Posted by  walter J. Nagy, Brandon, FL on 10/07  at  01:42 PM

AS we (Lighting fan) goalie positions 1 and 2 solid.
  Could see what most Bolts fan see, many roster changes make for a learning curve of communication. Seen Stankos in 2 games will do well with an enforcer on line. When Malone gets a Gordie Howe hattrick; a goal, an assist and a fight. Start observing.
  Insight by Chief Taylor outstanding on Saturday’s broadcast.

Posted by  Mike Joyce, Bangkok, Thailand on 10/07  at  01:54 AM

First, I never throw in the towel or quit.  That’s just not part of my vocabulary.  From the time that Melrose was announced as the new coach, I have expressed my doubts about his ability.  These guys weren’t motivated to play over the weekend.  Even professional athletes need motivation, and more particularly when they are no longer hungry as they have nice, fat, life-time contracts.

Posted by  Woodsy,  on 10/06  at  08:31 PM

Mike J, I normally agree with you on your posts here, but it does sound like you’re throwing in the towel with your last post. Melrose had a hand in the trades that happened today, you can guarantee that. If that doesn’t send a message to the team and the defense, then I’m not sure what will.  This season is young and so is most of the team.  Compare it to the Rays from when Joe Maddon took over.  He was criticized, the venue was criticized, the old ownership sucked.  Give it time my friend.  We gave up 4 points a long way from home…when they get back into their building here I think it will be a different story.  This team has all the pieces to be a winner, but it’s not going to happen overnight. Just like the Rays.

Posted by  chris, jensen beach on 10/06  at  06:41 PM

R2kin & goaltending Good

puck possesion bad

Seriously the only good hits came from R2 & he only took one minor & actually drew one, few good defensive plays but overall not so much. Hope it was just the ice & V4 is okay, Stamkos seems to be the real deal.
Goaltending seems to be a non issue, at least in one apiece.

All & all could have been worse, need more shots for & lots less against, bad penalties at bad times can only hurt whatever momentum you build (see last two games)

Posted by  Mike Joyce, Bangkok, Thailand on 10/06  at  01:49 PM

It strikes me that none of the things that Melrose had said in the past few weeks have come to pass.  He was talking about the team clustering around the front of the goal so shots couldn’t make it to the goalie, but the SOG’S would seem to belie that.

He said that they would be more physical, but they seemed to be very passive.  When they did hit, it looked like a little girl hitting.

He said they would have a high powered offense, but a goal a game won’t do much to prove that point.

Maybe he’s just a bag of hot air from television land.

Posted by  BOLTS RULE !!!!, tampa on 10/06  at  01:41 PM

These games showed the team still needs work. We all know the D is young and needs work/help. The goalies, they were fine.The offense,Where was it? Where’s the puck control. Our guys have got to learn to get back on D, and control passes. D need some help and the offense did not assist much in that respect. The shots on goal proved that. Any team that shoots that much will occasionally get one in. Not sure if it’s the trip or the quick training camp, but these guys need help working as a team. Then we can judge them better. I agree give them 15 games, then see what is starting to come together or what needs to move/pickup. I will be there, season tickets in hand, hoping to see a better T-E-A-M, than I saw in these games.

Posted by  Bill Moenart, Tampa, FL on 10/06  at  01:37 PM

While plenty of help on the D is needed, the team needs much more conditioning/skating. I know a short training camp did not help, however, these athlete’s should take accountability in preparing for their career/job, this past W/E was apparent they were not physically ready. Scotty Bowman prepared his team during playoffs runs with plenty of skating drills, watch a Red Wing practice or video of previous won Stanley Cup’s. Berry M. you of all people should know better, skating and goaltending win’s hockey games. You have have watched more games over the past 13 season, that qualifies you probably as one hell of a scout, which should translate into a great coach. Utilize that skill in preparing the talent you have such as Scotty Bowman.

Posted by  Mike Joyce, Bangkok, Thailand on 10/06  at  01:35 PM

I’m not throwing in the towel, and never have.  There’s a very large chasm between getting comfortable with each other and lack of effort.  Both of those games were very much characterized with a lack of effort.  Melrose is supposed to be the Great Motivator, but if those guys were playing motivated, I’d hate to see them in sleep mode.

There’s a lot of season left, but they have to take an interest in winning.  Now, everyone has big, fat, long-term contracts, so working doesn’t seem to be part of the agenda.

Posted by  Justin, Tampa on 10/06  at  01:20 PM

Reserve panic until were atleast 20 games in.

Posted by  Billie B., Clearwater on 10/06  at  12:40 PM

Two words sums up the state of the Bolts defense, Jamie Heward. He may be a great guy in the lockerroom, but when he’s logging 15-20 minutes a game, you’ve got serious problems. Heck, he got cut from the Caps when they were absolutely awful and that was three years ago. The Terrible Twins decision to forget about the defense when they were on a buying spree is going to make this a very long season.

Posted by  kenny, Wellington, fl on 10/06  at  12:35 PM

is it to early to talk draft?

Posted by  LightningDogg, Leesburg,FL on 10/06  at  11:22 AM

Bwaaahaha ...I was wondering how long it would take before “we need Boyle” would pop up. Exactly 2 games! Didn’t see too many defenders when he was leaving!? It’s obvious the D needs work on getting the puck out of their zone. The Rangers had more takeaways in both games. On the plus side, the Lightning outhit the Rangers, blocked more shots (not a surprise), & won the faceoff % in both games, so they are not sleeping out there. How about a little slack? Maybe they just need a little time working together. At least we have 2 goalies!!! What a luxury!!!
PS: Everybody keep your heads down while Mike J throws in the towel every game.

Posted by  Justin, Tampa on 10/06  at  11:20 AM

If Nolan Pratt could help the team he would have been signed by someone a loooonnnggg time ago. He didn’t exactly take a break from the NHL.

