Robbie D’s career is likely over because of post concussion syndrome, but he will not hang up the skates because of it. He won’t play in 2007-08 either.

“I don’t feel I’m over the hill by any means,” he said. “I’ve always had the thought that maybe there’s a chance there’s going to be something that just pops into place. It just hasn’t come yet.”

DiMaio has had persistent headaches and dizziness since a questionable hit by Montreal’s Guillaume Latendresse during a preseason game.

He said last week’s testing with Michael Collins, a concussion expert at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, showed better reaction times but a worsening of his long- and short-term memory, a development he called a bit frightening.

Two teams besides the Lightning have approached him about scouting…

RJ at Bolts Blog made mention of the same old rumor, making the same old rounds: Vincent Lecavalier is going to Montreal! Les Habs will sell the farm for Vinny! It’ll happen! It’ll happen! It’ll…

**sigh** It’ll never end, will it? :rolleyes:

Let me simply quote Lyle Richardson over at Spectors Hockey (this quote lifted from a Michael Ryder news post):

And no, Habs fans, it won’t be for Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards or Patrick Marleau. Those are pipe dreams, ain’t gonna happen, so get over it.

The same pipe dreams, year after year after year.

It’s been almost 2 weeks since the leaking of the Lightning’s new crest and logo and from the poll here on Boltsmag (as well as polls posted on team forums) the reaction to the logo/crest isn’t that positive.

There are aspects I like and I dislike about the logo and both of them have been spoken of in both negative and positive undertones. I don’t know if any of the fans out there can really truly have an opinion until we see the uniforms with the new artwork upon them, but as it stands right now — fans aren’t rallying around these things.

(more…)

I’ve been meaning to link to James Mirtle’s who’s left? post for a while which has a rundown of free agents that are still out there for collection. The Lightning aren’t likely doing any more shopping but it’s interesting to see who — at what position and what possible costs — are still on the market.

Doug Janik signed a 2 way contract with the Lightning today (this is days after Karl Stewart also was re-upped) and immediately sticks his foot into the #6 D-man role by default. Whatever your opinion is of Janik — he is a veteran of the Lightning’s defensive system which puts him in the lead among the new depth signings and prospects.

But this benchmark can easily be jumped by most anyone on the Lightning’s defensive depth chart at current. Lampman, Jancevski, Smaby, Rogers, Egener, Malhik need to perform (at whatever level and whatever pre-season training camp — Traverse City or Brandon at the Ice Sports Forum) better than Janik to begin their quest for a roster spot. Getting past each other, however, may prove more difficult than getting past Doug Janik though.

The Lined Up Update has been updated to coincide these transactions.

Jay?

Thanks for listening…

RJ’s got some choice words for Jay Feaster regarding his comparisons between Nikolai Khabibulin to Johan Holmqvist and Marc Denis:

Steady, not spectacular? Give us a chance? How about be able to steal a few? I do like Holmer, the kid has huge potential, but a number #1? I’m not sure about that. Time will obviously tell. But to say Kahbby was at the level of Denis and Holmer, and just had a little more help, is being ingenuous. Nik was a legitimate #1 elite goalie when we acquired him. When we got him from Phoenix, he had not won a playoff series, but then again, he was in Phoenix.

If you remember, had Khabby not been spectacular, we would not have won the cup. HE won game 7, period. Steady may get you into the playoffs, hell, horribly inconsistent got us in this past season. But spectacular is needed to win the cup…see Kabby, JS Giguerre, Brodeur, Hasek.

Now, the Lightning draining the Calgary Flames over the course of the series was part of the reason they won game seven. It’s not a “period” scenario with Khabibulin. That’s not crapping on Nikolai but there are many other places where I would herald him (and many other places where I could say “That won us game Seven of the 2003-04 Stanley Cup final”). Going back to 2003-04 I can also point out that Nik wasn’t the same Khabby that had come to Tampa Bay and stood on his head behind a woeful team and kept them in games that should have been slaughters. He had focus issues and he wavered. It’s the only reason why John Grahame ended up getting ice time at all. To also look back — there were rumors of Khabibulin’s imminent demise in Tampa due to poor play down the stretch.

But is Johan Holmqvist Nikolai Khabibulin? Nope. Is Marc Denis? Nope. Was John Grahame? Absolutely not (and if you want to highlight inconsistent mediocrity in goal, all one has to do is look at Grahame in 2005-06).

