tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48549137457422329392024-02-19T16:42:50.254-08:00The Hockey BayA Tampa Bay Lightning Blog
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Following the highs, lows and the sometimes circus-like antics of the Bolts.The Hockey Bayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14731134302659813542noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-74369020099840299502009-12-07T10:00:00.000-08:002009-12-07T10:00:02.713-08:00Moved!<span style="font-family: arial;">The Hockey Bay has now joined the Bloguin family!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Our new home is now </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.thehockeybayblog.com/">http://thehockeybayblog.com</a><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Don't worry the blog will still be the same as before, except for a site design change and a spiffy banner.</span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-19758155342146400482009-12-05T10:20:00.000-08:002009-12-05T10:25:58.823-08:00Game 28: Islanders in Tampa Preview<span style="font-family:arial;">Draft pick #1 comes to draft pick #2's kitchen tonight.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: Another team that I don't keep up with much, except with Tavares lands himself in the highlight reel, neverless check out <a href="http://www.islandershockeyblog.com/">Islanders Hockey Blog</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">John Tavares and someone named Matt Moulson is the Islanders team these days. Where did this Moulson character come from? The whole team. He breathes hope into Islander fans much like Crosby did for the Penguins. So much hope that a report says that Charles Wang has given GM Garth Snow <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=508239">permission to add payroll for a playoff run</a>. Whoa. I don't know if the playoffs are in the picture just yet, but Tavares certainly is making a case for being a Calder Trophy candidate. He has had 7 goals and 7 assists with a plus 6 rating in the last 17 games.<br /><br />Not related to this game but still interesting: TSN reports that mythical player <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=300589">Rick DiPietro may be back playing</a> for the team in mid December. Someone already picked him up in my fantasy hockey pool.<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Mike Smith in goal<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 7:30pm ET on SUN.</span></span></span></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-57830270855222316912009-12-04T09:00:00.000-08:002009-12-04T09:00:44.122-08:00Game 27: Tampa in New Jersey Preview<span style="font-family:arial;">I never keep up with how the Devils are doing. I know that Brodeur will likely be the starting goalie for Team Canada...but I'll be the first to admit that I don't exactly keep up with the Devils.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: Although I don't keep up with them, I know someone who does, check out <a href="http://www.runningwiththedevils.com/">Running with the Devils</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Devils played against the Canucks at home on Wednesday and lost to Vancouver 5-2. The Lightning have lost their first two games against the Devils already this season back in October and need to beat the Devils to stop this current slide. It's not sure if Brodeur will start in net tonight as the Devils haven't released any official word yet.<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">To be updated<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 7:00pm ET on SUN.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-28510801205950240362009-12-02T21:08:00.000-08:002009-12-02T21:19:52.460-08:00Lightning 1, Bruins 4 - Bolts LOSE<span style="font-family: arial;">I don't usually get to catch the first period because I live on the Westcoast and by the time I have most likely missed the 1st and sometime a bit of the second period. So when I get home and see that the Lightning are losing 4-0, I'm not even going to bother watching the game. Losing 4-0 shows a lack of effort. That just adds to the 4 out of the last 5 games that we've lost. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Marc Savard just signed a extension so it was expected that he would score a goal non? The other goals from the B's came from Bergeron and two from Sturm. Former Bolt Mark Recchi got 3 assists.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Halpern got the only goal for the Lightning and Matt Smaby played for the first time this season. The Lightning as a team is going to need to put together a good performance, especially in the defense on Friday because they'll play the Devils. The play between tonight's game of offense from the B's will be a stark contract to the defensiveness from the Devils. Let's move on and hope that the team can put together some effort to stop the losing.</span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-81388136312137536002009-12-02T08:00:00.000-08:002009-12-02T09:46:12.664-08:00Game 26: Tampa in Boston Preview<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Updated*<br /><br /></span>The Bruins just signed <a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=300651">Savard to a seven year extensio</a><a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=300651">n</a>...cue the rumors of Kovalchuk to the Leafs now please....</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Enemy blog</span>: Check out </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.somethingsbruin.net/">Something's Bruin</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> where they are currently dissecting the contract extension that has Savard on the team till he's 40 years old (clearly front loaded)</span>.<span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The Bruins have won five of their last six games, and the Lightning have now been losing more than they've won in the past few games. The Lightning need to turn this around. With the new contract announcement, I expect Marc Savard to have a good game tonight, of course with any new contract, he may begin sucking next game for the rest of the year....<br /><br />The plus for the Lightning is that Ohlund has returned back to the lineup last game which will give the D some leadership direction. It wasn't that the defense played horribly while Ohlund was out, it just looked like they were lost during some games.