Well, either the NHL thinks highly of the Tampa Bay Lightning or they’re trying to get even with us for something or other…

There’s a news piece out of Pittsburgh (covered here by TSN.ca) stating the NHL is interested in having the Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins open the 2008-09 campaign in Prague, Czech Republic.

Of course, there’s also this bit that shows you how much I’m reading the sports section these days:

A Lightning official confirmed in Sunday’s St. Petersburg Times that the Florida team has been approached by the league for participation.

Lightning vs. Penguins and vice versa is a thrilling match-up when both teams are playing up to their potential. It’s also a superb marketing tool. The only problem I see is, well, Gary and company? You guys still do a shit job marketing in the US — let alone in Europe. I know you need to make the NHL a global product but you also need to strengthen your exposure at home. Just saying…

I’ve been trying to focus on some responsibilities away from Boltsmag… Yesterday was a day especially where I was focusing away from the site and hockey in general.

Keith, my Calgary Flames fan friend, dropped an email to me that Bill Wirtz had died. It wasn’t a matter-of-fact email, it was a quip.

And yet reading the news piece itself, all I could do was smirk. The true “Dollar Bill” of hockey and his anal, tightwad, ancient ways were no longer going to rule the Chicago Blackhawk franchise… His grip on NHL leadership is gone.

Bill Wirtz reputation as an owner is comparable to Hugh Culverhouse and Bill Bidwell of the NFL (Culverhouse, since passed, was Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner — and a tightwad himself while pledging millions for philanthropic causes)… Wirtz had control of one of the Original Six NHL franchises and ran it into the ground — milking the team for what money he could get, alienating the fanbase and making the Blackhawks irrelevant in the hockey world. He didn’t just alienate fans but turned of generations of midwesterners to what should be one of the marquee franchises of pro sports.

Bill Wirtz is dead, and all I can do is smirk. This overlooks the mans own philanthropic deeds and how it improved lives (though I do not know what he has given to or who he has supported with his money). Just as well, his legacy for me will be handcuffing the ‘Hawks.

So Dan Boyle is out 3-6 weeks after a skate-cut injury at his locker. How much pressure this puts on Jay Feaster to go out and add veteran blue line depth to the roster remains to be seen but Boyle will certainly miss the opener and first weeks of the season.

This also gives the Lightning minor leaguers and prospects more of a reason to state a case to stay in Tampa Bay. The number 5 and 6 defensive roles will be open… That is, unless Jay acts and I could very well see him doing so unless money (through additional signings) for the team is frozen until the sale of the franchise is complete.

…well, technically.

Local Attorney Steve Burton will be joining the investor list of Absolute Hockey Inc, the group trying to purchase the Bolts. Burton is a friend of Jeff Sherrin (who along with Doug Maclean and Oren Koules) are the founding members of Absolute Hockey).

Red Tide News has been a local source for football, snark and satire regarding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NFL. It’s undergone lots of changes over the years (along with quite a few missing-in-action periods where the site founder goes… well, MIA) but it’s still out there on them fancy fangled intertubes. Recently re-designed (and if you’d like to check out previous designs and previous stories, use the Way Back Machine) and relaunched, the local granddaddy of blogs and sports satire mainstay remains a standard for hilarity.

Since 1999, Red Tide News has been one of many, many destinations on the Internets. Once a powerful beacon of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer hooligan scene, RTN has over the years transformed into a somewhat less-powerful beacon for sports fans in Tampa Bay, bored cubicle-workers in Tampa Bay, and confused marine biologists looking for information about the algal bloom commonly referred to as red tide.

You can read more on the About page or perhaps you can just dive in and check things out yourself. There isn’t so much right now, but that’s due to the switch over.

Here’s the “more details to follow” I promised in the original Mustangs post. From the mouth of Georgeann:

Right now the banquet is set for October 14 at 4pm, tickets are $20.00. Place: Seven Springs Country Club – on the Website people can put in their address and it will give them directions right to the front door. It is being catered by Carrabas Italian Grill. Menu Chicken Marsala, Pasta Pomodoro and Salad. Dessert is being provided by Publix. There will be a cash bar provided for all beverages other than water or ice tea. There will be a 50/50 raffle, we have various gift baskets ex: wine, Chocolates by Michele, etc. Gift cards to Lowes, a tailgating grill donated by Home Depot, 2 months of free karate lessons, various restaurant certificates, etc will also be raffled. Our Silent Auction will be run by Sports Stop. Bid prices for things will start at $1.00 – $100.00 for the sports memorabilia they supply and the lightning organization has promised us signed Lightning memorabilia. We are trying to get a guest speaker but nothing has been confirmed yet. Our backup speaker is Dave Cole, Director of Fan Development and President of the Lightning Conference High School League. The team is trying to raise money to play for the season. It cost $23,000.00 to play, we are a start up team so it is costing us more than a team that is already established and some of the players need to get new equipment.

