While Boltsmag is no longer updating (for blog posts about the Lightning, check out Raw Charge), I did need to post this graphic — five years late — for superstition sake…

Five years ago, I had this “The Wall” graphic updated with every game played in the Cup playoffs. Every game, a new notch was put up. Though it should have only been victories (I was young and stupid! Forgive me!), I notched every game – win or lose.

Some people blamed lack of updates on loses the Bolts suffered in the Eastern Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. This made me more responsible in updating said-graphic. After the Bolts won the Cup in 2004 — I neglected to update the graphic once again to register the 7th and final game.

This is my attempt to rectify that situation and perhaps throw off a jinx that the Bolts have had since:

This is stupid.

So stupid, in fact, I compare it to the old joke about a little boy who goes to school with a five dollar bill. He brags to his friend he has one five dollar bill and is offered three one dollar bills in trade. “Three is more than one!” the friend tells the first boy.

And the kid makes the trade. And throughout the day he keeps trading down like that for more of less.

In the frustrating days of the late 1990’s and early Double-Oh’s – you saw just this happen in trades. Something great traded for more of less. For a team rebuilding, it sort of made sense. While there were hits, there were more misses and that was why fans were not endeared to Rick Dudley…

But when the dominoes started to fall on the more-of-less in this situation, we started with a top pair defensiveman (Dan Boyle), traded him for a young up and coming D-man and a first rounder (Matt Carle), then traded Carle for Eminger and trash-considerations in Steve Downie…

And now we get Noah Welch and a 3rd rounder for Eminger…? You’ve traded Dan Boyle for Welch and a 3rd rounder (after dealing away the draft pick already for a sub-par D-man)??

This is insane.

And I apologize profusely to Noah Welch. I apologize for coming down on him indirectly like this when I have never seen him play and don’t know his future. I apologize to him because this post comes off like a judgment about his abilities when in fact, it’s a judgment of the braintrust (I use that term as loosely as possible) of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

And then again, he just became a piece of one of the most jumbled puzzles of transactions in NHL history. That’s not his fault. That’s the fault of the upper brass who don’t seem to want the fans to understand what they are doing. I’m not talking cliché “happy to have him on the roster and he has great abilities” talk. I’m talking big-picture direction of the franchise talk… What’s-the-plan-going-forward talk. Talk that’s been missing while each and every roster move causes more anxiety, and every lingering rumor seems akin to a bad dream.

Recchi and a 2nd round draft pick next year were sent to Boston (and playoff contention) in return for defenceman Matt Lashoff and forward Martins Karsums.

Zen inspired question of the inane variety:
If a former Stanley Cup winner falls through waivers, does he have trade value?

Gary Roberts cleared waivers… meaning no one wanted to pick him up for a waiver fee.

So unless he’s lumped in as a add on to a trade, I don’t see him moving to a contending team. But with so many hours left until the deadline, I sure could be wrong.

“We’re tight with our guys. We’re not looking to give them away. If people are going to make meaningful offers to move this organization forward, we will act. But we won’t act for the sake of acting. We’re going to make deals if they make sense for the organization.”

–Brian Lawton, General Manager.

With the track record of OK (not really) Hockey, I can’t say I believe Mr. Lawton one iota. Especially after reading that he plans on being at the office at 6 A.M tomorrow morning.

Deals will be done, trades will be made, and the only place they make sense will be on paper. Or, the wise moves will be the small ones that don’t seem to have significance until later on when a young player grows into his role… The Lightning under Koules/Barrie/Lawton have a habit of going with the former: great on paper, lousy on ice. The latter would require a long term blue print that does not sacrifice the nucleus of the roster.

Rumors have swirled for days that Gary Roberts was a target at the trade deadline.

Please, Brian Lawton and OK (not Really) Hockey, tell us WHY he was placed on waivers today? Couldn’t get anything for him? Or just quit trying?

…and this picture reflects so many words about the ill conceived notions of building the 2008-09 Tampa Bay Lightning. (credit Alan Snel)

From champion to bottom dweller. The attendance fall-off didn’t happen over night… or did it?