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:</span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Mike Smith in goal</li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/6274826294">Smaby finally gets to play</a> tonight<br /></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 7:00pm ET on SUN.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-44868838248407177452009-12-01T18:27:00.000-08:002009-12-01T18:31:14.762-08:00Bolts Across the Globe<span style="font-family: arial;">Although I have not entered....sad I know, the Lightning are running a contest for people to choose their favorite photo of a Lightning fan that doesn't reside in the Tampa Bay area. Fans submitted photos to the Lightning Facebook fan page and now 10 photos have been selected, go </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=58902">here to vote</a> for your favorite.Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-77856769896186501852009-12-01T17:59:00.000-08:002009-12-01T18:16:26.114-08:00Karsums to the KHL?<span style="font-family: arial;">So this rumor hasn't really had legs yet because not many people care about the player, but </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://twitter.com/dchesnokov/status/6208119539">Dmitry Chesnokov tweete</a><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://twitter.com/dchesnokov/status/6208119539">d</a> "<span style="font-style: italic;">according to some reports in Latvia, Lightning's Martins Karsums wants to play in the NHL</span>"</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">He then followed his tweet </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://twitter.com/dchesnokov/status/6209990983">with this</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> "</span><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I have never even heard of the guy</span>" which just says it all. Karsums has just been all but forgotten of playing down in the AHL. Not a huge loss to the Lightning or anything since he was a little disappointing, thought I did think his name was fun to say.<br /></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-14822806980199210532009-11-30T10:00:00.000-08:002009-11-30T11:52:12.750-08:00Game 25: Colorado in Tampa Preview<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_byJDKq-4zm_HtACzmzCK-wfxwZCdakF5BXhQLLa1VjvGIK1dwbUPOrjqm8zdFyesc70vyUxzrlYKYQVNo9neJiysHdCvfOmC6rh7Y0pKmIKvEwEdFYeUjlvl2V1WZSle760xK7kn40/s1600/sweden-flag.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_byJDKq-4zm_HtACzmzCK-wfxwZCdakF5BXhQLLa1VjvGIK1dwbUPOrjqm8zdFyesc70vyUxzrlYKYQVNo9neJiysHdCvfOmC6rh7Y0pKmIKvEwEdFYeUjlvl2V1WZSle760xK7kn40/s320/sweden-flag.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409956890736255794" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It's Swedish Night! Featuring: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Swedish meatballs!</span> and chips, and hot dogs and Pepsi?!? The last 3 are definitely not Swedish...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Where is the pickled herring? the </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">vörtlimpa (Christmas rye bread)? the </span><span class="mw-redirect" style="font-family:arial;">gravad lax</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> (lox)? or my favorite: the Glögg? That last one not only sounds cool, it's the nordic term for mulled wine and I would recommend it as your beverage of choice while you watch tonights game.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: Check out <a href="http://jibblescribbits.blogspot.com/"></a><a href="http://jibblescribbits.blogspot.com/">Jibblescribbits</a> whose mother considers him as "handsome" or <a href="http://www.anyonebutdetroit.com/">Anyone but Detroit<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></a></span><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;font-family:arial;" ></span><a href="http://www.anyonebutdetroit.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;font-family:arial;" ></span></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">whose mother may or may not consider him as "handsome".</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Avalanche were awesome coming out of the gate surprising everyone, largely due to Craig Anderson's oustanding play. They have since slowed down a little, but are still in 4th place in the West, only 2 points back from the NW division leader. In the beginning of the season, Matt Duchene's name was being thrown around a lot for a possible rookie of the year...yeah, now, not so much but he does show flashes of great skill, but how about that Ryan O'Reilly kid?<br /><br />Craig Anderson has been 3-6-3 in his last 12 starts. Like the Lightning's loss to Dallas, the Avalanche lost on Saturday in a shootout to Minnesota. What hurts more for them is that also lost David Jones for the season with a torn ACL. Milan Hejduk and TJ Galiardi did not play due to injury.<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Our big Swede, Mattias Ohlund is still out<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 7:30pm ET on SUN.<br /><br />Note: I am a bit of a foodie, and have a thing for local European foods...so I am a little dismayed that Swedish night only has Swedish meatballs.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-44316098127705783812009-11-29T17:02:00.000-08:002009-11-29T20:55:50.464-08:00Vote for The Hockey Bay<span style="font-family:arial;">So the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://thenhlarena.com/">NHL Arena is running a blog-off contest</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> for all the NHL Teams. Yours truly has been nominated as one of the Tampa Bay Lightning bloggers. It says you have to pick your favorite 4, but really you can just pick 1 and hit submit...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">but I think Rawcharge are cool people too, so feel free to give them some love too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It takes about 5 minutes to register for an account, but maybe you'll be rewarded with good karma or something for voting for me. I don't really know what the purpose of this blog-off is, maybe just being voted best blog? Who knows.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://thenhlarena.com/index.php?showtopic=117065">here is the direct link</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> to click if you'd like to show me some love. If you don't, well thats ok too, since it doesn't affect me how I do on a discussion board contest, since well I rarely visit discussion boards...