The Lightning (semi) Weekly Round Up

The Weekly Roundup


Weekly Record: 3-3

Overall Record: 9-12, 2nd in the Southeast, 6 points behind the Caps

Wasteland +/-: -1

Key Injuries: Paul Ranger - Personal Reasons, Mattias Ohlund - ankle

Highlight: Goal of the Year

Disappointed By: I was already to write Andrej Meszaros’ name here and then he goes and starts playing well again. I guess that’s what I get for skipping a week. So instead I’ll go with the Lightning’s TV schedule. The last week has seen at least three games that weren’t televised (including Sunday’s OT win against the Thrashers).

If you’re not going to televise every game why not skip a few home games. Of course, I’m sure there were some fiscal concerns when it came to making the decision. Not showing the games from the Bolts longest west coast trip probably saved the organization a nice bit of money. In the long run it might be the smart thing to do, but it definitely irritates an already restless fan base.

According to my refrigerator magnet schedule there are 11 more games that aren’t being televised. Five of those games are road games (including the next to last game of the season). Some of those game may have been picked up by Channel 44 (You’ll find your friends on UPN FORTY-FOUR!)

With a struggling football team and no basketball team this is the time that the Bolts have to do everything in their power to win over new fans. To me that means showing as many games as possible. If this team is still in the playoff hunt come late April there will definitely be a much louder outcry from the bandwagon fans.

Surprised By: Steven Stamkos. The sophomore sensation keeps on ticking along. Most impressive was a blurb in today’s St Pete Times where Stamkos reveals that he pushed himself to make a difference from the first shift of the game on Sunday. It’s easy for players to get motivated by others (hello Mr. Lecavalier), the players that can motivate themselves tend to stand apart.

Playoff Confidence: 65%. Another road trip where the Bolts picked up a majority of the points available. It would have been nice to see a couple of outright wins against the struggling Ducks and Canes, but at this point they have to take what they can get.


Pet Peeve of the Week: Not saying hello on the phone. I make about 60-70 phone calls a day and you would be surprised to find out how few people say hello. I understand that you’re busy, but come on people it takes a second and makes the world a little bit of a better place.

The Lightning Weekly Round-Up - Special Two Week Edition!

The Weekly Roundup


Weekly Record: 3-3

Overall Record: 6-9, 2nd in the Southeast, 7 points behind the Caps

Wasteland +/-: 0

Key Injuries: Paul Ranger - Personal Reasons, Victor Hedman - Concussion

Highlight: I’m going with Rick Tocchet on this one. He’s taking a lot of heat for the way he’s called out the captain of his hockey club in the past two weeks. Not only did he demote him to the fourth line he’s also made several comments about Vincent Lecavalier’s lack of work ethic.

Frankly, it’s refreshing that Tocchet isn’t holding anything back. At the beginning of the year he said that everyone on the team is accountable and he’s being true to his word. Several times, enough that it might replace “Together We Will” as the team slogan, he has made the remark that it’s the “Tampa Bay Lightning” not the “Vinny Lightning” or the “Marty Lightning”.

With the salary that players make today the most effective way to get through to them is by reducing their playing time. In Lecavalier’s case there is history that this tactic works. Some fans might not remember this, but at one time a young coach by the name of John Tortorella butted heads with a blossoming superstar named Vincent Lecavalier.

It was exactly six years ago that COACH benched Lecavalier for his shoddy defensive play. In a post game news conference Tortorella went off,

"Interesting. It wasn't the proper call?" Tortorella said. "Let's forget about the backhand turnover that I've seen all year long, let's forget about that. What about the [expletive] effort in the end zone after watching everybody battle trying to keep the puck out of our net? Let's not even talk about instincts, let's talk about simply playing hard. I'm tired of the whining, because we've been patient. So what he says, I really don't give a [expletive]. He has got to start learning again to play with intensity and under the team concept, plain and simple. If he doesn't, he sits. I don't give a [expletive] who he is or who he thinks he is."

