My poor Tampa Bay Lightning

[TBLfan 25]

Holmqvist hasn't been looking good, the defense has. Holmer has made a few good saves but he looks slow and out of position, albeit not horribly out of position.

Prospal has ben looking good, Richards is playing decent. Lecavalier is back to the whole skate around and not try thing he's done most of his career. I dont think a trade is going to help much but who knows it might light a fire under their asses.

[Fletch 219]

I still can't believe Tortorella hasn't been canned yet. That team has no business being in the position there in, with all that talent.

[gxc999 7]

I heard some talk of Torts on the hot seat about 5 weeks ago, then it was never mentioned again.

IMO Holmer has been making pretty good saves when it counts and yeah, the defense has really been sharp. I also noticed Vinny's lackluster play, I'm not sure what's the matter but I hope he solves it soon.

[LkptTiger 1]

Quality character guys in the system, too ; namely a certain defenseman who signed with Norfolk after being dismissed from Michigan's program. Having played with him in the past, I can't believe he did what he did to "earn" himself the boot, but one "little" fuck-up has shown him to be a type of person that I have no tolerance for.

[kosydar 0]

Are you talking about Quick? What'd he do? I'd imagine it'd be quite bad, you don't hear of many kids getting kicked off teams.

[LkptTiger 1]

Yeah, Quick. PMed.

[supahdon 0]

A former University of Michigan hockey player was arraigned Tuesday morning on identity theft charges for allegedly stealing his teammate's bank account numbers.

Kevin Quick, 19, stood mute during his arraignment in 15th District Court in Ann Arbor, which he attended with his mother and attorney. He is charged with single counts of identity theft, fraud under false pretenses, and using a computer to commit a crime.

The Buffalo, N.Y., native faces up to five to seven years in prison if he's convicted. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 12.

The other player, who was Quick's roommate, notified team officials that about $1,000 in unauthorized charges were made from his bank account in mid-January, Ann Arbor Detective Sgt. Jim Stephenson said. Berenson referred the case to police, Stephenson said.

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/02...yer_charge.html

[gxc999 7]

Another home loss to a mediocre team, although Boston is a little hot right now.

Torts is doing a terrible job coaching, nobody seems to be listening. They've all turned into a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.

We had just scored to cut the lead to 4-3 and received a power play with 1:30 remaining in regulation. So what happens? Do we score on the power play to tie and force overtime? Uh no, we turn it over skating into the offensive zone, give up a shorthanded breakaway and let them score, 5-3, game over. Nobody really seems to give a crap right now, please do something Feaster!

I don't care if they lose, but to see such a talented team put forth a half half-assed effort is embarrassing.

[TBLfan 25]

It's tough to score on the PP when you dont shoot in the first 1:30, which is ridiculous in itself then you look and realize that all but about 5 seconds was in the offensive zone.

You have to take advantage when your crappy goalie is playing decently, and the lightning arent doing it... But of course the PP is still Rammer's fault. It's a shame that Rammer got fired over head coaching issues.

[killthepoodle 0]

Season's over. Koules has his hands in everything and management doesnt trust him because his funding has fallen through twice already.

Torts has gotta go. He has lost the locker room.

[TBLfan 25]

He lost them a looong time ago. He's an ass, no one likes an ass.

[killthepoodle 0]

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/25/Lightnin...again__Li.shtml

Nice article on the current situation.

[killthepoodle 0]

Anyone listening to Steve Duemig today- they are tearing Koules to shreds.

I'm gonna miss Brad Richards.

[gxc999 7]

I listened to Duemig all the time back when I was in the bay area. I think they were dead on with the Richie trade, but got too little in return for Prospal. They'll now have cap room for the upcoming season, and maybe a franchise goalie to boot... Hopefully, they'll add a couple good forwards and a d-man in the upcoming season.

[killthepoodle 0]

We need a veteran Defensive D-man to tutor these young guys for sure. Boyle isnt the answer for defensive leadership.

[TBLfan 25]

That's what Lukawich was brought in for, Richardson failed on that last year. I think it helped Lundin and Obie a lot. Ranger was probably helped by his leadership too, but moreso the icetime.

[gxc999 7]

The good news is, with the cap going up $4-5 million, they might actually be able to sign a couple good leaders in the off-season... I'm going to look up the UFA's for next year in a while and return my findings...

[TBLfan 25]

IF the sale goes through. The Lightning were under the 07-08 cap by like 4 mill. Davidson had a self-imposed cap.

[Chadd 916]

IF the sale goes through. The Lightning were under the 07-08 cap by like 4 mill. Davidson had a self-imposed cap.

Word was they wanted to keep the salary at or below the current level.

[TBLfan 25]

wouldn't be surprised. In all reality, keeping Richards and adding another winger to this current lineup is feasable under next years cap. Even with resigning Boyle and Lecavalier.

[killthepoodle 0]

According to Feaster and Torts, Koules wanted to get rid of Boyle, Prospal, and Richards. They had to fight for Boyle.

[gxc999 7]

Getting rid of Boyle would've been a catastrophic error, but what difference does it make when the team is already a catastrophe? Tonight's game is case in point, nobody was skating like they wanted to win. It really looks to me like the players are trying to get the coaching staff fired. Vinny? seems like he's practicing for the upcoming ice-capades.

Look at how many goals Mike Smith gave up, then ask yourself how many of them were his fault? Answer, maybe 1. Any goalie is going to give up 2-1, deflection, and breakaway goals. BTW, if this sale goes through, I have to imagine there is a total housecleaning and the only superstar who returns may be LeCavalier. This is starting to really get painful.

[TBLfan 25]

I wouldn't have wanted to play in that divefest and horrendous one-sided calls.

[gxc999 7]

I wouldn't have wanted to play in that divefest and horrendous one-sided calls.

Peckham and the Chief were having shit fits over most of those calls. Yeh, some of the dives were Oscar worthy. Even still, the defense seemed to hang Smith out to try 3 or 4 times, giving up 2-1s etc. This reminds me of how Atlanta played at the very start of this season, in order to get Hartley fired.

[TBLfan 25]

I really dont listen to the announcers because they are pretty biased and I like looking at things as impartial as I can. There were some pretty good dives, especially behind the play. I was in awe that in back-to-back games a lightning player gets tripped or roughed into a player and the Lightning player gets called for tripping.

The defense was tired, they got stuck out there for very long shifts... It's tough getting back when you have no legs left.

BTW Picard/Lundin are ballers.

Honestly, I believe that if the game was called more balanced the results might have been different. Smith is winning me over and our defense is solid most of the time. Halpern and Jokinen do a great job at getting back when our D pinches.