s the point? We lost… Someone makes an excuse or looks toward another reasoning for the up-and-downs of Lightning hockey and que sera sera…

A couple of nifty saves does not excuse poor play the rest of the time. Hell, John Tortorella knows it:

“I am (upset) at what is happening there because I thought our team played very well tonight. And this has gone on for quite a while. Is there other options out there? We can’t do (anything).”

Everything in parenthesis is a nice word substituted for John’s colorful metaphors… Personally I’d rather see the colorful metaphors…

Pavel Kubina scored his 100th career point, Vincent Lecavalier notched #15 on the year and Ryan Craig continued his rookie antics with a goal…

…but the seive at the other end of the ice was the difference once again…

John Tortorella isn’t comfortable holding onto 23 players, the Lightning are bumping their heads on the cap…

Jay Feaster is pressed to do something but what? Demote Reid? Doesn’t solve enough problems. try to move Afanasenkov to the minors? Many might deem that a worthy waiver risk. Make a trade? Who for and involvng whom? Generic answers would involve Lightning bit players (or Daryl Sydor) and would likely be seeking defensive help or a goalie in return… Mind you, I say those are generic answers as Lightning fans should know that getting a Goalie is not going to be an easy task via trade…

What I’m not sure about is Lightning property and if there is a market for players playing overseas….

Whatta ya do, Jack? Whatta ya do?

Pavel Kubina is dressed and on ice for tonights game versus Carolina…

And you know what? I messed up. No defensivemen were promoted after Kubina’s injury because the NHL roster freeze was in effect…

May each and every one of you have a great day today. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays…

I don’t know who to be angrier at — fate or Jay Feaster.

Pavel Kubina goes down with a groin injury and doesn’t play last night’s hockey game. The Lightning dress five deensivement and lose after one of them (Pratt) is penalized.

Tonight? Nolan Pratt suffers an injury during the 1st period and a depleted defensive core, playing for the 2nd night straight, is down to four defensivemen…. 2 pairs expected to cover the full of the game.

The Lightning have three AHL0level forwards contributing right now and 3 NHL veterans riding the pine… There is depth at forward is what I am trying to underline here. The Lightning carry only 6 defensivemen on their roster to begin with. No spares. Why wasn’t someone called up and Reid, Craig or Artuhkin sent down?

A loss tonight may be looked at as bad luck, as a tough loss, as disappointing. It can also be looked at as helped along by negligence in the front office.

UPDATE: Pratt back out on ice – yet I stand by my comments

Lecavalier suspended for one game…

The Lightning trailed late in the second period when Lecavalier scored an apparent goal on a deflection in the slot. But the goal was waved off because Lecavalier had hit Rangers center Dominic Moore in the face with a high stick. He was assessed a minor penalty and will miss Tampa Bay’s game against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.

Right, and next Nolan Pratt is going to be suspended for 14 games for disrupting the 3rd period of the Rangers game…

I really should hold my snide remarks to myself on this, I missed the non-goal and penalty…

The son of Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy has been foun ddead in an apartment in Lutz, Florida. James Dungy, I believe, was a regular at Buccaneer games (on teh sidelines) while his dad was coaching here…

He was 18.

SticksofFire.com will keep you better updated as this story progresses. My heartfelt condolences to the Dungy clan who are nothing but the best sort of people.

EDIT: 12-23 at 12:36 PM
For all of those searching for James Dungy’s Myspace profile, it has been removed from Myspace.

There is far reaching NFL Fallout on this story as Tony Dungy and his family have had a wide swath of influence on people over the years. Dennis Green – Arizona Carinals head coach and former boss of Tony Dungy in Minnesota is quoted as being “devestated” at Jamie’s loss. All around the league current and former players and coaches are speaking out in support of Tony Dungy in this dark time. I‘ll let Google News guide you on this story instead of linking to several news sources… But names to look for quotes from include Lovie Smith, Herm Edwards, Mike ALstott, Keyshawn Johnson, John Lynch, Green, Malcom Glazer, Derrick Brooks, Rich McKay and a wide plethora of others.