God, I miss that man.

After, the benching COACH and Lecavalier worked things out and the Bolts went on to have a pretty good season, that’s right they won the cup that year. Vincent didn’t have his best scoring season, but he did finish at a +23, the only season he was in the + column.

Will Tocchet get the same results? It’s too soon to say, but the enigmatic center is a +3 since the demotion.


Disappointed By: West Palm Beach. I can’t stress how much that town needs a good sports bar. Or if there is one there, they need to advertise it better.

Surprised By: Antero Niittymaki. He was signed as a stop-gap in case Mike Smith wasn’t fully recovered from his post concussion syndrome. It’s hard to say if Smith is still bothered by the injury or if he’s just struggling, but the Finnish goalie has been more than bargained for.

He’s 4-3 and has all but usurped Smith as the number one goalie in Tampa. He just hasn’t been solid, he’s been spectacular. He’s stopped 94% of the shots he’s faced and has stopped 30 or more shots in five of his seven starts. He’s stopped breakaways, 2-on-1’s, shots from the point and shots down low. The off-season hip surgery hasn’t slowed him down either.
After six weeks he’s running second in the team MVP standings (young Steven Stamkos is first).

Playoff Confidence: 61%. A decent road trip (2 wins and five points) is a step up from the previous sojourns away from the Ice Palace.

Pet Peeve of the Week Talk shows on channels that are supposed to be “all news, all the time”. I’m talking about Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann, Bill O’Reilly, and all the rest. Regardless of your political leanings, those show’s aren’t “news”. They are entertainment. Think of them as the TMZ’s of the political world.

The Lightning Weekly Round Up - Week 4

The Weekly Roundup


Weekly Record: 1-2

Overall Record: 3-6, 9 points, 3rd in the Southeast 5 points behind the Caps

Wasteland +/-: -1

Key Injuries: Paul Ranger - Personal Reasons. The reason for Ranger leaving the team hasn’t been announced yet, but hopefully it’s something that can be fixed and he can return to the team soon.

Highlight: This was a tough one. I was torn between their first win against a quality opponent (the Sharks) or Vinny scoring his first goal. Since I am the proud owner of a Vincent Lecavalier jersey I’m going with Vinny’s goal. He scored in the dying seconds of Saturday’s game against the Sabres.

Since Coach Tocchet redistributed the scoring wealth the Lecavalier line has scored twice. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a dramatic improvement over the zero goals they scored in the previous seven games.

Disappointed By: The entire team’s shootout performance. It would be comical if it wasn’t costing the team points. Losing three games in shootouts isn’t horrible, not scoring a single goal in any of the shootouts is. Ten times they have skated one-on-one with the opposing goalie and ten times they’ve failed to put the puck in the back of the net.

What’s worse is that with the exception of Steven Stamkos rattling a post none of the attempts have even threatened crossing the goal line. Marty St Louis even tried his patented, backwards skating move to no avail. At some point they might as well just start ripping slap shots at the goalie.

Surprised By: Mike Smith’s performance over the past two games has been a welcome sight. Against the Sharks he picked up his first win and his game against the Sabres might have been his strongest this season. By stopping 30 of the 32 shots fired his way he‘s showed the form that makes the organization believe he has the potential to be an elite goaltender. His performance in the shootout against Buffalo, stopping five of six, silenced some of his critics as well.

Perhaps sitting out two games was a bit of a wakeup call for the big net minder.

Playoff Confidence: 60% For the first time this season the Bolts looked like they belonged on the ice with a couple of a playoff-caliber teams. Games against Ottawa and New Jersey will test them against this week.

Pet Peeve of the Week

The use of “we” when talking about a sports team. Unless you are getting a check from that team you are not part of the we, nothing you did helped them win or lose. So please stop saying things like “We really kicked butt tonight” or “If we don’t get in gear we won’t make the playoffs”.

The only exception I grant - if you are talking about a college team and you went to that school. With what it costs to go to school you’ve earned the right to feel like a part of the team.

