This and That: GM meetings and trade rumours

The GM meetings will go on Tuesday and Wednesday in Toronto...so Lawton will have to back from his trip from Finland before the start.

Oh, you didn't hear about Finland? Well neither did I. It came up, I'm a little embarrassed to say it how, but in Angelina Lawton's (the GM's wife's) twitter account. So the tweet on Nov 7 was:

Brian in Finland for the weekend to see 4 games in 2 days.Can you imagine going that far just for weekend~ wants to see prospects himself !-@AngelinaLawton

I can only assume, this means he's checking out the Karjala Cup...but which prospect warrants a trip to Finland that he is personally checking out? I hope by 'prospect' they mean prospect and not Forsberg...

Trade Rumours
Now take this with a grain of salt because it is coming from Bruce "Malkin to the Kings" Garrioch:

• "The Bolts haven't been thrilled with the play of Andrej Meszaros and there's talk GM Brian Lawton is trying to move the 23-year-old blue-liner who has five years left on a deal he signed with the club in September, 2008. Making an average of $4 million, the Bolts will find it difficult to find anybody to take" -The SUN
  

Lightning 1, Penguins 4 - Bolts LOSE

Ok, it's Sunday night and I am just getting around to my review of last night.

Despite what TSN says about a game tomorrow against the Rangers, there is no game until Thursday.








In fact, the Lightning never play the Rangers on a Monday. It seems they are confusing the Lightning with the San Jose Sharks, which is maybe what I should really start doing when I want to watch some decent hockey. The TSN writers also forgot that Wild has a D in it.

The Lightning were outplayed last night by the Pens. I only caught the 1st period but that was really enough for me. It was like they forgot to play hockey. No offense and just looked like they were trying to fight off each wave of offense from the Pens. It was crushing to watch.

While on the powerplay from a high stick from Drew Miller, Niitymaki over committed to a shot from Malkin, and with Ranger taking a walk somewhere instead of covering his guy, Guerin was able to easily stuff it in, 1-0. Later in the period, Gonchar lets a blast go from the point, which Niitymaki should have seen coming, 2-0 ending the 1st period.

Stamkos did score in the 2nd period from a rebound from St. Louis while on the powerplay. The Pens got goals from Dupuis and Rupp in the 2nd and 3rd period respectively.

GM Brian Lawton gave the team a verbal lashing after the game, which could be overhead by reporters, though the specifics were not released about what was said. It's pretty big when a GM talks to the team directly, though was this the best thing for Lawton to do? They did just lose to last years Stanley Cup Team. MAF hasn't lost a game yet this year. And is it Lawton's job to address the team directly or Tocchet's?

Today Cristodero is reporting that the lines are being switched up (again) with Tanguay being demoted down to the 3rd line with Halpern and Miller. The top line is Lecavalier, St. Louis and rookie James Wright, and the 2nd line is Malone, Stamkos and Steve Downie. The 4th line will remain the same with Fedoruk, Konopka and Veilleux.

Just for the record, the Lightning have not won a road game yet, and Vinny hasn't scored in 14 games.

Next game: Thursday in Tampa against the Sharks

Lawton tries to assert power through e-mail

Lawton sent out a friendly little e-mail reminder to all the GM's and player agents today that said:

"Please be advised that in order to avoid any confusion over the next couple of weeks, as GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning Organization I am the only person authorized to speak on behalf of the team with regard to player transactions,"

"No other person is authorized to negotiate player transactions. Any questions, feel free to call."
-TSN

Just in case there was any confusion as to who is in charge, I guess Lawton decided a short little e-mail was the way to go. This just adds to the drama that has been surrounding the Lightning lately. Unlike fans of other teams, I cannot say In Lawton I Trust.....

Lawton and Management Answer to Fans

Before the Ottawa Senators game on Sunday, Brian Lawton and Oren Koules took an hour during their Fan Appreciation Day, to speak with some "specially selected" fans. I think by specially selected, they meant season ticket holders who haven't yet renewed their tickets for next year. OK Hockey tried to step up and show accountability.

Not much has been said about how they answered their questions, or what was actually asked. A 'news' article was up on the Tampa Bay Lightning website today, but clearly was posted by management, so some nice media spin on it.

Lawton hopes to bring to the team: aggressiveness paired with a high IQ, and to strengthen the D. Tocchet the other day said he wanted guys who "push back", which are great ideas, but how we will achieve all this in the off season waits to be seen.

They also say that we are not in the rebuild phase. I think they realize they can't sell 'rebuilding' to Tampa fans like the Kings or the Leafs are able to.

I would love to hear what questions and what answers were actually said during this 1 hour session, but I haven't been able to find out much about it.

Although I'm pretty sure it wasn't this (spun by the Lightning writers):
"After answering every question with honesty, gratitude, and even a touch of humor, Lawton and Koules thanked everyone in the crowd for attending and listening to the organization’s blueprints for success, while also sharing their thoughts and feelings about the team." -from the Tampa Bay Lightning website

-Len Barrie was not part of the Q&A. I've heard some rumors about a possible falling apart between Barrie and Koules, but again they are just rumors. Barrie I'm sure is dealing with economic housing crisis as is everyone else in that market and the fact that his team sucking the first year didn't help their relationship. I don't think he skipped out on the Q&A, but rather didn't want to stir up trouble while Koules and Lawton tried to answer to the fans about the terrible season.