I don’t care if you’re projected as the star of the team or the captain of the team. I don’t care if you’re the grinder of the team. I don’t care if you’re the ice cream man. If you don’t push and play with intensity, you are not going to get your ice time.”
-John Tortorella, Thursday Morning

Threats of lost ice time seem to be the only weapon John Tortorella has left in his arsenal for the moment… And I love that quote, by the way. Tom Jones makes the excuse for the Bolts that the Salary Cap makes it hard to trade players, but the excuse is just that – an excuse. It comes back to an old addage that Phil Esposito used to crowabout during his tenure as Lightning General Manager, “You’re not just trading players, you’re trading salaries.”

Erik Erlendsson puts a positive spin on the breakdown last night: The team looks like it’s close to getting back on track, they came back from 2 goals down for the 2nd game in a row…

I missed the fact Pavel Kubina was not out on ice last night and the Lightning were playing with five defensivemen. In that case – I really don’t care how enamored with Craig and Reid Tortorella is, one or both should be sent back to Springfield and replaced by the likes of Doug O’Brien and Timo Hebling.

How many fans were at the edge of their seats during the 3rd period? The Lightning were fighting back and it appeared this team was firing on all cylinders again. Brad Richards ties the game at 2 with help from Coy Sarich, Vaclav Prospal and especially Robbie DiMaio (Prospal go the assist)..

Then the team stops playing urgent and starts playing loose. They make mistakes, there are breakdowns. Nolan Pratt is called for delay of game for putting the puck over the glass with only 4:02 on the clock and that leads to Tom Poti netting the GWG (his first since scoring against the Lightning in 2004)… Jaromir Jagr decides to put icing on the cake and scores on the empty net…

And I’m left feeling empty inside. 4-2 final from Madison Square Garden tonight as the Lightning suffer another defeat after coming back and tying the game. Ruslan Fedotenko scored on the power play early in the 3rd to show the Lightning were still alive (down 2-0 before the goal).

Rob DiMaio played like a madman and the ice played like a villian in typical Madison Square Gardenfashion. The Lightning continue to resume their losing ways and I’m wondering more now than ever if their focus is indeed impaired by Olympic talk.

Just a thought that went through my head during the loss to the Hurricanes the other night: Are the Olympics being detrimental at current because players are focusing on the wrong games?

The Lightning played like a different team after New Years 2004 and it was what helped them propell themselves to the playoffs and ultimately the Cup… If this team is going to start firing on all cylinders, it would help if they did it soon… but that likely would be after the Olympics, and fans should hope the Bolts don’t put themselves out of contention before then

That’s posted just to allude to the entire situation. You have the NHL coming back from a year off and a shorter-than-it-should-be training camp, you then have a few months of play with a plethora of new rules and new approaches all before grinding to a 2 week halt. Befor t hat, you have players wondering if they have a hsot at their respective countries Olympic teams, or players already thinking about the games… You got players adjusting to one set of rules and then that changing a bit for International play in the middle of February…

Everyone’s going to enjoy the Olympics like usual – not ratting on that – but it is making things additionally difficult from one degree to another – for this NHL season. You might not agree that it’s throwing players off at current, or has affected players on ice, but it will effect the league in one degree or another – that really is hard to argue against.

First off, congratulations are in order for several players on teh Lightning… Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal, Pavel Kubina, Freddie Modin and John Grahame have all been named over the last several days to their respective Olympic Teams (Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Sweden and Team USA). They all will be journeying to Turin, Italy to take part in the Olympic Games this February. No word yet on Team Russia but that shoudl be announced soon.

There has been an ugly rumor circulating for the past few weeks about Brad Richards… The rumor has him heading out to Calgary and of couse: Flames fans are salivating at the idea. Yet if we learned anyting during the 2004 playoffs and this off season, it’s that these rumors have next to no merrit and that the fans get on them regardless… And seeing Brad is the marquee RFA of teh 2006 offseason, the rumors will continue to swell until he is signed – or traded.

Speaking of Brad Richards… Eric at Of Wing Joe Tasca at Off WIng Opinion decided to comment on today’s story in the St. Petersburg Times highlighting Brad’s charity work.

Too often, athletes get nailed to the cross unjustly. It’s one thing to pick on a guy for supposedly lacking leadership qualities, but to go to town on someone who has repeatedly dedicated his free time to disadvantaged young children is just tasteless. Kudos to Cristodero for penning a fine, and fair, profile of Brad Richards.

These comments were inspired by the Summerside Journal Pioneers Character Assasination attempt of Richards in 2004.