<br /></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-84695861610547726052009-11-28T11:40:00.000-08:002009-11-28T12:08:07.230-08:00Game 24: Tampa in Dallas Preview<span style="font-family:arial;">Second weekend in a row for back to back games. The Lightning take on the Dallas stars tonight in Dallas.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: Check out SBN's <a href="http://www.defendingbigd.com/">Defending Big D</a></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Both teams were in action last night, the Lightning won 5-1 over the Rangers, and the Stars lost 5-2 to the Coyotes. Both teams travelled to Dallas for tonights game. Both of our records are pretty close in number, the Lightning at 10-6-7 and the Starts at 11-7-7</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. There was a lot of 'both teams' in that paragraph, but what I'm trying to get at is that the teams are well matched up, and are in the same position in tiredness. Dallas has the edge with it being a home crowd, though fan turnout for Dallas has <a href="http://www.defendingbigd.com/2009/11/11/1123034/dallas-stars-look-to-raise">been pretty suspect lately</a>.<br /><br />The Lighting will not make any line-up changes to tonight, which means that Mike Smith will start in goal. Smith and Halpern return to Dallas to face their old team, from which they got traded from for Brad Richards.<br /><br />The Lightning have had help in scoring from their D men during the last couple of games which is great to see. Stamkos clearly is continuing his campaign to crack the Team Canada roster. Players to watch from Dallas beside Brad Richards is James Neal, Louie Eriksson and their rookie, who is a former Kelowna Rocket, Jamie Benn.<br /><br />If you can get the FS Southwest feed instead, I would <span style="font-weight: bold;">highly recommend</span> watching that one instead of the SUN one. By far, the Dallas guys are the most hilarious announcers in the NHL.<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:</span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Mattias Ohlund is still out with a lower body injury (day to day)</li><li>Mike Smith is in goal<br /></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 8:30pm ET on SUN.<br /><br />No recap of the game tonight, because I will be out hitting the town tonight for some celebrations...so instead to make up for it, please enjoy the Lecavalier and Richards NHL promo video</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eZUTiEdhL30&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eZUTiEdhL30&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span><br /></span></span></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-8762169915126908112009-11-28T11:10:00.000-08:002009-11-28T11:17:28.566-08:00Lightning 5, Rangers 1 - Bolts WIN<span style="font-family:arial;">When we were up 4-0 going into the 3rd, and I started to get nervous. You'd think being up 4-0 you wouldn't be nervous, but I was. It comes from the repeated times that the Lightning can have a lead, then somehow lose all composure, blow the lead, and end up losing in overtime.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But we didn't.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And Lundqvist got pulled. He gave up 4 goals on 22 shots.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Things just kinda went our way in this game. Great </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >team</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> effort.</span><br /><ul><li style="font-family: arial;">St. Louis had 3 assists</li><li style="font-family: arial;">Stamkos got another goal (#16)<br /></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Kurtis Foster went from no goals up until a week ago, to 3 goals, this may not seam like a lot, but that the same amount that he got for the Wild during the whole 06/07 season</span><br /></li></ul>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-75852917158770918422009-11-27T09:40:00.000-08:002009-11-27T13:27:05.359-08:00Game 23: Rangers in Tampa Preview<span style="font-family:arial;">Black Friday. I don't really understand all the hoopla about Black Friday....though I'm the type of person that will buy shoes at the beginning of the season because I don't like to deal with being told they don't have my size during a sale. I don't do large crowds at sales, I don't do boxing day sales, so I don't think I would do Black Friday well. I <span style="font-weight: bold;">do</span> like the concept of getting another day off, even if it is without pay.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: I don't respect many Ranger fans, except <a href="http://scottyhockey.blogspot.com/">Scotty Hockey</a></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8i8PpAO4S2EBZzEkds0tWN15om3XI7wwZkhIgp67J_pVL_9f0vSpEvbny2LLBLuLybWwgSE4dsBHzPDQXOCIxJAH8wKiViCRkMr_lEKBLsNZGTAphVk9BK45RTB3Xkl7zAtvmvOOq2j4/s1600/stamkos-rangers-DL.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8i8PpAO4S2EBZzEkds0tWN15om3XI7wwZkhIgp67J_pVL_9f0vSpEvbny2LLBLuLybWwgSE4dsBHzPDQXOCIxJAH8wKiViCRkMr_lEKBLsNZGTAphVk9BK45RTB3Xkl7zAtvmvOOq2j4/s320/stamkos-rangers-DL.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408836709740999954" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So for Black Friday, the Lightning will have an open skate for fans from 6-8:45am (who is up at that ungodly hour on a day off, I don't know) which if you are reading this, you have already missed. Followed by an open Lightning morning skate from 10am-1pm and a discounted equipment sale. Terrace level tickets are on sale for $10. Seriously. Click </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=507250&navid=DL%7CTBL%7Chome">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> for all the Black Friday details.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />There is also some discount on tickets for a "</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Lingerie Football League</span><span style="font-family:arial;">". I'm afraid to type that into the google machine and see what pops up.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />On the hockey front, the Ranjuhs are 13-10-1 and have won the last two in a row. The Lightning on the other hand, well defence at least look like they've lost all sense of direction since Ohlund has been out with injury.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Tonight is the return of John Tortorella for the first time back to face the Lightning as a coach for the Rangers, and really it's not a big deal. He still lives in the Tampa Bay area (at least he did last year when he was an analyst on TSN) and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/article1054731.ece">is part of the community</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Yes he did have a bit of a feud with Vinny when he coached the team, but Vinny is a big boy and will get over</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">the drama.