The comparison point between Nik, Holmer and any other goalie making stops they have to. There’s no way to compare the goalies in other ways — Khabibulin was and is all world when he’s on. Brodeur and Hasek are all world when they focus and they are on. But with a strong team playing in front of any netminder (and limiting shots) it becomes a case of the goalie simply having to make stops that they must — I’m not talking about the acrobatics, I’m talking about routine.

Yeah, that’s not stealing games… But its saying the Lightning have to avoid the nights of going through the motions instead of playing hockey. It’s those nights that should remind us why the Lightning weren’t good enough to get beyond the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons. That’s a bigger problem than between the pipes.

That’s not saying RJ’s concerns are misplaced when worrying about goaltending in Tampa. Lord knows I have friends chiding me about the Lightning between the pipes… That IS saying the Lightning haven’t had an all world goalie since BEFORE 2003-04… In 2003-04, once he woke up and started making the routine stops (while not facing an onslaught of shots), Khabibulin was what the Lightning needed in net — steady. If Holmqvist, Ramo and dare I say it, Marc Denis can do that instead of being expected to be the second coming of Nikolai Khabibulin circa 2001-02 or Darren Puppa circa 1995-96… The Lightning will get as far as their defense affords them. But if the Lightning go back to allowing too many odd-man rushes on net each game, the team is reaping what they’ve sown in hanging their netminders out to dry for the third season in a row.

Saves can uplift teams, don’t get me wrong… But solid play all around can offset the need for dramatic goaltending. If the Lightning themselves can raise their consistency, goaltending won’t be an issue.

My good buddy Tommy Duncan at Sticks of Fire took the time Monday to break the news to me that over the weekend the Philadelphia Phillies became the first American pro sports franchise to reach 10,000 losses.

“Lets put a new poll up on Sticks of Fire asking who’s gonna’ be the next sports team to lose 10,000 games,” Tommy suggested, and include all of Tampa Bay’s pro sports teams as answers.

“That poll doesn’t make sense,” I told Tommy. “Only one local team even has an outside shot at it and it’ll take about 100 years.”

“You’re too damned serious,” Tommy retorted.

“I’m not being serious,” I told him. “I’m being logical. The Rays play 162 games in a season. The Bucs play 16. The Lightning play 82. Who do you vote for with that knowledge? Do the math.”

Now, any long time local sports aficionado can tell you that it feels like Tampa Bay teams have lost over 10,000 games already. The Bucs had 14 straight double-digit losing seasons before 1996, the Lightning had back-to-back-to-back 50 loss seasons, and the Devil Rays… are the Devil Rays. In honesty, the Bucs are 193-304-1 (.388) in the team’s 30 year history, the Lightning are 415-553-113-38 (.384) in 14 seasons, and the Devil Rays are 615-932 (.398) in 9+ seasons. For those of you with no calculator, that equals 1,223 wins and 1,789 losses (including OTL), and 39 ties.

Grudgingly, Tommy conceded the point (but I swear, I could hear him mumble “party pooper” under his breath), but his poll concept gave me an idea of my own: What is the next major feat to be accomplished in Tampa Bay sports?

The poll is currently posted on Sticks of Fire, have a look will ya?

Mentioning the Bucs kickoff-return-for-a-touchdown drought was a no-brainer to begin. The Buccaneers are oh-fer the franchise (that means the team has scored a grand total of zero (0) times on kickoff returns), making it the most renowned non-accomplishment in Tampa Bay sports.

The Rays winning their division seemed like the next choice as the team has yet to win more than 70 games in a season, let alone challenge for anything more than 4th place in Major League Baseball’s AL East.

From there it got murky. The Lightning have won the Stanley Cup, they’ve had the league MVP, they’ve had the league scoring leader… They’ve even had the most gentlemanly player in the league! What the hell could their next challenge be? Well, seeing it took the New York Rangers 54 years between Stanley Cup championships and the current longest drought in the NHL is 40 years (held by those crazy kids in Toronto, East Canucklestan) having the Lightning win the Stanley Cup a second time seemed like a good choice.

Speaking of franchises, will Tampa Bay get an NBA team before any of the aforementioned goals are reached? What about a new Major League Soccer team? Heck, there are so many feats to add to the list that we’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments.