(most attendance stats from Andrews Stars Page)

Now, for the benefit of the doubt, the game last night was for bragging rights of the Southeast cellar dwellers. The “rivalry” between the Lightning and Thrashers just doesn’t make up for two sub par teams going at it.

All that being said, it’s a steep drop between last season and this season so far with attendance. Things fell apart last season around the trade deadline and the rumors (and then loss) of Brad Richards didn’t help things.

And now? Starting the season in Europe didn’t help, starting the season with a revamped team that hadn’t been marketed well to the fans didn’t help. Having a bombastic head coach known from TV and a lone Cup appearence didn’t help. Playing Music Chairs with the roster hasn’t helped. Injuries and overall instability of the team hasn’t encouraged turnout.

Besides freebies and give-aways, how do you fix things? Winning helps, but how do you get back to winning?

Stability.

Martin St. Louis is heading to Montreal for the All Star Game as a replacement for Sidney Crosby. The former HART Trophy winner and current leading scorer for the Lightning joins Vincent Lecavalier as Lightning representation in the game (Steven Stamkos will be playing in the Young Stars game).

You needed to only look at the banter on the bench before Vincent Lecavalier took his penalty shot on Thursday night.

You only had to feel the electricity in the building. The fans on the edge of their seat.

This was the captain going in. This was the franchise going one on one. And you damned well better have seen the reaction from the fans and the bench when he slipped it through.

If you can’t market that, you shouldn’t be in the business. If you can’t find the value in that – you shouldn’t be a player in the game of running a pro sports franchise.

The Lightning returned home tonight to face the rival Flyers and what was accomplished on ice was nothing short of the fantastic. It was the type of effort the Lightning have only shown a handful of times all season: peppering the Flyers with shots, contributions from all. 4-1 final. Check with Cassie at Boltsblog.net for the Recap.

(last updated January 16th, 2009 @ 4:12 PM EST)

Sports columnist Gary Shelton at the St. Petersburg Times says in eloquence the point worth remembering (for Lightning fans) with the Lecavalier tradewind/storm that has swept up:

It is as simple as this. Fans trust Vinny Lecavalier a great deal, and they don’t trust the new ownership at all.

Around here, Lecavalier is not only the face of a franchise, he is the faith. In the chaos of a season, he is the reason to keep watching.

He is the reason to think things might eventually get good again.

That, in essence, is the point in fan outcry against this supposed trade talk. It’s not a foreign subject for Lightning fans to see high quality players sent packing during down years in order to try to improve the roster. Yet in those down years, it was usually a marginal fan favorite sent away for a long term investment (or a short sighted solution) in return.

And OK Hockey has been all about the short-sighted solution sus-far, or so it seems. Lets secure Dan Boyle… Wouldn’t it be cooler if we traded him though? Lets bring in Barry Melrose and jazz up management and… oh, wait, he hasn’t coached in a decade and look at the monstrosity of incapability he is displaying…

A Lecavalier trade, to me, would be comparable to sending Mario Lemieux packing from the Pittsburgh Penguins instead of Jaromir Jagr in the July 2001 trade… The face of the franchise, the figurehead… hell, the team owner for Christ sake. Mario had saved the franchise when he was drafted. He won Stanley Cups with the Pens, he literally saved hockey in Pittsburgh again by purchasing the Pens…

Some would say Lecavalier joining the Lightning (along with so many other cogs that have come and gone since 2004) accomplished the same in Tampa Bay. A perennial loser became a contender on his watch, and a champion on his watch. A derelict franchise was rebuilt and renewed with thanks to the hope and faith that Vincent brings to roster day in and day out.
Read it all..

For the last ten seasons, there has been a constant dogging Tampa Bay Lightning hockey. Through the tortured days of the late 1990’s through a Stanley Cup championship and back again to the dregs of mediocrity, one chorus has sung itself silly every season. Every season with or without basis.

Vincent Lecavalier to Montreal.

There was the disrespect factor to begin, as Vinny entered the NHL in a non traditional market. Tampa Bay was the joke of the league and of course, fans from Canada treated the Lightning as the joke they were while making up all sorts of preposterous trade scenarios for Vincent’s services.