<br /><br />What </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >is</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> a big deal is that Marian Gaborik is still healthy. And Wade Redden is injured.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:</span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Mattias Ohlund is still out with a lower body injury (day to day)</li><li>Mike <a href="http://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/6119975141">Smith is in goal</a><br /></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 7:30pm ET on SUN. Updates to follow.</span><br /></span></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-58485890924494273922009-11-26T08:00:00.000-08:002009-11-26T08:00:06.950-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07l_rRKwfDLP-MXexlfTSCqEVPo_UVPTaNV-cPUYKCAxuu5cQm3dbMnX_DU3RR4xj3RLFd8FxKLtc9DSYJpwrYbT6gUNoj7R3smv2T5mTSLZ3pfGp5mmEsCQ31058I8xjLPa_34JCahI/s1600/niitymakinov21_2009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07l_rRKwfDLP-MXexlfTSCqEVPo_UVPTaNV-cPUYKCAxuu5cQm3dbMnX_DU3RR4xj3RLFd8FxKLtc9DSYJpwrYbT6gUNoj7R3smv2T5mTSLZ3pfGp5mmEsCQ31058I8xjLPa_34JCahI/s320/niitymakinov21_2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407062391274610562" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Niitymaki: "knees and toes, knees and toes..."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">pic from </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://twitpic.com/qdcum">@TBLightning</a>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-57022716168862790672009-11-25T21:50:00.000-08:002009-11-25T22:11:35.775-08:00Leafs 4, Lightning 3 - Bolts LOSE<span style="font-family:arial;">This game was a bit of a first for the Lightning, it showed a back and forth play between the two teams. Even though we lost, and ended the home streak, from what I watched, I enjoyed the game for the entertainment factor.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Leafs came out early and scored two goals from Kulemin and Hagman early in the game. The Lightning answered back with a PPG from Meszaros and a even strength goal from Lecavalier in the 1st. Hagman started off the 2nd period with a goal for the Leafs, before Malone evened it up at 7:52 in the 2nd. It wasn't until the end of the 2nd that Stajan got the game winner of the night for the Leafs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Thoughts on the game:</span><br /><ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Stamkos had two assists</li><li>Toronto's Hagman had a fantastic game</li><li>Malone had a great chance to get a goal in the end, but he was clearly out of gas, and a neat diving poke check from Beauchemin killed the attempt</li><li>I didn't like Lundin's game, was terrible from what I saw in the 3rd</li><li>The Lightning lost for the first time in regulation at home this year<br /></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;">Next game for the Lightning is on Friday against the Rangers. Enjoy your Thanksgiving everyone (well Americans at least). Gobble Gobble.</span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-68237954478079033312009-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:002009-11-25T08:41:10.661-08:00Game 22: Toronto in Tampa Preview<span style="font-family:arial;">Gobble Gobble, Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers. Tronna is in town.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: There really are so many. Check out my favorites:<br /></span><ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Eyebleaf's blog <a href="http://www.sportsandthecity.com/">Sports and the City</a> for all things Toronto</li><li><a href="http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/">Pension Plan Puppets</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://www.downgoesbrown.com/">Down Goes Brown</a> for the funniest blog written</li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;">And check out this</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://archimedies.blogspot.com/2009/11/leafs-lightning-insider-info.html"> gem of a post by Archimedies</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> I missed the last time we played the Leafs, analyzing the suits that our boys wear as they walk into the arena. I agree with him/Wrap on Hedman's suit analysis.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1_rlMWgDNwKJmiSIN6NZr3_ljrzGia4LhRQfbOdAKgj4JlZhYBTOrThIYU4ejknlVTWv83o7gJDoee8JhNiwk0sU-hhH6hX4kllATfQvALeXgJzl7L88UjFIXUILbGOU4S86yOJyEHw/s1600/leafsgoalies.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1_rlMWgDNwKJmiSIN6NZr3_ljrzGia4LhRQfbOdAKgj4JlZhYBTOrThIYU4ejknlVTWv83o7gJDoee8JhNiwk0sU-hhH6hX4kllATfQvALeXgJzl7L88UjFIXUILbGOU4S86yOJyEHw/s320/leafsgoalies.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407894534877893778" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I hate when people call the Leafs the Laffs. It just sounds stupid and kinda redneck. I'm not a Leaf fan or anything, though I may know 2 or 3 (or realistically maybe about 10 of them), and of course, I like toss out a few Leaf jokes when they come in to town, but the people who call them the Laffs, they are just terrible and not creative at all. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Plus, I don't hate on the Leafs just because they suck, hell, we sucked more for the last 2 years, and if we don't stop losing games in OT we might be in the same position in a few months. In fact, I may have a soft spot for some of their players: The Monster, Schenn and Stalberg.<br /><br />So positives for the Leafs? They now have Phil Kessel playing. Unfortunately for the Leafs (and my hockey pool), they can't clone like 30 of him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The not so positives? They still have Jason Blake et al. on the team.<br /><br />Vesa Toskala is back on the IR after tweaking his groin, along with John Mitchell (on the IR that is, not involved in the going tweaking) so they can hang out with Mike Komisarek and Mike Van Ryn. They have </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=299711">recalled Joey Macdonald and Christian Hanson</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> from the Marlies yesterday as replacements. And the Leafs are tied with Carolina in points for the bottom of the East at 15 a piece.