Tonight’s game pits the Bolts agaisnt the New York Rangers at MSG. Both teams are reeling… This is one where I hope Pavel Kubina can re-acquire his taste for physical play as he faces off against his foe and fellow countryman, Jaromir Jagr. Expect John Grahame in goal — but don’t expect things to be better just because John is starting again. Last time out Grahame was lit up by the Detroit Red Wings.

New Boltsmag poll in place — What si the bigger problem for the Lightning at current? Lack of Physical play or inconsistent goaltending?

Plese use this post for discussion…

Head to head with the division leader – you’re five points out and looking to repeat not only as southeast division champions but also repeat as Eastern Conference Champions and Stanley Cup Champions when the final horn sounds on 2005-06…

Yet you have to make the playoffs at all to have a chance at parts 2 and 3 of this trifecta of championships… (winning that first title of the three is optional) and one has to wonder just where the Lightning will be seeded in the playoffs — or if for that matter — after games like tonight.

Weak goaltending, bad penalties and a continuing lack of physical play clamp down on Tampa Bay as the (City Of Raleigh, North) Carolina Hurricanes (just joking, David ) lights up the Bolts 6-4 tonight.

Of course there were some reasosn for optimism as the Lightning came back a few times during play. Freddie Modin opened scoring for the Bolts, Ryan Craig and Evgeny Artyhukin both showed hope for the future in their performances tonight… But the biggest problem that remains on the team is between the pipes. Sean Burke got the start and showed again how inconsistant the Lightning’s tandem can be. 30 shtos faced, 24 saves… During stretches of that it looked ,like the Canes could do no wrong (Eric Staals first goal, and his second…. and just most of the first period for that matter :-p ) while shooting the puck at the Lightning net.

The Lightning played like a different team after New Years 2004 and it was what helped them propell themselves to the playoffs and ultimately the Cup… If this team is going to start firing on all cylinders, it would help if they did it soon… but that likely would be after the Olympics, and fans should hope the Bolts don’t put themselves out of contention before then.

Some people think this game is going to be a snoozer — and some people expect a battle between the two top teams in the Southeast division. Whatever the case, tonights game between the Bolts and the Carolina Hurricanes has more weight than some put into the matchup.

Immediate quesitons are if Grahame starts – getting a chance to redeem himself or perhaps position himself better now that he has been named to the US Olympic team – or if the Lightning will let Sean Burke hold the fort? Neither goaltender lives up to the starting standard and are inconsistant… Though Grahame is who the Lightning rode during their hot streak a few weeks ago.

Whatever the case – The Lightning are 5 points out of first and they need to gain ground while opportunity is there.

Early on with Boltsmag, I made a decree that there was an up-and-coming, on-the-berge star with the Lightning. Dmitry Afanasenkov was showing me and other Lightning fans he was thisclose to breaking out — if only he could finish! If only he got his scoring touch back that he had in juniors….

That was February 2004.

2005 has shown little of anything from Afanasenkov besides growing displeasure from fans and coaches alike about his lack-of scoring, lack of shooting and lack of worth on the roster. He’s been shuffled between the lower two lines and given trial stints on the top, he’s been benched and he’s been called out in the media to elevate his game… Yet Afanasenkov’s stats tell the tale of discontent:

31 games played, 1 goal, 2 assists, 40 Shots on goal….

“We’re going to try to push him through because for us to have a decent team throughout the year,” Tortorella said, “we’re going to have to continue getting scoring from our bottom six (forwards) and Affy has to be one of those guys.”

That was a Tortorella decree on December 5th… Yet his discontent with Afanasenkov, Martin Cibak and Chris Dingman has boiled to the point of the following:

Tortorella said the Lightning is so concerned about the bottom two lines that it is exploring trade possibilities.

That’s from an article in today’s St. Petersburg Timesk… You have to wonder right now if the Lightning wishes it had signed forwards Eric Perrin and Shane Willis instead of re-signing Cibak and Afanasenkov in the post-lockout offseason. Fans should remember that Perrin and Willis departed for Europe because of hwo difficult it would be to crack the Lightning roster and the likelihood they would be stuck in AHL Springfield.