As the lean years of Lightning hockey pressed on, some of those rumors weren’t based off desire to mock Tampa as so much save Vincent from the lowest of low rungs of the NHL. “He deserves better than that” were the sympathies being sent to the player (but of course, not the hockey fans suffering in Tampa Bay. After all, it’s a non traditional market. Who could care?).

Even with the Lightning on the up and up in 2002-2004, ventures to Canada in December resulted in the same rumors year after year: Lecavalier wants out, Lecavalier’s not happy.

That’s why I don’t get too concerned about Vincent-Lecavalier-to-Montreal rumors that have sprung up today. Vinny-for-Garbage-because-he’s-our-favorite-francophone; the cliché offerings of mediocrity that are supposed to seem all worldly.

Oh, don’t get me wrong — I am concerned about Vincent Lecavalier trade rumors in general right now as I lack faith in OK Hockey to make moves that make sense. Keeping the core intact and building around them imperative. But as I noted earlier today in a post, volatility has ruled the first half of the Lightning season.

And I’ll say this as bluntly and openly as I can and hope to high hell someone with management and ownership actually reads this blog: If you guys seriously want to fuck up your investment in this franchise, trade Lecavalier. If you’re more concerned about how happy you are with the club’s makeup than how well you’re drawing at the arena — by all means, trade him for shit being rumored and continue on your directionless trek through the NHL.

It never fails that the Vinny-to-Montreal rumors surface… But the dealings of OK Hockey make me weary that something may happen that ruins the fragile stability that currently resides with this team. And the only thing worse than this would be to wreak havok on the stability of the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise in general by making a move with Vincent.

41 games in and I want a do over.

41 games in and I half (pun intended) to wonder just where the Lightning would be if Rick Tocchet had been in charge of the club, starting last summer? Where would the Lightning be with a training camp that was more than a few scrimmages and a European vacation? The Euro games would still have happened, but the camp part of training camp may have made an impact.

41 games in, and I’m thinking about cogs that shouldn’t have been jettisoned (Shane O’Brien) and other roster volatility that has been a hindrence for the franchise more than a strength. Trades, promotions, demotions, secondary promotions, demotions, waivings… It’s just been a fight for mediocrity on the lower lines and defense, all to round out a core of would-be upper echelon players on offense.

Cassie at Boltsblog provides the statistics and pain of the roster volatility in her mid-season report:

The debacle that was the first half of the season seems to be past them. At least until they get closer to the trade deadline on March 4th. January, at least, ought to be pretty quiet in terms of personnel changes, I think.

And that’s what has gotten the Lightning to where they are now – personnel changes. And I don’t mean that in a good way. They have used 14 defensemen so far this season, as well as a total of 38 players on their roster thru 41 games. Only 5 players on the current roster have played in all 41 Lightning games thus far.

41 games in, with an nonperforming team. I’m intimidated at the thought of what the trade deadline will bring and what it will send away. The one thing from the roster volatility that we saw was an inconsistency on who was brought in and how they worked into the overall scheme. Who would be sold off and for what downright frightens me. While there are players I would not cry about being let go, there are others whose attitudes and character are too valuable to a franchise that needs to be reconstructed.

A franchise that needs direction. A roster that needs self respect and purpose and the drive to obtain Lord Stanley’s Cup. And an ownership group that knows better than to mess with it’s product like it’s decisions and choices are all on paper and have no consequences in real life.

41 games in. I’m antsy about what the second half will bring.

If I had to find a word for the Lightning under Barry Melrose’s tenure as coach, I think the word would be disjointed.

The lack of cohesion was apparent, the lack of passion on the ice… and drive to actually play the game. To enjoy the game. It felt like, from a fan perspective, a much hyped package that just could not deliver anywhere close to the promise that was proposed to the fanbase.

The stigma of the roster anarchy will continue to haunt ownership and Brian Lawton for the rest of the season (if not beyond that) unless a clear sense of direction of what the Lightning franchise wants in players is found.

But what a difference a few games make.