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There's some Thanksgiving <span style="font-weight: bold;">tailgate party</span> you can go to in Tampa tonight, where for $25 you can have unlimited food, beer, wine and soda! Did I seriously write that? </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Unlimited beer and wine</span><span style="font-family:arial;">? Where I live, I think that $25 may cover your parking, and that's not even talking about food and drinks. Back to tailgating: I've never been to a tailgate party, they don't have those here where I live, so I don't really understand what goes on at them, but I would really love to go. Click </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=507343&navid=DL%7CTBL%7Chome">her</a><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=507343&navid=DL%7CTBL%7Chome">e</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> for details on the one going on tonight in Tampa.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:<br /></span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li><a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/content/if-nothing-else-tampa-bay-lightning-loose-remember-wednesdays-game-7">Niitymaki is expected to start</a><br /></li><li>Mattias Ohlund is out with a lower body injury, but skated during practice yesterday<br /></li><li>Mike Lundin <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/content/after-one-good-game-tampa-bay-lightning-sends-mike-lundin-back-ahl-norfolk">has already been sent back to Norfolk</a>,<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">update:</span> Mike Lundin has been recalled back from Norfolk<br /></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;">: 7pm ET SUN and TSN!!<br /><br />I found <a href="http://www.believeinthegoal.com/news_articles.html">this</a> while looking up Lightning/Leaf picture for my preview, and came across <a href="http://www.believeinthegoal.com/news_articles.html">this from last year when the Leafs and the Lightning</a> played. It's from the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Believe in The Goal Foundation</span> that was founded by Todd Davison (WHL player) who was diagnosed with cancer. He started the foundation to help in the fight to end cancer. Check out some pictures of the Lightning hanging out with12 year old cancer survivor, Mason Sesak who got to hang out with some of the team last year in Toronto. Love this.<br /></span></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-76458642931707783102009-11-24T20:00:00.001-08:002009-11-24T20:11:32.115-08:00More Swedish Love - Legal Version<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSKFajHyduZkgVq94Cfj9m8gulHmTM5IEvPrciSm1S4EyYETEZAO6FonY1z1Vlk6v71Ju-Qjsq1NUbYh2RVP7gYSaJ3Ak1398tflzStJZYAAPdqGvPkANHSxSJoEpa0HWYFRtwjsgpOE/s1600/Ohlund_magazinecover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSKFajHyduZkgVq94Cfj9m8gulHmTM5IEvPrciSm1S4EyYETEZAO6FonY1z1Vlk6v71Ju-Qjsq1NUbYh2RVP7gYSaJ3Ak1398tflzStJZYAAPdqGvPkANHSxSJoEpa0HWYFRtwjsgpOE/s320/Ohlund_magazinecover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407886654382826834" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Hello. there. Swedish. Stud.</span><br /><br><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNzA4jDDd85y5W-urEgvOujcvAjBYs3b_y4jo45C4O8WNYAYr-EJ-3E1aht5dGf9FxL87AgAG3ToBkcuJN-mR60xVI-zmfAzHyxMgAuHVP-hqenSc79nrgiTMKSYjWlW3P6rciziM0TM/s1600/Ohlund_magazinecover1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNzA4jDDd85y5W-urEgvOujcvAjBYs3b_y4jo45C4O8WNYAYr-EJ-3E1aht5dGf9FxL87AgAG3ToBkcuJN-mR60xVI-zmfAzHyxMgAuHVP-hqenSc79nrgiTMKSYjWlW3P6rciziM0TM/s320/Ohlund_magazinecover1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407888140239529650" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I don't how the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.tampabayillustrated.com/hottwentyunder40">magazine came up with the nickname</a> "<span style="font-family: arial;">The Iceman</span>" <span style="font-family: arial;">since I've</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">never heard of anyone calling him anything but Ohlie, but after this photo I don't care.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">tHB approves of this photo</span>.Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-15650813426592591982009-11-23T07:00:00.000-08:002009-11-23T07:00:04.711-08:00Swedish love in video form<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdgqNSpUFANoWc0o7SSs4DXPeei59Qy62QJfp5Upm90mXRaj9zi_9PLV7D9pNCGDMQTPtmmvYU00XI_sAOAEgb3aHCpKGn_JWty3GJY9jHU29SsGhIbQM0c4i5eD33nyzngsdP7uV6xU/s1600/hedmandraft2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdgqNSpUFANoWc0o7SSs4DXPeei59Qy62QJfp5Upm90mXRaj9zi_9PLV7D9pNCGDMQTPtmmvYU00XI_sAOAEgb3aHCpKGn_JWty3GJY9jHU29SsGhIbQM0c4i5eD33nyzngsdP7uV6xU/s320/hedmandraft2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407048613682844434" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So while checking out the Lightning website today, on their front page, they told me that Victor Hedman has a message for me! So clearly, I clicked on it. </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.channel1media.com/lightning/2009/ecard/?cmpid=tbl-ext:hedmanecard">Click here,</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> seriously, you won't regret it.<br /><br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Um....Victor Hedman...I think I may love you after this video. The writing is so bad, but you make it work, shifting your weight and your coy smile....</span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-69841632543926278122009-11-22T20:59:00.000-08:002009-11-22T21:06:43.015-08:00Lightning 4, Thrashers 3 - Bolts WIN<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZkfwPpgF-XX46hWE_hAuW2gB4QcW3BUsNRRoj1NljdNpao5BBTtuA5jw1KBIpFgIJIkULnC5YYvhv2b39NWUOYKGw_UT_j6ZizpAiLddauCcZvSUm3yokiZ6uWLHAoWZOM1cuJLz2z0/s1600/lightningthrashersnov22_09.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZkfwPpgF-XX46hWE_hAuW2gB4QcW3BUsNRRoj1NljdNpao5BBTtuA5jw1KBIpFgIJIkULnC5YYvhv2b39NWUOYKGw_UT_j6ZizpAiLddauCcZvSUm3yokiZ6uWLHAoWZOM1cuJLz2z0/s320/lightningthrashersnov22_09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407152267605161058" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Classy Thrasher fans. At least you're classier than </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lur2HB3ihk0">Anaheim's fans</a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Stamkos scored his 15th goal of the season to win this game 2:56 into OT.