Lightning Weekly Roundup

The Weekly Roundup


Weekly Record: 1-2

Overall Record: 2-5

Wasteland +/-: -3

Key Injuries: None

Highlight: The win against the Panthers. Last season, going into the third period down by one normally signaled a loss for the Lightning. Forty-two times they trailed after two periods and thirty-nine times the game ended in defeat. Hopefully, the come from behind victory signals that this is a team that won’t fade in the third period.

Disappointed By: Vincent Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay. Normally, I would give them another week to find their scoring touch, but in the last few games they’ve been perhaps the third best line on the team. I’m not worried about Vincent scoring goals, he’s historically been a streaky scorer. This time next week there’s a chance he could have three or four goals. Tanguay, on the other hand, has struggled. Only one lonesome assist in seven games and just six shots. He has simply not been a factor when he’s been on the ice.

Coach Tocchet has seen enough and according to the reports from the St Pete times there will be changes. Currently Tanguay has been dropped to the forth line with Jeff Halpern and Drew Miller. James Wright is called up to Lecavalier’s line as is Marty St Louis. The coach is risking breaking up his best line (also one of the best in the NHL right now) to help Lecavalier out of his goal slump.

If this shakeup doesn’t work, perhaps it’s time to try someone from Norfolk. As of right now the Bolts aren’t carrying any extra forwards. If the offense as a whole continues to struggle perhaps an injection of new blood would shake them up. A quick perusal of the stats shows that a couple of late cuts from camp are off to hot starts. Ryan Craig (CRAIGGERRS!!!) and Brandon Bochenski have both netted 4 goals a piece in the first six Admiral games.


Surprised By: The aforementioned James Wright. He’s nineteen years old and a rookie, yet he’s showing the poise of a veteran. He might not be lighting the lamp (zero points in seven games), but he’s playing with the type of grit and tenacity that the team has been lacking.

He gets his shot with Lecavalier against the Sharks on Thursday. It’s not a bad idea, sometimes offensive lines can have too much creativity. Tanguay is a skilled offensive talent, but digging the puck out of corners isn’t his strong point. Vinny can muck it up when he wants to, but if he’s battling in the corner, the chances are he won’t be scoring many goals.

Playoff Confidence: 50%. They haven’t shown the ability to beat a top tier team yet, the two teams they beat are behind them in the standings. On the road they looked out-classed against Ottawa and Pittsburgh. They have two big games coming up this week. Both San Jose and Buffalo have gotten off to strong starts and are quick, puck-moving teams. Those types of teams have given the Lightning a fit over the last two seasons.

Pet Peeve of the Week

People who tuck sports jerseys into their pants. Back when I worked at the No Limits Fun Factory the employees were allowed to show their pride by wearing their favorite team’s jersey. It sounds stupid, but we ate it up, it was right up there with a dental plan as far as perks.

I don’t know if it was because it was an IT company, but a copious amount of employees would tuck their No. 40 Alstott shirts into their khakis or jeans. Look, there are two shirts that should never be tucked in - sports jersey’s and Hawaiian shirts. So stop it…..right now.

The Weekly Round Up - Week II

The Weekly Roundup


Weekly Record: (1-2)
Overall Record: 1-3 (In the Wasteland Shootout Losses count as regular losses)
Wasteland +/-: -1
Key Injuries: Kurtis Foster - back, David Hale - flu, Mike Smith - run over by a truck.
Highlight: I think I have to go with the Ryan Malone hat trick on Saturday night. Two things that you won’t see in the box score about Malone.

1. About 6 minutes into the game a group of about 6 fans sat down behind us. One of the ladies commented, “That Malone better get his ass in front of the net, ‘cause he’s crap anywhere else on the ice!” The words alone were great, but when spoken with a Plant City-esque accent it was priceless.