It started with Colorado, and I noted that it was the start of a new season for the Lightning where Rick Tocchet had worked with players during their scheduled time off. The Colorado game results and the lack-of-effort in Atlanta didn’t do as much harm as once was thought… Through the negatives and adversity, it looks like the Lightning have found… well, the Lightning.

Maybe I am speaking too soon on this, but the teamt hat I have watched versus the Penguins and Panthers the past week has not been the same club I’ve watched otehr times this season. There is a drive again, there is a cohesion… There’s emotion and passion…

And there’s a clear desire to win.

Things are not all gravy, don’t get me wrong. Thsi team is not suddenly a bunch of world beaters… But as I watch the closing minutes of this Lightning vs. Panthers matchup at Times Palace, the Lightning are playing like sharks when there is blood in the water. A far cry from the comparisons to the days of Steve Ludzik.

Tocchet’s talks, the return of Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen’s “wakeup call”, Evgeny Artyukhin actually playing like he’s on the North American continent once again… Mike Smith being stellar between the pipes, the return of Ryan Malone… It’s all had a profound effect on this club.

Now will it last?

6-4 the final at Times Palace, the Lightning beat the Panthers for the 2nd straight day. Vincent Lecavalier had two goals, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos and “Artoo” Artyukhin also contributed to scoring. An outstanding effort for a 2nd-game-in-24-hours matchup.

As the holiday season has passed it’s apex, maybe so has the downfall of the Lightning franchise? One could hope, right?

Two wins in a row… I believe that’s a season high, and shows you how horribly the Lightning have played this year. None the less, it’s two positives for this team which has been surrounded by negatives for far too long.

I took the win at Pittsburgh Tuesday Night as a gift — the Penguins have all the firepower it shoudl take to render the Lightning dead on arrival. Instead, the Penguins played Tuesday’s game as if they were already on vacation. Why be bothered with such a thing as winning a should-win match-up with the bottom dwellers of the NHL?

And last night’s game at Sunrise versus the Florida Panthers was a spirited effort with an ugly constant from the season sus far — a regulation collapse leading to overtime and the shootout. All too often this season, the Lightning have found themselves in this situation — defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, perhaps.

Yet, what happens? With a shootout lineup that is not the top-heavy lineup that so often rears it’s head (Lecavalier, St. Louis, and insert-name-here), we get Hall-Jokinen-Artyukhin and Ryan Malone in the four rounds that it takes to secure the win.

As a result, at least for a night, the Lightning are no longer at the very bottom of the standings. 27 points puts them ahead of the Islanders among the league’s 30 teams. The St. Louis Blues and the Ottawa Senators are the next teams in the standings the Lightnign could very well pass on the road to redemption if this season high carries over into the new year.

I seriously doubt that Martin St. Louis is gunning for Vincent Lecavalier’s captainship with his recent outbursts about the team, but I have to say that this is something I think has been long overdue to come out publicly: veterans of the Lightning calling bullshit on the efforts of some of those also on the team.

I don’t know if this public venting can be portrayed as a level of leadership but this fan takes it as such — someone who loves this town and loves this team knows that others aren’t pulling their weight, and regardless of what has been done – they just aren’t playing with their heart and it’s hurting things.

Sadly, in pro sports, a venting like this doesn’t usually lead to the trouble being shipped out of town. It usually leads to the outspoken player being shipped away while the franchise gets rebuilt with problem children as the core.

Damian Cristodero at the Times reports that NHL official Stephen Walkom sees nothing wrong from last night:

Stephen Walkom, the NHL’s director of officiating, said the ruling that Lightning goaltender Mike Smith deliberately threw his stick to disrupt Milan Hejduk’s shootout attempt on Thursday was the correct call.

“It was a very tough call. It was a gutsy call. It was a call that was made in an instant, and I support the call,” Walkom said.

In a related story, Stephen Walkom is an idiot if he thinks this was a deliberate stick throwing incident:

(hat tip to Cassie at Boltsblog for getting the full video)

This is just a show of solidarity and among officials by standing by each other when one is wrong. Not just minorly, mistakenly wrong in this case, but completely batshit-crazy wrong that determines the outcome of a game without a goal being scored.