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Thoughts on the game:</span><br /><ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>No TV broadcast=NHL fails at life</li><li>The Lightning outshot the Thrashers 40-31</li><li>The Lightning blew the 3-1 lead</li><li>Lecavalier hit two posts</li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;">Next game is at home against the Leafs on Wedsnesday</span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-31381046057828521232009-11-22T12:45:00.000-08:002009-11-22T13:13:19.427-08:00Game 21: Tampa in Atlanta Preview<span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Guh. What a lack of effort yesterday. We lost to the second worst team in the league, who is missing a goalie and E Staal. Let's forget about it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: Pay your respect to Laura at <a href="http://wazzupwitchu.blogspot.com/">Wazzupwitchu</a> for some Thrashers love<br /><br /></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqASqk070nQAl9hFsm9XdpFuM0pa8brouJ4bTU1YCPJxkw38Vje6v_6dDN6qn4-wpkjDFXfsi50ovH_LxQLcuDmMNppbIcUWyRRl4KavgG7-9VY98DbJdSQGC-pB8DpoIwU5zQQwuI6E/s1600/vinny-thrashers2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqASqk070nQAl9hFsm9XdpFuM0pa8brouJ4bTU1YCPJxkw38Vje6v_6dDN6qn4-wpkjDFXfsi50ovH_LxQLcuDmMNppbIcUWyRRl4KavgG7-9VY98DbJdSQGC-pB8DpoIwU5zQQwuI6E/s320/vinny-thrashers2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407038034875727666" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">When the NHL designed schedule, did they say to themselves: "gee, no one will care about this game, so let's just stick it on a Sunday afternoon and not televise it". Well if they wanted people not to care about the game, I think they've achieved what they were looking to do.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">So even though this game may not seem to even matter, it does. The Lightning look better in the standings than they have been playing due to the 7 points they've picked up from their OT losses. The loss last night against Carolina was really 4 points because the Hurricanes are in the same division as the Lightning and tonight the Lightning are in the same situation with the Thrashers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:<br /></span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Niitymaki is in net<br /></li><li>Mattias Ohlund is out with a lower body injury</li><li>Mike <a href="http://twitter.com/TBLightning/statuses/5950320581">Lundin 'should play'</a> according to Tocchet</li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Game time: 5pm ET, no tv feed, but you can listen to it on 970 WLFA if you have nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon.</span><br /></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-90260761882422432432009-11-21T11:26:00.000-08:002009-11-21T12:20:21.653-08:00Game 20: Tampa in Carolina Preview<span style="font-family:arial;">After that win over the Leafs, the Hurricanes are no longer the worst team in the league, don't worry they still suck<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy blog</span>: <a href="http://caniac26.blogspot.com/">The Life and Times of a Caniac</a><br /></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE9WJT4deD30cfzcElhw2EtLWtt8ltghIPdBASZ7s9_fTYgtJnsFckFEPBwbBWATu86o94m0N6WTZhhAMQ7mwjda7INzwWzFZrX2QrBEWh_z3FTPqRNTurHGyrORy6SVY8PsoYVc34jM/s1600/halpern-canes-DL.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE9WJT4deD30cfzcElhw2EtLWtt8ltghIPdBASZ7s9_fTYgtJnsFckFEPBwbBWATu86o94m0N6WTZhhAMQ7mwjda7INzwWzFZrX2QrBEWh_z3FTPqRNTurHGyrORy6SVY8PsoYVc34jM/s320/halpern-canes-DL.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406644776700883410" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Nice of the folks at </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020318">the Lightning website</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> to use a photo of a player (E Stall) that is not even playing. Half of the Canes are out with injury: Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Michael Leighton, Scott Walker, Joni Pitkanen and Michael Ryan.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Lightning are now 4-0-2, and are tied with the Islanders for the most pity points awarded: 7 FYI.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:<br /></span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Mike <a href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=506994">Smith in net</a></li><li>Mattias Ohlund is out with a lower body injury</li><li>Mike <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/content/tampa-bay-lightning-calls-defensemen-mike-lundin-and-matt-smaby-ahl-norfolk">Lundin and Matt Smaby have been called up from Norfolk</a></li><li>Lundin is not expected to play tonight, but maybe tomorrow in Atlanta</li><li>Smaby's call up may have to do with an upper body injury that he has gotten<br /></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Game time: 7pm ET on SUN</span><br /></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-78949396106135166732009-11-19T21:03:00.000-08:002009-11-19T21:04:03.756-08:00Stamkos' Goal of the Year (so far)<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gmL6qepCRCE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gmL6qepCRCE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-7120289421751807462009-11-18T21:19:00.000-08:002009-11-18T21:25:00.927-08:00Game 19: Tampa in Anaheim<span style="font-family:arial;">I cannot love the Ducks, in fact I think I may hate them. The hate I feel for them feels like it has gotten stronger over the years. It's something about the players on the Ducks that I just don't like. Ryan Getzlaf makes me want to kick kittens.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy Blog</span>: Check out <a href="http://www.anaheimcalling.com/">Anaheim Calling</a>, because although I may hate the Ducks, Arthur and Daniel are actually nice guys.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL5hlVVxaVRT1Qzgmy_2uAYmHT9fblcaBi4n5MB86g9BGnVosPtkDUszTWFNgBCQyUPwmuWlSmQwgJQcxKQJ_orIwyBtBVXDt5wggHsEjDWXAUaPcNptXGwKePUljKbrxxBjAZWL-XV_M/s1600/ducksstatspacdiv.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL5hlVVxaVRT1Qzgmy_2uAYmHT9fblcaBi4n5MB86g9BGnVosPtkDUszTWFNgBCQyUPwmuWlSmQwgJQcxKQJ_orIwyBtBVXDt5wggHsEjDWXAUaPcNptXGwKePUljKbrxxBjAZWL-XV_M/s320/ducksstatspacdiv.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405668537495359826" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And because I don't like the Ducks, it makes me pleased to see them at the bottom of the Pacific division. The Ducks have lost 10 out of the last 13 games which has put them at 6-10-3. During their roadtrip out east, which they just got back from, their record was 0-3-1, and that has dropped them back to the bottom of the West.