Malone to Toronto for Schenn and Kaberle?

As reported by the Toronto Sports Media, via Pension Plan Puppets, Elliotte Friedman was on the Fan 590 this morning with this to say:

“Everyone in hockey is talking about this deal and thinks it will happen, Toronto’s pick, which I guess is number seven overall for Tampa’s pick which is number two overall, with Toronto taking back Ryan Malone and his lengthy hefty contract and perhaps another contract as well.”

This of course is with regard to speculation of how Burke will attempt to land Tavares on Draft Day.

The Lightning sources told Darren Dreger of TSN that the only way that trace would happen is if the Leafs also throw in Luke Schenn and Tomas Kaberle into the deal.

"Tampa Bay vehemently denies this is a possibility and insists Malone is a mainstay and will patrol the wing next season with linemates Steven Stamkos and Martin St Louis." -TSN

TSN also reports that "Tampa Bay did, however, table a trade offer before the trade deadline that included Luke Schenn to the Lightning for their first round draft pick."

We'll have to see what Burke attempts to do to get his hands on Tavares and if he does, his press conference, and you can bet he'll call one, will be awesome. Can you imagine, Burkie with Toronto media surrounding him as he starts laughing and then tells the world that the world no long revolves around the sun but rather him? Or maybe it's the universe that revolves around him?

Gasp! The Lightning WIN in OT!

Lightning 2, CBJ 1 - Bolts WIN!!!

Did I just write that? Did the Tampa Bay Lightning win in OT tonight? That's right. A win in OT.

What happened during the 1st and 2nd period? NOTHING

The Lightning get 7 shots on goal in 2 periods. Awful. But let's focus on the positive tonight. The 1st and 2nd was a waste of time. Rick Nash was a disappointment.

Jan Hejda starts the 3rd period with a goal for CBJ. If CBJ get 2 points tonight they would be getting that much closer to clinching a playoff berth. Malone says "not so fast" and answers back with a PP goal.

This game moves to OT. I have almost written off the team at this point. My worst fear is that they will end up in a shootout. But no! Martin St. Louis comes back with a huge individual effort and wrists a shot past Mason!!!! Booyeah.

McKenna plays a great game and stops 33 out of 34 shots.

So let's forget about the boring 1st and 2nd. Let's just celebrate the fact we won in OT. At this point in the season, I will celebrate the little things.

Lightning v. Leafs - Bolts WIN!!!

Welcome to the centre of the universe. I'm watching the Sportsnet Ontario feed. These announcers are awful. I hear nothing but:

"Stom-kos"

"SONT Louis"

"LecavaLLLLLierr"

Just awful.

But I got no choice. The things I do to catch the game.

The second period consisted of countless powerplays given to the Bolts. Tampa got a goal by a puck that was pushed in by the Gerber's leg. St. Louis shook his head a little at Stamkos for not giving him the puck when he was at the point on the PP. Then a couple shifts later, a great pass from Stamkos to St. Louis on a rush and GOAL! We're up 2 to 1 heading into the third. Sweet. That just made me forget about how bad our powerplay was.

Ramo was great in the third period. Huge saves. One of the commentators kept yelling

"Romo!!!!"

How do these guys have a job? Goals from Malone added to the lead. And you can tell that by the time that Szczechura scored that they gave up. Man that guys needs another vowel in his name. Nice to see him get a goal in front of his family (being from Brantford, ON).

Bolts win. Leafs still suck. Losers since '67.

Lecavalier: Hand Delivering Tickets

Now we all know that the 2009 season's tickets are now being sold for the Lightning. The Lightning website has been advertising for it about a week now on their website.

So on Monday, they started what they call the 'Goodwill Tour'. Players, coaches, broadcasters and executives are making surprise visits to 83 selected season ticket holders trying to get them to renew their package. Apparently even Oren Koules was out delivering renewal packages. No mention of LB though.














The players that were delivering tickets included Lecavalier, Stamkos and Malone, faces of the franchise. But imagine if you were got selected, and instead of Vinny showing up at your office/house, you get some VP in sales or a broadcaster?

I would feel gypped. GYPPED.

If I got LB instead of Stamkos? I would seriously consider giving him a piece of my mind. Y'know like an armchair GM to another fantasy GM, oh wait.....

But, from a marketing perspective it was a great idea. It shows the fans that the management actually are trying to care about their fans.

This was a tactic that was used by different teams during the summer. The Pens, Flames, Canucks and Sharks all delivered random season ticket holders' their tickets personally. It was all about the marketing, but a nice surprise if you ended up having Sidney Crosby or Dion Phaneuf show up at your door. It was a nice thank you to the fans for buying season tickets.

But this was a little different. The Lightning will have a tough sell trying to get fans to renew their tickets because well, the product this year, did not live up to the expectations, and well there is a recession going on ya know.

It will be an even tougher sell to get casual fans to buy season tickets.

But the owners are going to need all the fans they can get to help pay for the enormous salary of V4 that will kick in this summer.