Who’s responsible for THIS one? Jussi Jokinen on waivers? I want to know whose call. Lawton? Barrie? Tocchet?

Kari Ramo was also sent back to Norfolk which is not surprising as he was an emergency call up. But I want to be enlightened — who, what and why?

Yes, Jokinen is not scoring goals… but there is a bigger story here and it’s a story that has been playing out all season, and keeping the roster in constant upheaval.

Leave it to the on ice officials to ruin a goalie duel by invoking a shootout rule that didn’t fit the situation.

Of course, I will not get on the case of Colorado fans who see my remarks as sour grapes. Or who just see the game as a lucky or solid win… But personally? I look at how this game ended and realize it’s one of the only shootout era games that ended without a goal scored to decide the victor.

Oh, technically a winner was decided by the referees… Which gives me new appreciation for those who prefer the “just let’em play” type of officiating: Refs should not decide games. Especially in the fashion of last night. (Edit: Counterargument- Refs DIDN’T decide the game, Martin St. Louis not scoring decided the game. Counter-counter argument? Hejduk didn’t score either.)

For a better, more in depth review of the game, head over to Boltsblog.net and read Cassie’s postmortem.

How many people are looking forward to the Winter Classic this year?
[poll id=55]

While we’re at it, of the three teams at the top of the Southeast division standings, who’s best poised to win the division? (still a long way to go on that one, anything can happen, but consider it a “what if” question):
[poll id="54"]

And seeing I asked this question last summer but got such a low participation turnout, I’ll ask again for impressions of OK Hockey, owners of the Lightning. Yes, it’s a loaded question but I might as well ask:
[poll id=49]

Feel free to use the comments to voice opinions on any of the above topics.

With 11 games until the season midway point, the main news out of Tampa this week was… training camp. Yes, training camp… Coach Rick Tocchet ran the nag that has been the Lightning roster (under performing, non-cohesive and soft) until they dropped.

Quite a difference to what Ryan Malone experienced back in September under Barry Melrose:

“I wasn’t sure how different camps went. We scrimmaged a couple times and then we left, really,” he said of the fall. “It wasn’t much structure and all the other stuff you’re supposed to be learning.”

It would seem Rick is trying to get his house in order and that’s all fine and good. In fact my above remark about “riding that nag…until it dropped” is misquoting and mischaracterizing — this wasn’t a mid-season Camp Torturella — but he still ran the team and ran them hard which is a stark contrast to the laissez faire approach of September’s camp and European Vacation under the Mullet.

Rick also met with Vinny Lecavalier after Tuesday’s practice to talk about the team, leadership and on-ice play. And Vinny’s on board with everything.

The question is, what type of results will we see from this tonight versus the Avs? A more alert team? Or one that is tuckered out from being overworked during their time off the last few days?

Quick sidenotes:

• Gary Roberts will hang them up after this season.
• Kari Ramo has been called up and will serve as backup to Mike Smith tonight due to an injury to Ollie the Goalie
• Ryan Malone and Jeff Halpren return to the lineup tonight
• Tonight’s telecast is in High Definition…

You know, I get a real kick out of the Lightning’s alternate duds. No joke, I really like the blue, I really like the sleeves and the hem stripes… The only thing I truly didn’t ever like when I saw them was the team nickname across the chest:

But still, something’s been bugging the crap out of me for years about the Lightning and the new logo — the font. The nearest variant that I could find to the logo text of the standard team logo was a font called Star Jedi. I think everyone knows that little movie that it’s based off of.

Well, what do you know… 10 minutes of fooling around with an image editing program and that crest? Replicated. Sure, there are differences (the S) but it’s too close for comfort:

There’s no denying the jersey is sharp though, regardless of the sourcing of the fonts employed by the designers. I just found it funny which standard font face out there recreates the look.

Mike Chen can’t look away at the train wreck here in Tampa, and who can blame him? Ooh, blame… Good subject for an article Mike! Have at it!