Can anyone lend a hand or contribute a few bucks? Check out the Mitchell Mustangs Ice Hockey page for more information.

(Writers note here: I’m no way tied or affiliated with the Mustangs but I am trying to promote local prep hockey in general.)

The St. Petersburg Times blog The Heater brings you the leaked supposedly new Rays logo, colors and uniform.

My gut reaction is that I liked the green (which many people around baseball ridiculed) and that this new logo is a mix and match reminder of various logos from around the MLB world. It reminds me mostly of various San Diego Padres logo elements since 1991, it reminds me of the Milwaukee Brewers, it reminds me of the California Angels before they became Disney-fied in the 1990’s and reminds me of the Florida Marlins somehow).

Are they bad? Arguable. Are they good? Arguable. Will I go out and buy a ballcap? Not until the team shows more promise than a few games a season. That’s been my mantra since 1998 and it hasn’t yet changed.

The Florida High School Athletics Association doesn’t sanction or recognize interscholastic Ice Hockey in Florida high schools. Bay areas counties also ignore the sport and the fact that there are indeed local high school teams that field teams.

So, hockey fans, would you like to step up and support for a local prep hockey team?

One of Boltsmag’s longtime readers and participants on the site asked for some exposure for the high school program she is working with, J.W. Mitchell High School in the Trinity area in Pasco County and their Mitchell Mustang Ice Hockey team. The Mustangs are having a banquet, raffle and silent auction on October 14th at the Seven Springs Country Club in Pasco county (catered by Carrabbas Italian Grille). There will be door prizes as well. I’ll post more when I have that information.

Meanwhile, I realize there are hockey programs for several other local high schools in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties among others in the great Tampa Bay area. If anyone wants to mention their HS Hockey team (oh, and my alma matta supposedly won the “state championship” last year — state championship in quotes simply because the state doesn’t officially recognize the organized scrimmages).

(Note — down and out lately. Didn’t know recovery was supposed to have downs to go with ups)

Marc Denis starts tonight at the Forum. Denis has been having a stellar time during camp during intra-squad scrimmages but it’s a bit different now.

I don’t expect a heavy turnout tonight but guess what? That’s our loss, the fans. Why? Players — every one of them at camp — are signing Autographs tonight. Those who were playing were available for autographs early on this afternoon (4:30 or so). Those who are not playing (including Martin St. Louis, Dan Boyle and Vincent Lecavalier) would be available throughout the game tonight on the concourses at Times Palace.

Yearly on the Sun Sports message board member jdhebner posts a predictions thread directed at one Bolts player and their statistics by seasons end. He also will make a donation in the name of the winning predictor to the charity of the predictors choice.

This year, jd wants Sun sports message board members to predict Vincent Lecavalier’s goal total for 2007-08. Take a stab if you want, and if you don’t want to do this for charity – you can post in comments here at Boltsmag.

I personally wagered a guess for a cause. You’re encouraged to do the same.

Toss your dime in and become a part owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning!!!

I still say Phil throws his name into the mix… Or is trying to at least.

…but this is more fun. Especially after that mockery disguised as a sporting event.

Overdue, in fact… But I will support his removal (along with Bruce Allen) cuz I roll like that. No wait, it’s more like “because he’s let the defense rot and can’t do crap with the offense, is too endeared to a non-performing coaching staff and elder players past their prime on the O as well.”

But that’s just me. Ah well…

(title changed and some other name/grammar edits because I’m a College Football idiot and don’t know the SEC from the KGB, FBI, GUI, ennui, etc)

And welcome to the AP top 25 rankings, gentlemen…

Yes it’s an OT loss for Auburn but lets be frank and honest — this was a nail-biter the whole night through (just look at the stat match-up results – the War Eagles never stood up and proved their worth). Yes, South Florida wasn’t stellar but neither was Auburn and Brandon Cox was put in a hurt-locker by the Bull defense the majority of the night.

If the Bulls are indeed ranked by Monday morning, it will be their first Division 1-A ranking since the football program at USF was incepted 10 years ago.

I moderated a discussion between Ski of Best Bucs Blog and Scott of BucStats this week concerning the Buccaneers upcoming season… Though we rambled quite a bit with the discussion and not all of that is included, you can check out part one now at Sticks of Fire…

…Part Two has now been published.

The whole thing was a ton of fun and I really wish we could have gone on for a while. Of course, giving questions and witty retorts to replies is easier than what Scott and Ski had to do in giving answers. Hats off to them.