You know it’s the off season when fans start filling up idle time between seasons by summarizing rosters or piecing together all-time teams. Hell, I summarized how the Lightning’s championship roster from 2003-04 got pieced together.

And on Bolt Prospects, Pete and the BP staff went ahead and gave lengthy discussion of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s all time team. The only question form a quick once over of the all time roster is why isn’t Rob Zamuner listed on one of the top four lines (though he is listed in special teams)? You know, Rob Zamuner who was a Canadian Olympic team member and long time contributor to the Lightning roster?

I bring this up while Cory Stillman and his one season with the Lightning (2003-04) make this All Time team. I complain about Zamuner while Dino Cicarelli and his season-and-a-half on the roster is included. 77 total points on the Lightning roster for Dino. 200 for Zamuner.

I’m not trying to compare what type of players Cicarelli and Zamuner were. Lord knows Rob was not a prolific scorer. It’s just that there are so many players who only had a brief instance on the Lightning roster and many of them did not leave impressions even if they contributed to the roster greatly in their brief instance with the team.

Shouldn’t tenure be a factor when talking about all-time rosters in general? The Lightning have seen their share of fading NHL stars along with brief appearances by current NHL stars before they had weight on NHL rosters. I doubt, very much, that fleeting tenures with teams woudl be considered when making up all-time rosters for any teams besides the four most recent expansion franchises.

But I digress. I’m sullying and complaining about a thorough examination by the Bolt Prospects staff and know that, in almost all instances, there are always arguments aobut decisions regarding all time teams with every franchise that has ever existed in professional sports. The all-time roster post is very much worth reading over.

Jay Feaster
General Manager
Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Club
401 Channelside Drive
Tampa, Florida 33602

7-15-2007

Dear Jay Feaster —

It’s been a couple of months since I talked to you directly about the future of the Tampa Bay Lightning… That was at the trade deadline where I implored you not to make a move that would put the Lightning’s long term picture into murky territory if you made a move for a big name instead of planning for the long term.

Yet here we are, just a few months later and there is a rumor Jassen Cullimore will be brought back to Tampa to round out the defense, again shutting the door on the young players in Tampa Bay’s system. Smaby, Rogers, Egener, Mahlik — by selecting these players near the top of the last few drafts, you have committed the franchise to them. There are rumblings, however, that this isn’t the case. Management doesn’t seem comfortable with these players for one reason or another and more depth at defense has been brought in. Brad Lukowich was re-acquired in part because he knows the system and fills that depth need. And now there are rumblings that Jassen Cullimore - another former Lightning player that will it your “locker room chemistry” MO, will be brought in as defensiveman #6.

Please, no.

This isn’t sullying Jassen Cullimore and what he has meant to the team in the past. This is, however, thinking both long term and present with the Bolts. The past the past and trying to re-capture the past through old roster members doesn’t always work out in professional sports. The team needs to plan for the future and start addressing the future by giving other players the shot at the #6 defensiveman role. You do recall the 2005 pre-season, where John Tortorella was happy with no one as a 6th defensiveman, correct? Timo Helbing ended up making the roster for opening night, and yet in a matter of days Paul Ranger replaced Helbing in the lineup and shined with his opportunity.

You’ve voiced the desire to have the Lightning’s defensive prospects play more minutes in Springfield instead of potentially riding the pine in Tampa… Just when are they supposed to get NHL experience though? How are they supposed to break into the league? Mid season in last-resort call-ups?

Jay, these players need exposure to the NHL game. Filling out the roster with seasoned veterans may be perceived as the clearest path for the 2007-08 season but what about beyond that? The focus cannot be on the immediate return at all times, it has got to be on both current and long-range planning. That’s why I liked the Shane O’Brien acquisition and that’s why I’m asking you to let the prospects and “depth addition” acquisitions get a shot at the role. Stunting and blocking the growth of the players you’ve invested time and patience in isn’t the way to go about things unless you intend to move these players for other pieces of the puzzle.

When will the Lightning chose if their prospects are pieces of the puzzle? Deferring that moment to a later time clouds the franchises long term future and risks the team further depending on free agency instead of player development (which is an additional risk under the NHL’s Salary cap system and the Lightning’s self imposed budget).

Look to the future on defense, Jay, and let the chips fall where they may. Do not get caught looking to the past as if it will be the same as it once was. It won’t. It almost never is.

Sincerely,
John
Boltsmag.com

P.s. Go Bolts!