</span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmCSqvEll-KfiUgGBVe3pMSfKvreuXelA7q8d76kX7SVye8YfQZ8rEniUuD3gPK3w62a5eeC7E-PzJj2uL8h0H1CpChNS1h9OwnFJS95T2_zRv_pwOmTppkH1CYlOty_N-HLFXu4J-HI/s1600/ducksstatswest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmCSqvEll-KfiUgGBVe3pMSfKvreuXelA7q8d76kX7SVye8YfQZ8rEniUuD3gPK3w62a5eeC7E-PzJj2uL8h0H1CpChNS1h9OwnFJS95T2_zRv_pwOmTppkH1CYlOty_N-HLFXu4J-HI/s320/ducksstatswest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405669930434830738" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">With rumors swirling last week that Randy Carlisle's coaching job was on the line, the GM came forward and squashed those rumors. So, if it's not the coach being fired, will we see some players traded soon? Perhaps. The Ducks' defense haven't looked as good since Pronger was traded last year and although they have scoring from Getzlaf and Perry, the need more scoring from their other players.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm going to enjoy this fabulous feeling of the Ducks sucking while I can.<br /><br />The Lightning on the other hand 4-0-1 in their last 5 games. Last game in Phoenix, the Lightning had goals from all the players that really had to deliver: Lecavalier, Tanguay and St. Louis. Smitty also had a solid game in net, which has <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/content/tampa-bay-lightning-finding-ways-win-despite-not-playing-its-best-mike-smith-stays-net">earned him the start tonight</a> against Anaheim. Does this make sense? Winning one game gets you the start in the next one even though Niity has played so well in a string of games before? Well it does when Tocchet is your coach, who may or may not want Smith to succeed and Niity to fail (which is completely based on no fact whatsoever). But neverless, it's a good reward for Smith after playing a good game.<br /><br />Now all this has sounded like the Lightning are perfect, um not so much. Cristodero raises a great point, that <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/content/tampa-bay-lightning-finding-ways-win-despite-not-playing-its-best-mike-smith-stays-net">the boys have been outshot</a> in eight straight games, and in 13 of its past 14. Which really does say that the goaltending by primarily Niitymaki, and that last game from Smith has really bailed them out.<br /><br />Tocchet rattles on about having the <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/content/tampa-bay-lightning-finding-ways-win-despite-not-playing-its-best-mike-smith-stays-net">players going hard to the net</a>, which is good advice for the players that can do it, though I don't agree about his view that he doesn't want perimeter players. Some players are perimeter players, who, yes, need to get pucks on net, but I think you need to play your strengths by shooting and if the initial shot doesn't go in, well then there need to be players who are at the net to put in the rebound.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Line-up Notes</span>:<br /></span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Mike Smith in net</li><li>Mattias Ohlund is expected to play, but spent the Wednesday in a walking boot<br /></li></ul> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 10:00pm ET on, um nothing locally, but it is broadcasted on Prime for Anaheim fans.</span><br /></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-90393151998307493202009-11-16T21:20:00.000-08:002009-11-16T21:29:54.457-08:00Lightning 4, Coyotes 1 - Bolts WIN<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicc4z_h1HJLF_GRPduwoRP59nrJ0lICFez1TqOxDYeBNEpZ1s4DYqUtF3FDoCOJMX1wjk1SgsdK1NNU16cESVryehSkbJu4K4Cmidu-OXT3mRgx1lzLOPLQ4OqUVItpHcM-zEtOP3SOnk/s1600/lightningnov15_09coyotes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicc4z_h1HJLF_GRPduwoRP59nrJ0lICFez1TqOxDYeBNEpZ1s4DYqUtF3FDoCOJMX1wjk1SgsdK1NNU16cESVryehSkbJu4K4Cmidu-OXT3mRgx1lzLOPLQ4OqUVItpHcM-zEtOP3SOnk/s320/lightningnov15_09coyotes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404937823555509922" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Vinny covers his face thinking something bad may have happened, but Marty answers back: "High Five man?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Mike Smith got the start in net tonight. Earlier today I was confused as to why you would give Smith the start even though it was Niitymaki who had gotten the Lightning points in games that they had no business being in. But we won, so I can't complain, but I am curious as to why, especially since our next game is not until Thursday night so Niity would have had plenty of rest...oh, but recap, that's why you're here:</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The Lightning won. </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span>And they won in regulation.</span></span><a style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkHpAcd_obI5qtDaOtH7YkBoj83FqlJUUKkSTK7Eozw1orewXSbwXKT5WlLRvbCtkvaWsCW9QtTFuMdpygJYVzJlsXH93LtOKTp0XMwfWcyztoX120pVhzIKiHgYNHqRic9kE4qlRcZ8/s1600/lightningnov15_09coyotes2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkHpAcd_obI5qtDaOtH7YkBoj83FqlJUUKkSTK7Eozw1orewXSbwXKT5WlLRvbCtkvaWsCW9QtTFuMdpygJYVzJlsXH93LtOKTp0XMwfWcyztoX120pVhzIKiHgYNHqRic9kE4qlRcZ8/s320/lightningnov15_09coyotes2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404932802358374162" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br /><br clear=all><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Malone looks like someone just told him unicorns exist, jebus he look happy.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Here are some thoughts on the game:</span> <ul><li style="font-family: arial;">Mike Smith make 30 saves, some of those were big saves on Petr Prucha</li><li style="font-family: arial;">The Coyotes have less fans that we do</li><li style="font-family: arial;">Lecavalier, Tanguay and St. Louis all got goals. Vinny got two of them (though the second one was off of Hanzal's stick)<br /></li><li style="font-family: arial;">Smith stacked the pads to stop Shane Doan's shot</li><li style="font-family: arial;">Hockey 101 <a href="http://lightning.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?hlg=20092010,2,288&event=PHX70&fr=false">tells you what a glove save i</a><a href="http://lightning.