As some of you may have noticed, we have a new poll here asking who amounts to the biggest off-season acquisition for the Bolts?

I added two names that were brought in specifically for depth — Lampman and Jancevski who both have a shot at the #6 D-man role. The poll race truly should be between four players and the roles they may or may not be playing with the Lightning this year:

Center Chris Gratton: Welcome back Grats. I’m still a little miffed that we gave up a 2nd to get Chris back in the fold but he’s an upgrade to Tim Taylor in that he’s younger, he’s willing to do more, he’s got a reputation for scoring somewhere near 40 points a season — which is much more than Taylor chips in — and has leadership abilities (though he will not be wearing the A or C while Vinny, Marty and Brad are around or Tim for that matter). I know I vented because this is Gratton’s third tenure with the team and he’s played the journeyman roll in the league since his last appearance in a Lightning uniform (Buffalo, Colorado, Phoenix, Florida with the Flyers having been his 2nd team after his initial spell with the Bolts)… yet I couldn’t help feeling like this is where Chris is supposed to be after seeing him at the jersey unveiling and reading some of his quotes regarding the turnout for Ice Fest. He was part of the 1996 first-playoff team but you realize what he’s missed out on in TB? The ascent of the franchise from dismal or also-ran status (even in 1996 where the team was competitive) to the Cup championship team. Hockey’s not so new here any more, Chris, nor taken as a novelty… Welcome to HockeyBay. Gratton will likely helm the third line while chipping in on special teams…

Oh, and Bruce? The insinuation he is capable of replacing Brad Richards remains ridiculous.

Defensiveman Brad Lukowich: For all the hell that Marc Denis and Johan Holmqvist have gotten for quality-of-play last season, I found (more times than not) lackluster play in front of them from lower defensive lines to be as much of a problem as keeping the puck out of the net. Note Holmqvist’s 9-1 shootout record and how he plays one-on-one… Then complicate that picture by throwing 2 guys who are supposed to be helping him and extra attackers in front of him and you see Johan as merely a passable goalie and a highly questionable #1. Why is that the case? Answer: Because Corey Sarich is not a poke-check artist and Nolan Pratt is a 7th defensiveman playing on the third pairing. Oh sure, Boyle, Kuba, Ranger, Janik, Richardson and O’Brien can receive blame and get crap thrown at them too for dropping the ball at times too. But the point is that adding Brad Lukowich back to the mix brings in stability, experience and shot-blocking expertise to the blueline. This will likely help relieve some pressure on the goalies which could make a very big difference in the team’s record. But that remains to be seen.

LW Jan Hlavac: You see those skates that Jan is scheduled to wear on ice this season? They once belonged to Fredrik Modin. How’s THAT for high hopes and expectations? The hope is that Jan plays the role of power-forward next to Brad Richards and contributes… But for a player who has been out of the NHL for the last two seasons (three if you include the lockout 2004-05 season), that’s a mighty tall order.

RW Michel Ouellet: Is the Bradmaster’s magic with Michel still possible? Will Hlavac click as well and give the Lightning a two line offensive threat again? You can read the recent Rimouski Risk post and see some of the ups and downs of Michel, but the promise is there — even if the correct spelling of his last name is not.

Tommy sent me a story this afternoon about the Buccaneers having what is termed as the largest non-US flag now flying at their complex near Raymond James stadium.

My only thought on this was thus: I had no clue that the Buccaneers are going into the car business! Why else do you need an 80 foot by 50 foot flag like this? It seems like used car dealerships are the only ones who need them (as an attempt to grab attention).

Scott and Ski will both argue how much of a clunker this Buccaneer team will be termed as. But let me just say I don’t believe the team is legal under the Lemon Law to begin with. They could prove me wrong but I’m not holding out hope.

(hat tip to Tommy)

Of the Lightning’s off season moves, the biggest chances are the two new wings Brad Richards will most likely work with this upcoming year: Left Wing Jan Hlavac, who has been in Europe the last few seasons, and Right Wing Michel Oullet. Oullet is the bigger story of the two as he used to play with Richards at Rimouski Oceanic on the team Richards lead to a Memorial Cup championship. Oullet played with the Penguins the last few seasons and while he’s also spent time with another Rimouski Oceanic star on that team, he has not earned rave reviews.

