Opening day for the Tampa Bay Lightning and you know what?

I had no clue it was today.

I had no clue start time was before noon here in the Tampa Bay television market. I had no clue what station it was goign to be broadcast on — nationally!…right?! This is an international game after all and… what? Sun Sports? Oh…

It’s the perfect storm for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Tampa Bay sports market. An offseason of upheaval, a roster converted, a new coach whose claim to fame is television and the mullet he sports. Huge contracts, huge egos, new front office personnel and of course an entirely new roster. That was the events of this summer — it’s a long way away from the hype of “Seen Stamkos?”.

And even with all the changes, it got lost in the mix of the news. Presidential election politics (yeah, that’s a sport too — just look at any partisan supporter online and you’ll see someone not objective but a homer of one political bend or another), the Farve fiasco and continuing stupidity at One Buccaneer Place; and that little baseball team in St. Petersburg… I heard they are doing quite well too.

And where do the Lightning fit into all this? How much do you know about the enw members of the roster? How much extra exposure have you seen to new cogs on this team? Odds are, you haven’t seen shit besides billboards touting Vincent Lecavalier around the Tampa Bay area. That’s a far cry to a team competing for fans in a marketplace.

All these distractions in the news, and O.K. Hockey not doing much in the way of marketing to get their name out… And what else has happened? The Bolts have to open the season in Europe. So while the coverage has been muted in the sports section of each local rag (with thanks to the Rays, the Buccaneers and college footbal), there is a further lack of exposure to roster moves, camp hype, position battles and all that jazz.

The puck dropped, the season has started. Now who in this marketplace is aware? Surely the die hards, but beyond that?

There is a lot of noise in local sports right now and everything that has led up to this moment from the summer past has been drowned out, passed over or flat out forgotten. And that’s a failing that will reverberate at one degree or another as the season goes on.

Welcome one and all to Boltsmag.com - Tampa Bay Lightning Weblog.

For all who come across the site, it is in no way related to the previous Boltsmag, which was overseen by Eric Keaton and part of the now demised Rivals.com network. It’s simply a place for sounding off about the Lightning, the NHL, and presenting a fan view of the coolest game on ice.

I’m hoping that this site will show that there is support for Southern Hockey, which is routinely put down in various hockey-circles I come across. The Tampa Bay market is the premiere southern US market for Hockey. Yes, we’ve been to hell and back with regards to what the Lightning has gone through over the years - three owners (one of mysterious background, one of football background and currently an arena/sports professional), four 50+ loss seasons in a row, 3 venues (from the barn-like Expo Hall, to the Baseball-stadium-in-waiting Thunderdome, to Ice Palace / St. Pete Times Forum (AKA the Times Palace) ]…

But it’s the trials and tribulations that define fans and how devote an area is to a team.

My name is John Fontana and I hope that you find the information here interesting and informative.

My colleague on the site, Keith Short, contributes on occasion in his own “The View From Canada” column to give a view of the National Hockey League and events from a more informed perspective.

The Domains which Boltsmag can be reached on are www.boltsmag.com and www.rawlightning.com