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?hlg=20092010,2,288&event=PHX70&fr=false">s</a> (at around the 2 min left in the 2nd)</li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">"The </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2009020288">announced crowd was 9,503</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, ending a three-game streak of five-figure attendance", but if you saw the stands, you'd know that they were no where near 9500....</span><br /></li></ul>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-21956883397880306422009-11-16T07:39:00.000-08:002009-11-16T11:49:28.730-08:00Game 18: Tampa in Phoenix Preview<span style="font-family:arial;">"</span><span style="font-family:arial;">After the longest scheduled flight of the 2009-10 season, the Lightning arrive in Phoenix more than four hours after leaving Tampa"-@<a href="http://twitter.com/TBLightning/statuses/5747757720">TBLightning</a><br /><br />Oh cry me a river. A 4 hour flight and whoever is writing for the Lightning twitter account is sounding like they have it bad with travel. They do not.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enemy Blog</span>: Coyotes blogs? They do actually exist. Check out <a href="http://www.hipchecks.com/">Hipchecks</a></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> for your fix of the desert dogs.<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />This is the first of two meetings between the Lightning and the Coyotes, and is the 1st of a 4 game roadtrip The roadtrip consists of the Coyotes tonight, the Ducks on Thursday and a back to back game starting on Saturday against Carolina followed by the Thrashers on Sunday.<br /><br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">The Coyotes are playing better than people expected this year. People think that just because financially you suck and <del>will be sold soon</del> have been sold, well your season probably sucks too. Not so, the Coyotes are </span><span style="font-family:arial;">11-8-0.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The <a href="http://lightning.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020288">official Lightning website game preview</a> says that the big story is: "</span><span style="font-family:arial;">The Lightning have surged into the Eastern Conference playoff picture by picking up at least one point in nine of their last 10 games."</span> <a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaSDDuyfcYAwbzW6agDcB9cYIk1Vx47qhW6Ic2gH9RWbpp_2LmScqb4YkV8kr_ejuM_FUlyYN46-AGZ8ZHGxHT5YaxNxwcCUb6rQ1PjytOeBxJ_01KbUqv6j0G34enbCH4eoM5Zr4q2k/s1600/eaststandingsnov152009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaSDDuyfcYAwbzW6agDcB9cYIk1Vx47qhW6Ic2gH9RWbpp_2LmScqb4YkV8kr_ejuM_FUlyYN46-AGZ8ZHGxHT5YaxNxwcCUb6rQ1PjytOeBxJ_01KbUqv6j0G34enbCH4eoM5Zr4q2k/s320/eaststandingsnov152009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404515860092869746" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Which is not quite the way I look at it. In fact if the playoffs started today, because we only got 1 point last night, we are NOT in the picture. Points from OT losses are pity points, not exactly something you want to get excited about in November. That is not called surging.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Lightning hope to improve their road record, which already looked better on the last trip out, going 2-1-1. They will meet former Bolt Radim Vrbata tonight, who has 5 goals and 4 assists so far this season. He got the game winner against Dallas on Saturday night.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Line-up Notes</span>:<br /></span> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Ryan Craig and Matt Smaby have been <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/content/tampa-bay-lightning-sends-matt-smaby-ryan-craig-ahl-norfolk">assigned to the Admirals</a></li><li>Mattias Ohlund is <a href="http://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/5773708460">questionable for tonight's game</a> with a lower body injury<br /></li></ul> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Game time</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">: 9:00pm ET on....</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >no</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> where. That's because nobody cares about the Lightning/Coyotes games enough to even have a feed. Fantastic.<br /></span></span></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4854913745742232939.post-57460211220893725872009-11-15T14:25:00.000-08:002009-11-15T15:10:55.605-08:00Lightning 1, Kings 2 - Bolt LOSE<span style="font-family: arial;">The Tampa Bay Lightning lost again in a shootout. Our record of shootouts is just not very good. That shootout win over the Wild the other day, is now written off to be a lucky win. But did this game really have to go to a shootout?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Some thoughts:</span><br /><ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Niitymaki robbed Kopitar early in the 2nd period</li><li>Drew Doughty opened up the scoring on a powerplay goal in the 3rd (the puck hit Meszaros' skate)</li><li>Malone decides to take matters into his own hands and wrap the puck around the net on Quick</li><li>The SUN guys call Malone's wrap around a patented shot...um...no, it's not. I do agree how they called him "Mr. Clutch"</li><li>Meszaros finally does something and scores, the Lightning spill off of the bench to the ice to congratulate, but the refs waive it off because of goalie interference. The refs botch this call since Szczechura was pushed into Quick, but no review can be made on this type of call.</li><li>I start thinking that maybe refs might have had some deal worked out with the Kings owners for the win? Would that be a quick trip to the Palms in Las Vegas after the game?</li><li>Even with the bad call on the no goal, the Lightning have a chance to win in the shootout....dum dum dum....<br /></li><li>Kopitar beats Niitymaki 5 hole in the shootout, and Tanguay can't beat Quick as the final shooter (especially when he throws the puck at Quicks pads)</li><li>Bolts lose<br /></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes refs sometimes make bad calls, it happens but in the end, the Lightning had a chance to still win the game in the shootout, but didn't. None of our shooters (Lecavalier, Stamkos or Tanguay) were able to score. Maybe Tocchet should spend a little more time on the shootout in practice or the Lightning should try to win in regulation.</span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777904539341451094noreply@blogger.com0