2. After the puck went in the net for Malone’s third goal the crowd wasn’t quite sure what to do. One hat made it onto the ice about 30 seconds later, but it sat out there all alone for another 30 seconds until the next hat came out.

I don’t know if the crowd:
(a) didn’t realize that Malone scored the goal. After all he was dumped on the play by a Carolina player and it could have been hard to see which Lightning player touched it last.
(b) tough economic times + $28.00 hats = lack of participation
( c ) lack of hockey fan knowledge

I’m going with a little (a) and a lot of ( c ).

Disappointed By: Paul Ranger. He did pick up a goal on Saturday night, but is still plagued by inconsistency. His bad clearing attempt that led to New Jersey’s tying goal on Thursday was just the most glaring turnover he’s made so far this season.

It’s hard to say if it’s a confidence issue or if he’s having trouble with the system. It seems that he is struggling to regain his pre-injury success. At best he is their 4th best d-man (Hedman, Ohlund and Meszaros would be the top three), and could be a scratch candidate when Kurtis Foster is back.

Surprised By: Marty St Louis. I’m not sure what’s gotten into him this season, but he’s definitely playing with a chip on his shoulder. Coach Tocchet has mixed him in with Lecavalier’s line during games, but it’s blatantly obvious that he is gelling with Stamkos and Malone best. With 7 points in 4 games St Louis is on pace for a career year.

Playoff Confidence: Still hanging at 65%. Even in their win they had a 10 minute malaise that left Carolina back in the game. Their struggling on the power play as well as the penalty kill. Without improved special teams they will struggle against higher echelon teams.

Pet Peeve of the Week: I share this one with my buddy Hamel. People who get on the elevator before you get off. Look folks, the elevator isn’t going to go faster just because you push your way on. It’s not the subway.

A new Feature on the Wasteland! It's Weekly Round Up Time!!!1

There aren't many reoccuring themes on this webpage. Mostly, because I think of what I want to write about 3 minutes before I start writing it. Well, time to try something new.

For the hockey season I'm going to be posting a column every Monday tracking the Lightning's progress through the season. Why Monday? Because it gives me something to do during Monday Night Football. So without further wasting of time....


The Weekly Roundup Week One


Weekly Record: 0-1
Overall Record: 0-1
Wasteland +/- : -3

Key Injuries: Kurtis Forster. The point man on the second power play unit is out for 5-7 days with a lower back injury. It looks like David Hale will be the first choice to replace him for the upcoming games. Victor Hedman might see some time on the power play.

Highlight: Not many to choose from since they only suited up once and skated to a 6-3 loss. However, I think the honor should go to young Mr. Hedman’s first NHL point. In the second period against Atlanta he fired a nice low shot towards the net that was deflected in by Marty St Louis.

Despite being a minus 2 for the game Hedman looked comfortable on the ice all game long. He logged 26:27 in ice time (8th in the league already!) and used his size to shield off the defenders several times.

Disappointed By: Mike Smith. A couple of the goals were not his fault, but still in the end he gave up six. The two late goals killed the comeback. The Bolts will need him to step up to get to the promised land.

Surprised By: Vincent Lecavalier. He didn’t score a goal and had a couple of passes bounce off his stick. However, he played like he was healthy once again. He used his body to shield defenders from the puck, he danced through the neutral zone and he zipped passes around the ice.

What shocked me the most though was on a giveaway late in the first period. Skating out from behind his own net he lost control of the puck to an Atlanta player. Instead of giving up Vinny threw himself in front of the net to block the shot. It wasn’t necessary at Smith made the save in front of the crease, but to showing that kind of sacrifice might be an indication that he understands what the “C” on his chest means.

Playoff Confidence: 65% They outplayed Atlanta for large parts of the game. A couple of bounces their way and it might be a different story.

Pet Peeve of the Week: Announcers who use the word “a” before naming a player. As in, “If you have ‘a’ Brett Farve you know he likes to throw the ball deep”. C’mon, just say “if you have Brett Farve“, it’s not like there is more than one of him out there in the world.