The real culprit? I can see why people can point fingers at one guy or another (though Stamkos is absolved of everything other than simply being an 18-year-old rookie learning the ways of the NHL) but when it comes down to it, everyone is at fault here from the wacky ownership duo of Len Barrie and Oren Koules to Melrose and his then-assistants to veteran leaders like team captain Vincent Lecavalier.

Yep, you’re all guilty and you should feel bad because the fan base that slowly built up from the early 2000s is now disintegrating as the team becomes one of the biggest sideshows in professional sports.

Mike goes on to break down the X’s and D’oh’s of the Lightning, post-Palace Sports, like an ESPN analyst without a bone to pick with a former employer. Blame lies from the top down, and from the bottom up. As a fan, I’ve focused on the top-down side instead of looking at the players, the lock room and the atmosphere generated by team leaders…

Just to tickle my fancy on the blame heirachy, lemme highlight the one paragraph that stands out for me:

The thing that I don’t get is that even though moviemaking (Koules) and real estate (Barrie) are completely separate businesses than running a pro-sports franchise, the basic tenants of “get good people/have a plan/work hard” are still in place. Here’s how any organization, pro sports or otherwise, should work: leadership at the top has a vision and a plan. They bring in supervisors (coaches) to create strategy for that plan, then the supervisors motivate the workers (players) to properly execute the plan with a good attitude and strong work ethic while providing feedback about what’s working and what’s not. I don’t see any of this here.

Some people really hated Palace Sports ownership… I mean, seriously despised “Dollar” Bill Davidson and outside-the-area ownership. They didn’t care for Rick Dudley or the types of players he brought in at the get-go of Palace Sports tenure of ownership.

But — this is inarguable — Davidson, Tom Wilson, Bill Campbell and the rest of Palace Sports had a plan and a vision of all facets of the operation. On ice, the venue, the administrative organization… They assigned a well-versed individual into a role and let them work.

With OK Hockey? It’s been anarchy without a general MO of the moves, without a definition of the how or why.

Mike goes on to dissect coaching and then throwing some blame the players ways… Not everyone, just the C and A’s of the team. The article is certainly worth a read and a thought or three.

In essence, it comes back to the volatility of the off season as a foreshadowing of the season so far. A new administration does indeed have a right to put who they want in positions of power… But these people need to know what the plan is, spread the plan down the chain of command and get everyone on message and in sync on that.

Right now, we’re still devoid of that vision / message from any level of command.

…which has contributed to the Bolts being run straight into the ground.

A freak deal. Wrong place at the wrong time. Lightning winger Marty St. Louis was cut on the forehead and nose by the skate of linesman Derek Arnel. An inadvertant occurrence that sent St. Louis rushing to the bench, and later received around 10 stiches to close the gash.

Marty is fine. The Lightning are hoping he will be available for Thursday’s home against Colorado. Best news for this team in some time.

–Tom Korun — ABC 28 Action News

I’m no professional sportswriter, nor a long standing, tenured TV personality in the Tampa Bay area… But jeez… “10 stitches… hope he is available for Thursday’s game versus Colorado”???

Tom? It’s routine for guys to get stitches between periods for wounds suffered on ice and play later in the game. Bad cuts, bad locations… The game matters more than the wound. Maybe it’s more obvious that players are playing while banged up during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but 10 stitches wouldn’t keep Martin St. Louis from playing unless it severed tendons somewhere…

I am not exactly crying over the news Steve Downie was sent down to Norfolk.

Apologies to the Admirals. You deserve better.

Two periods are in the books and the Lightning have looked more like… well, like the Tampa Bay Lightning that I’ve seen in the past — finesse and deftness.

Sadly, the question that stands out in my mind is “How are they going to screw it up this time?”

3-1 as it stands at the 2nd intermission. St. Louis with 2 goals (and having just missed the hat trick), Vincent Lecavalier with the other goal.

EDIT: Oh. My. God… It’s a final. The Lightning actually… They actually… Oh, lemme try to get the words out, forgive me for being challenged in this…

They actually won.

The streak ends at nine. Rick Tocchet gets win number two… The question now is, when and where will win #3 come?