Posted by  Ruthe Robertson, St Pete on 10/06  at  10:49 AM

Well, we can still get Nolan Pratt. At least he can clear the puck out of the zone and he is just as capable as some of our defensemen. He’s tough, steady, dependable and will drop the gloves if needed. Plus he will fit in our budget.

Posted by  Broon, Naples, FL on 10/06  at  10:25 AM

Well, I only was able to catch the Sunday game, and wow, yeah, it was pretty bad there in the 2nd period. It was amazing how they couldn’t clear the puck for what seemed like 2 minutes leading up to the Gomez goal.

But, I look at it this way - this is a team with 14 new players on it. They’re still learning how to play together under a new coach and situation. I wouldn’t lose hope yet! And, I agree with Melrose - the forwards were very lazy and completely outworked for most of the game, which I think led to a lot of those shots, not the defense. I liked Carle and Meszaros’ energy and they played well.

Keep the faith, guys. They’ll get better.

Posted by  Justin, Tampa on 10/06  at  08:09 AM

Look at the box score for any NHL game, the team with more SOG is usually the winning team, with the exception of New Jersey or Vancouver since their goaltenders are inhuman.

But to be outshot the first game 41-21 and then a day after 39-19, of course we could say we need to shoot more, yeah that’s fine and all, but it’s hard to shoot on the opponents goal when you have them out shooting you 2 to 1.

I’m sure when Ranger is back the SOG will be a little lower.

Posted by  RichardB, Tampa on 10/06  at  07:48 AM

I am so glad I only have one year on my Channelside (CLUB) HA seats. The club has gone down every year as the team so I guess this year will not be any better.
How does the coach get on the offense, the D is the one that is to stop shooters. If you do not have a D that can move the puck you are out of luck.
I guess the owners will have to make some more dumb moves maybe Vinny or Marty. Or maybe a different coach?

Posted by  Craig Morby, Lakeland on 10/06  at  07:02 AM

As soon as we traded Boyle, I felt we were in trouble.  If you can’t move the puck out of your own end, your dead. It seemed we were either on PK or just playing in our zone both games.  Neutral zone play was weak to say the least.  Couple of upsides - Stamkos is going to take some licks, but he seems up to it, and without doubt will be a star. Mike Smith was great on Saturday.  SOG both games were staggeringly low for a team with players like we have.  Let’s get them home, and make the adjustments necessary.  Ranger’s return will help.

Posted by  doug, sc on 10/06  at  06:57 AM

what disturbs more than anything about this situation is that melrose cracked on his offense and not his defense.  If you read his comments after the first game he said he liked the way his defense played. are you serious?!?Any moron could look at forty shots in each game and realize something is wrong with the defense. the offense needs time to gel, but i think they will be ok, to much talent not to be. The defense on the other hand looked horrific. This team has a long way to go. melrose better get his act together quickly or he will back behind a desk on espn.

Posted by  BillSmith, Central FL on 10/06  at  06:03 AM

New ownership blew out our two of our best power play players (Richards and Boyle), blew out one of the best offensive and best skating defensemen in the league (Boyle), hired a TV analyast to coach, a covicted felon to assist the coach and did NOTHING to address the lack of experience and leadership on the blue line.

The Rangers have proved many times that “buying” a team does not translate to success. Results so far are no different than last year. New owners got what they paid for, a circus act.

Posted by  joe, st. pete on 10/05  at  11:28 PM

Two things jumped out at me while watching today’s game. 1st, nobody wants to shoot the puck, you can’t pressure the goaltender by passing the puck. 2nd, for whatever reason, we just looked slow, bad slow, not gonna win many games that way. One thing I did like. Arty scares people, I would sure like to see him on the ice a lot more. We need guys out there flying around hitting people, making things happen out there. We must take the game to the other team and from what I saw today, we have a ways to go.

Posted by  hockeyman, Canada on 10/05  at  10:56 PM

Heward is not there to be the savior of the club. He is there to play 10-15 mins a game. A little bit of PP time and some PK as well. He is there to help guide the young defenseman on the team. Heward played well considering having to fly, and adjust to the time difference.I would like to see Heward play about 40-50 games - get the young kids in there. When they struggle, Heward goes in to help) They will need time to grow, but will get better. Given how NHL contracts work now, with players being RFA’s and UFA’s, sometimes you have to suck it up and play the rookies. This year may be a struggle for the D, but next year, the boys will have a year in the show under their belt, and they WILL get better…

Posted by  Steve, Lutz on 10/05  at  09:16 PM

I think anyone who has been paying attention knew our defense would take a while to gel, so there’s no surprise there. The goaltending has been good, and the offense has been worse than expected, including the power play.

Posted by  Andy Douglas, Sarasota on 10/05  at  09:02 PM

Yikes! Not at all what I was hoping for. Maybe they need more time to get used to each other on the ice.  The power play was horrible. The penalty kill looked worse.  They didn’t seem to have any direction or plan on the ice at even strength or special teams. Hopefully Melrose gets this thing together quickly, or the season will be over by Christmas.  Thank God for the solid goaltending, but that can only carry you so far.

Posted by  Thunderstruck, Lakeland, FL on 10/05  at  08:51 PM

Dale, I agree with you about Boyler. Theres been a lot of talk about how young our D is.  If you think about it and consider how long it would take to develop these guys and really get them playing well, you have to wonder if those years working towards that ultimate goal are worth it.  All the while they spend time getting experienced is time cut away from the careers of guys like VL4 and MSL.  VL4 is in his prime.  We dont need to finally get an experienced blue line as he is crossing over out of these prime playing years.  But what do I know? Len has it all figured out, probably right down to what style of cowboy hat he’ll wear at the home opener.