The Lightning have recalled Left wing Ryan Craig and RW Darren Reid from the Springfield Falcons for tonight’s game versus the Detroit Red Wings. Craig is the Falcons captain and leading scorer (with 12 goals). One has to assume that the call ups are tied to an injury Ruslan Fedotenko sustained during Thursday’s win against Phoenix, as well as Evegny Artyhukin’s possible suspension for bad officiating and idiotic-Coyote-retaliations…

In an amusing note, Joe Tasca of Tasca’s Take has a lot of love for AHL hockey and has a lot of love for Mr. Reid (sic)… (Compliments to Joe for the photo).

Don’t know how well it works or how much it will be used but there is now a poll on the upper left navigation menu… The current poll focuses on referees and I feel like I left out a lot of options and a lot of aggrivations with refs…

Consider this the official thread to discuss the issue… Voice support, voice discontent, etc..

Google Ads now allow site specific signups — so if you would like your add to appear on the Google Ad’s menu at right or in each post – check out Google for more info.

The St. Petersburg Times has an article in todays paper pertaining to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays spending some 10 million dollars on Tropicana Field in renovations… Routine maintenance to the building has been lacking over the years, which has been routinely griped about by fans (effprts to find a St. Pete Times article of the past with fan complaints were futile) .

…Well, the ones who bother to attend games at least. The Devil Rays have drawn 3,457,895 fans total between 2003 and 2005 — That’s less than the total number of fans who attended games at Yankee Stadium or Dodger Stadium in 2005 alone (and perilously close to the total attendance at Busch Stadium in St. Louis as well). Of course, some will argue that the Rays aren’t anywhere near the Yankees, Dodgers or Cardinals in their history and heritage (as well as their competativeness at current) but that’s not the point of this article… The point is the Rays are routinely in the bottom of attendance rankings and Stuart Sternberg and his crew are trying to mend that problem through upgrades at the park.

Of course, the team has already made many-an-upgrade in an effort to lure back fans… But stadium renovations are another attempt…

Volatile.

Oh, and if anyone in the league office is reading (not that I expect it) you guys are full of shit with regards to ref conduct, consistant penalty calling and all that bullshit you spewed for months on end.

EDITBetter Recap on the game from 1701mj

Lightning vs. Blues had a plethora of opportunities for the Lightning (and what ever happened to tight officiating, Gary Bettman?) but going into the 3rd period the Bolts were trailing 3-2 to a morbid Blues team that seems to headed for the first non-playoff team in 25 seasons.

Early in the third, I start thinking about how bad a loss would be in this case. This is a rested Lightning team that us is 8-1-1 in their last ten… 3 points behind Carolina for the Southeast division lead… We’re not supposed to lose games like these! Top of your game you fall apart against someone like this?

My mind wandered from the game as the Lightning fought to score against Patrick Lalime… It was Chuck Berry and the sounds of parody…

Well, early in the mornin’ I’m a-givin’ you a warnin’
don’t you step on the Blues suede shoes.
Hey diddle diddle, they be playin’ their fiddle,
and ain’t got nothin’ to lose.
Roll Over Lecavalier and tell Artyuhkin the news.

OK, that wasn’t it exactly but the Roll over Lecavalier line was definately in there and reference to the Blues… I was arguing with Evgeny’s name or Dmitry Afanasenkov’s and…

GOAL!!!

Tim Taylor punches one in and all of a sudden this game is tied. Would it still be ridiculous if the Lightning lost to this team? You bet your ass, but the effort in the third period — from around the time of Taylor’s goal and on, erased the worry that there would be a humiliating loss in the cards.

And then Mr. Hart Trophy himself erased the possibility completely. Martin St. Louis and his broken finger tip fired a shot from under the top faceoff circle and it resulted in what would be the game winning goal.

And all of a sudden I feel like an idiot for thinking parody instead of hockey… Of course the Lightning play in the first period also seemed to be passed over by those thoughts of pessimism by myself. Shot after shot, scoring chance after scoring chance, this game had a lot of promise but that score being tied and trailing for so long was a sore spot.

Freddie Modin had the opening goal for the Lightning and would later notch an assist. Those were his first points in two games and he continues to play en fuego. Ruslan Fedotenko also scored — twice — to give him 8 on the season. His first goal during the second period — five hole on Lalime — mades sure Lightning fans knew not to give up just yet. He also scored on the empty net late in the third.

At any rate, the Lightning capitalize once again and find a way to win. They improve to 9-0-1 in the last 10 and depending on Carolina’s performance out west tonight, may be one point away from regaining the top spot in the Southeast.