I quoted Derek at Pensblog at the time of Oullet’s signing:

I see people giving grades to players for the year and giving Ouellet one in the B range. ??? Huh? Are you kidding me?! Let’s look at the thing Ouellet can do:

Sit on the side of the net and wait for the puck
Throw one or two weak hits a game
Score while stopped

Now compare to the things he can’t do:

Get past defenders either by going around or through them
Show anything akin to agility
Skate faster than Georges Laraque
Keep up with his line mates
Take a shot that comes within a few feet of the net while moving
Do anything while moving
Take ill-timed penalties because he is standing still and watching the other players go by
Play physical (physical play is Gary Roberts, not one or two weak hits a game)
Control the puck with his stick
Be consistent
Take advantage of odd man rushes

I’ll also quote Derek from private email that was sent between us (and Derek, if you’d like me to remove this quote, I don’t mind. I personally hate having my email becoming public or published without my consent):

He was such a lightning rod for criticism up here last year, I am sure the change of venues will work out.
He just was expected to be so much more, and he never panned out. What I can say good.
He has a wicked shot. And he will clean up the trash

…
.
Now what I can say bad… I could go on for hours.
He has the defense awareness of my grandma, and his speed isn’t the best.
But I have a feeling he might thrive now there for some reason.
Anyways I could go on for hours about that.

Is it just me or does this sound vaugely like the Bradmaster himself (without the trash cleanup)? I’m serious, I’ve heard most of these criticisms before for Richards play… But of course, Brad has the contract and the Conn Smythe trophy to prove he can play beyond some of his limitations, he has also greatly improved his game in other areas.

Derek was also kind enough to send in some fan photoshopped images of Michel – some harsh, some simple… Some funny, some just appropriate imagery from the description Derek sent above:

And can someone PLEASE give me the correct spelling of Michel’s name? I’ve seen Oulette, Oullet, Oullette, Oulet, Ouellett… It’s starting to get annoying. I realize we’ll see the correct spelling soon enough but really… It’s almost like having to learn Khabibulin or Afanasenkov all over again…. But the mainstream media is as involved in the mistaken spellings as the bloggers are.

Just wanna’ publish the news Bolts Blog has moved from a herky jerky Blogger/Blogspot URL address to the more rememberable Boltsblog.net.

Roenick’s sticking around after all. This after announcing his retirement — by text message.

I don’t mean to sully J.R. like I have in the title but really — while he has another shot by signing with the Sharks during their window of opportunity that they’ve been in the last few seasons… It just seems like hanging-on-for-hanging-on-sake.

Can he contribute? Sure. Will he? Arguable. Should he just hang them up? Again,arguable but he’s an American Don Cherry in the making — if he wants to be. He has a media presence and could find a second career on TV… If he doesn’t further compromise his head with more concussions or other hockey injuries that may make him less TV-friendly, so to speak.

Good luck, Jeremy… Though I’d rather see you save the NHL through the media than try to attain personal glory on the ice.

EDIT: 9-06-2007 David at The Ice Block has a nice take on the possible way J.R. found his way to San Jose. I’m left wondering if I should be thrilled at the marvels of technology or be disgusted by them?

Chris at the Tourney of Logos has done a solid job all off season covering the RBK Edge change over and keeping fans involved via polls and other user-created-content requests.

At any rate, he’s got a Southeast Division concepts post that leads off with a Lightning design that I myself have sorta pondered but have never been able to pull off…. It’s a very modern design of the Lightning crest that eliminates basically all we know.

But it works. At least for me.

I won’t post it here, there is more than one concept but it’s the top one that captivates me. It’s also a little late now for a new Lightning concept but like I said, this one compelled me… Some people might hate it but it’s such a nuevo concept… Hmm

A couple of days ago, Damian at the Times via his Lightning Strikes blog reported (and I cannot find this post any more, bloggers don’t remove even false reports – only clarify them) that Doug Maclean had been in touch with former Lightning member (fleetingly former Lightning team member who grudgingly joined the team to begin with and played for one and a quarter seasons here and yet the guy draws raves like he is a career Bolt in some circles. I don’t get this) Dino Cicarelli about joining Absolute Hockey’s ownership group. Dino reportedly nixed the idea (ho hum) but the entire concept just made me more resolute on who should find an in with Doug, Jim and Oren.

Phil Esposito.

I don’t hold Phil in the highest regard as a GM but I do know Phil is the father of the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise. He worked his ass off to get a team in this very non-traditional market. He’s poured more love, more blood, more sweat and tears into the Lightning as an executive and GM than anyone who has played for this team… If there is anyone that should be approached for approaching sake about joining Absolute Hockey, it’s Phil.

Of course, with Phil (as with Doug) I get the fears of hand-in-the-cookie-jar type dealings with the Lightning roster from ownership. I don’t want Jay Feaster or John Tortorella second guessed by the higher ups — I trust them (though seldomly question their judgment) and believe they know what they are doing. Having such a hands-on owner (and I expect Phil or Doug to be as such) could cause trouble.

Yet I can’t get past the fact this (the Lightning) is Phil’s baby. Even if he just invests a dollar a year, get him back into the fold please? It’s only fitting.