The Hockey News Yearbook doesn’t care for the Lightning much right now.

Jes Golbez lists the Bolts as a “team on the decline” (and it can be listed as such)

But John Buccigross at ESPN is still a True Believer. He’s got the Lightning listed as his #1 team in the east.

(Hat tip to Tiny at the Dots)

I’ll let the Instigator do the talking…

I’ve updated the look at Boltsmag for the 2006-07 season, what do you think?

The final design of the sidebars is nto set (meaning I plan on moving links and things around) but due to tech problems that I haven’t sorted out yet, their finalization is yet to come.

EDIT: OK, been a week since the new look has launched and I now have things how I’d like it — both sidemenus utilized, the Tampa Bay Lightning newsfeed and who knows what else in the future?

Hat tip to Brett at My Addled Brain and Tampa Blab for the much appreciated assist on errors.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Chris Simms was taken from Raymond James Stadium by Ambulance to the hospital following Tampa Bay’s loss to the Panthers today. The Charolette Observer is reporting he is currently in critical condition.

It’s unknown what Chris’ ailment is at the moment but I am assuming heat stroke. Jon Gruden suggested dehydration and rib problems resulting from hits taken by Simms from the Carolina defense. I’ll post more information as it becomes available.

EDIT: ESPN is reporting his spleen was removed in an emergency operation.

Just a quick note — working on the new look for Boltsmag. The site will be phasing in and out from one theme to the other while I work on the new one.

I didn’t listen to tonights radio broadcast of the Lightning vs. Capitals game, but from what was passed on to me – it sounded familiar in a negative sense and (upon reading the recap) familiar in a highly positive sense.

The negative sentiment was directed at the Lightning special teams not taking advantage of opportunities and the Lightning offense not capitalizing more against the Caps (but they were facing Olaf Kolzig). When I heard Vinny Lecavalier scored on a 5-on-3 to tie it, visions of last season danced before my eyes and memories of listless and uninspired play with lone goals on lop sided Power Play opportunities (if at all).

Dan Boyle’s game-winning, overtime goal (also scored on a power play) cemented that thought in my mind.

But lets get to the good news. The one stat that stands out to me is Marc Denis 40 saves. Denis, whose stats were less-than-stellar during scrimmages over the past few days, let in an early goal (on the 2nd shot of the game) but settled down. I wish I had seen the game to be able to comment on the defensive effort in front of him and what not…

Sorry for the blind-eye comments on the game… Bolts win the Preseason opener 3-2 in overtime.

Here are the guys who were sliced from the roster following today’s scrimmages.

Released to the Springfield Falcons camp:
Forwards : Dan Cavanaugh, Brandon Elliott, Adam Henrich, Zbynek Hrdel, Justin Keller, Stanislav Lascek, Darren Reid, Radek Smolenak
Defensivemen: John Adams, Doug Andress, Jay Rosehill, P.J. Atherton
Goaltenders: Jonathan Boutin, Gerald Coleman (both released to Springfield camp)

Released to their junior teams:
Forwards:Marek Bartanus (Owen Sound of the OHL); Chris Lawrence (Mississauga of the OHL)
Defensivemen: Dane Crowley (Swift Current of the WHL)

Outright released:
Clayton Barthel (D)

18 players — that’s less deep than I expected.

Yeah, I realize I’ve been playing the silent type during training camp. There are issues out there that any Lightning fan (hell, any hockey fan) is thirsting for more information on at the moment.

Dmitry Afanasenkov’s transition from limited-time play-maker to top-line forward, Nikita Alexeev’s back-to-the-states effort so far. Eric Perrin, Marc Denis, and of course Karri Ramo’s goalie mask.

Yet none of the stories have had real teeth to them. In fact, there’s been a lack-of-information coming out of Camp Torturella that leaves me perplexed. What’s the deal with hot-shot defensive prospects Mike Egener, Matt Smaby and Andy Rogers (I’m guessing he hasn’t been cleared to play — no games to his name so far)? While you can find briefs on Filip Kuba’s transition between defensive-first in Minnesota and the Lightning’s system (all while recovering from hernia sugery), you can’t find anything on this trio along with 2005 #1 draft pick Vladmir Mihalik.

I guess that’s what Bolt Prospects is for… That or a sign that the standouts of training camp haven’t been Egener, Rogers, Smaby and Mihalik.

Cuts are expected tomorrow and for all inherit purposes, you should assume they will be deep cuts — Torts usual M.O. There will still be some hangers-on (Norm Milley, Mitch Fritz, Doug O’Brien and others) but no surprises.

For more info, make sure you check out the Bolts official Camp web site.

One other note and this has nothing to do with Lightning camp — while I haven’t been reporting much on the pre-season so far, I have been working on the next design for Boltsmag. Keep an eye out for the update soon.

Rick DiPetro gets a fifteen year sentence… er, contract with the New York Islanders…

The Islanders gave up Roberto Luongo and Kevin Weekes between the pipes because they were so sure about Rick at the time of his drafting… Yet the longevity of this deal makes me wonder if the contract will turn into another Yashin attrocity?

Not trying to get into politics here but it’s hard to escape this. Stuart Sternberg’s first season as controling owner of the franchise has been pretty good on the ownership side of things… While the Rays have floundered on field, their profile has risen and their respectability in the Tampa Bay area has climbed.

But the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Tropicana Field was the place of an I.C.E. raid with “Dozens” being arrested.

The Lightning are on Sun Sports a total of 70 times this year. It feels like it’s been a long time since 9 Lightning games were not scheduled to be televised.

Ski over at the Best Bucs Blog gave me an open invite to post over there (you may recall Ski posted over here while I was down and out with hand surgery during last season season).

I took him up on the offer and posted a little rant about Buc fans flavor-of-the-month attitude towards Buccaneer QB’s and their fond affection for 3rd string quarterbacks. Enjoy it — if you can.

Hat tip to William F. Yurasko by way of Eric at Off Wing…

Explaining the list just a bit — it’s not all hockey. I could give detailed reasonings why certain members of this list make my list but trust me — every one of these guys have quirks I’m not fond of.

Who would you put on notice, Lightning fans…?

So today, Tim Taylor was formally named captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This shouldn’t be met with the confusion or the disappointment that some might see in Taylor’s naming.

The move shows the Lightning aren’t immediately going to try to put one of Vincent Lecavalier or Brad Richards over the other. Lecavalier has served as team captain in the past, he is the one who has been formally groomed to be a captain by the Lightning over the years. Brad Richards, who has been nothing short of consistant since entering the NHL, was always the afterthought until the 2004 playoffs, the 2005-06 season and his new contract with the Lightning which makes him one of the highest paid players in the NHL.

Pay scale, however, shouldn’t be a determining factor in naming someone team captain.

Brad never served as an assistant captain with the Bolts over the years. Where he might seem a logical choice to name as team leader to some, he lacks the tenure with the Lightning leadership chores to suddenly unsurp Lecavalier.

This is not saying Brad will never be captain, this is not saying Vincent is a lock to be the next Lightning captain after Tim Taylor… This is saying that John Tortorella and Jay Feaster have made a wise move by deferring this question until a later date.

We’ve had a poll up here at Boltsmag the last few weeks asking for fans votes on who would be Lightning team captain come opening day… There have been quite a few responses up to this point.

The St. Petersburg Times reports this morning it’s a two-horse race between Tim Taylor and Brad Richards for the “C”. There are no juicy quotes given by John Tortorella or general manager Jay Feaster for you to ponder and chew on — just the musings of Damian Cristodero and the conclusions drawn within.