You are not making the most of first impressions in hockey circles. Just saying.

Wasn’t aware of this but Jay Feaster is writing a series of articles blogging (at least they call it that) over at The Hockey News. He’s only had two articles blogs posted so far but it may be worth a look see for the Lightning fan out there.

RJ had stated this offseason that trading Vaclav Prospal for Anaheim Ducks goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was a possibility. At least that was the rumor.

Forget a trade now, Bryzgalov is on waivers. Would Jay Feaster want to, or be able to, pick up Ilya if he wanted? Or does the in-flux status of ownership prevent him from taking on more payroll? Also, would acquiring a new goalie show too much of a lack-of-confidence in Johan Holmqvist?

It’s worth exploring, but the team is ultimately handcuffed unless PSE/Absolute Hockey reach an understanding.

The one telling sign that there is trouble in the House of ‘Ning (and by God I vowed to never use that nickname to describe the Bolts, shame on me!) was Jay Feaster loading up on defensive depth this off season. Those acquisitions have bogged down the Norfolk Admirals in while they have been short on forwards. The Lightning franchise as a whole lacks offensive depth at this time as well (and please, no one cite Alexander Polushin. That ship has sailed)

Last weekend, at the request of Jay Feaster, Mike Egener was inserted at wing on Blair Jones and Kyle Wavnig’s line. Mike was Jay Feaster’s first draft pick as GM and has been bounced around in the minors while trying to adapt his game to the “New NHL™”. While Matt Smaby, Vladmir Malhik and Andy Rogers have kept the Lightning’s attention as defensive prospects, Mike seemed to fall out of the teams graces (even if certain fans by the name of ME kept hoping he’d get his shot).

So the Egener Experiment commenced. And lo and behold what happened? OntarioFan’s comment surmises Egener’s weekend on the wing:

On a unrelated note. Mike Egener had a good weekend playing forward and surprised the coaches with his ability to battle in front of the net and actually score. Few realize that because his father was in the army and the family moved often that he was forced to play defence to make new teams. He began as a forward and played that position until he was 11-12 and was a goal scorer! If he is given a lengthy chance he might be an asset.

Mike clicked on the wing? BoltProspects.com furthers the tale of the Wing and the Eg:

With the Norfolk Admirals short on forwards to start the year due to four recent signees experiencing work visa issues, and a hoard of defensemen vying for coveted starting spots, it seemed like the perfect time for a career change of sorts for Egener. At Lightning General Manager Jay Feaster’s request, Egener was moved up to the wing. The 6-foot-4, 213-pounder responded with an honest effort each night, physical play, and even chipped in a rare goal against his former team, Springfield.

Egener’s career high for goals in a year - at the WHL, ECHL, or AHL level - is three (2004-05 Springfield).

…

“We are going to continue experimenting with him on the wing,” Feaster told Bolt Prospects. “We need his toughness in the line-up and we think he is a better fit on the wing. He likes it and is having some success.”

So what can be made of this in all honesty? A fast skater, booming slap shot who has played defense most of his amateur and professional career now playing a proactive role on offense instead of reactive role on defense? While Boltprospects article compares Egener’s position switch with Ben Clymer’s switch in 2001-02, I’d like to think the sky is much more the limit for Mike and what he can accomplish for himself and the team. A power wing with two way prowess is a commodity in this league.

Greg Wyshynski over at AOL’s FanHouse alerted me to this, uh, video…

I’ll let Greg do the talking and then let Courtney the Hockey Fan further do the, um,talking?

Just a heads up to readership here at Boltsmag — I wrote up a preview of the Lightning’s 2007-08 season for Pensblog. Of course, Pens fans aren’t going to be cheering anything about the Lightning (we being the thorn in their side last season and now employing one hugely frustrating players on the Pens last season) but that’s a different story (or an explanation for the comments on Pensblog, take your pick ).

As the reigning champion of Mike Chen’s Crappy Player Pick’em, it’s my duty to announce that the Crappy Player Pick’em contest has returned! Get over to Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog and play along, or perhaps just watch as bloggers and fans around the league make their selection of best of the “worst” in the NHL. The ground rules are simple — A player making under the league average, over the age of 26 and a contributor on their teams lower lines. Read more on Mike’s blog in both the content and the comments.

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.

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.