Video: Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher after 1-0 victory against Winnipeg

Posted Oct 29, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Oct 29, 2011 at 10:45 PM

Watch some of Guy Boucher’s thoughts following Saturday’s 1-0 victory against the Winnipeg Jets

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Video of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Tesla coils in action

Posted Oct 29, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Oct 29, 2011 at 06:24 PM

I should have thought about this last week when they went off the first time instead of that poor quality Blackberry picture I put out on Twitter, but here is video of the Tesla Coils as they went off during pregame ceremonies prior to Tampa Bay’s game against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 29, 2011.

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Video: Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon after a 21-save shutout of Buffalo

Posted Oct 22, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Oct 22, 2011 at 10:07 PM

It’s been a little while, but here is a video of Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon after his 21-save shutout of the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. The shutout was the 20th of his career.

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Lightning defenseman Eric Brewer expected to play

Posted Oct 20, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Oct 20, 2011 at 11:59 AM

After missing practice on Wednesday, Lightning D Eric Brewer is expected to be in the lineup Thursday when Tampa Bay hosts the New York Islanders.

Brewer, who had back surgery earlier in his career, said he had something crop up on him Tuesday and wanted to make sure nothing new was bothering him.

“It’s just the day-to-day of the season and everybody is going to have something at some point and I just felt that I needed to address,” Brewer said. “I could have practiced (Wednesday) I just wanted to throw a few questions by some people and carry on; I felt fine out there (on the ice Thursday) morning.”

Brewer did not address whether the situation was related to his back or if he took any kind of an injection to alleviate what Lightning coach Guy Boucher referred to as “some swelling” that Brewer experienced.

“I don’t feel any worse than I have and I actually feel a little better,” Brewer said. “It’s not anything I’m scared of or worried about, it’s just how the season goes, you are busy at the start of the season and everybody has a different routine in the fall and I just have to tweak mine a little bit. Once the days start to roll, roll, roll, you just have to get in that.”

Tampa Bay is already without veteran D Mattias Ohlund, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knees last week and could be out until December.

IN AND OUT

Boucher indicated last week that rotating forwards in and out of the lineup was not going to be a long term situation. But with the team struggling to pick up wins (0-3-2 in the past five) he said some experimentation continues to find out what works and who play well together.

That means Mattias Ritola and Ryan Shannon will sit tonight while Blair Jones and Tom Pyatt will play against the Islanders.

“We have a lot of experiments since the beginning of the year, and soon the experiments will end, but it’s something we need to go through whether it brings us wins or loss, we need to go through these experiments,” Boucher said. “We have new guys coming in and some new chemistry, so we need to find that chemistry and every game, every practice we find out more about our guys.”

Shannon will be scratched for the second time in three games, but it has nothing to do with his play, according to Boucher.

“Last game, he played really well and he doesn’t deserve to be taken out,” Boucher said of Shannon. “I only have 12 forwards to put on there and that’s the experiment, we need to know about some other players and we’ll only know if we put them in, so (Shannon) is kind of paying for it but he played really we’ll last game.”

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The Lightning will be without defenseman Mattias Ohlund a month or longer

Posted Oct 10, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Oct 10, 2011 at 03:07 PM

The Lightning will be without veteran defenseman Mattias Ohlund for up to a month, general manager Steve Yzerman said on Monday.

Ohlund, who was placed on injured reserve prior to the start of the season, will have arthroscopic surgery performed on both knees on Tuesday. The procedure will be performed by team orthopedic doctor Ira Guttentag.

The 35-year-old began to feel discomfort in his knees during the last week of preseason. Ohlund was kept off the ice beginning the morning of Sept. 29 prior to a preseason game in Montreal and the team had hoped rest would be enough to allow Ohlund to recover and get back on the ice.

But after undergoing MRI testing in Tampa early last week – which revealed no structural damage – Ohlund flew to Ohio late last week to get a second opinion from Dr. Anthony Miniaci at the Cleveland Clinic where it was confirmed that a procedure would help clean up some loose cartilage that is floating around.

“He felt that if he got it scoped out there, clean up some loose bodies – and it’s nothing major – floating around in there and that if he got it cleaned out while he is going to be off, because they have to been able to alleviate the discomfort that he’s been feeling,’’ Yzerman said. “He was showing a little bit of improvment, but he said it just didn’t feel right and figuring that if he was going to be out a little bit, let’s take that time and use it as wisely as possible, clean up whatever is in there irritating. So maybe he’s out a little bit longer, but when he comes he should feel better when he does come back.’’

Yzerman said the likely timetable for Ohlund’s recover could anywhere from a month to a month-and-a-half, depending on how the recovery process progresses.

“I’m going to say four to six weeks, but it really depends on how he feels, so it could be before that,’’ Yzerman said.

Ohlund missed time at the beginning of last season with similar discomfort in his knees.

With seven healthy defensemen on the roster and Tampa Bay carrying the maximum 23 players, Yzerman said he does not expect to be in the market to find somebody to fill in during Ohlund’s absence and head coach Guy Boucher will work with the current group while shuffling around the defensive pairings.

“It hurts because what it does is, we know have to put (Victor) Hedman against the top lines – and it’s not that he can’t do the job – but it asks a lot of other guys who are not in spots they are normally in,’’ Boucher said.

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Tampa Bay Lightning captivated by Tampa Bay Rays wild card berth

Posted Sep 29, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Sep 29, 2011 at 11:26 AM

While the Lightning were prepping for Thursday night’s preseason game against the Canadiens, the talk around the team centered instead around baseball.

With plenty of Tampa Bay Rays supporters inside the Lightning locker room, the stunning turnaround of events late Wednesday night provided plenty of buzz during the morning skate after the Rays late rally to earn the wild card spot in the American League, overcoming a 7-0 deficit against the Yankees to win in extra innings on Evan Longoria’s walk-off home run moments after Boston blew a one-run, ninth inning lead in Baltimore.

“It was almost a Hollywood story the way they made it end, it was unbelievable to watch,’’ said Lightning C Nate Thompson, who took batting practice with the team during the summer. “It was almost like somebody had a remote control just controlling both games, and then the rain delay (in Baltimore) being able to watch both games, to be able to see that was just unbelievable and I’m really happy for them.’’

For Lightning coach Guy Boucher, he’s looking forward to heading over to Tropicana Field for one of the Rays’ home playoff games once Tampa Bay returns from spending six days in Quebec.
“I’m impressed by (the comeback) because that’s something that is rare, but I’m not surprised by it, first because that’s what they have been doing for a month, coming back and proving the odds wrong,’’ said Boucher, who planned to call Rays’ manager Joe Maddon and offer congratulations. “We are all impressed by it, I think it’s inspiring and I think it’s great for the town.’’

Getting to watch the game proved to be a somewhat difficult task, however, as the Red Sox-Orioles game was shown on French sports channel RDS, but during the rain delay they switched over to the Rays while also showing Longoria’s clinching home run.

“That was the best baseball I’ve ever watched in French my whole entire life,’’ Thompson said. “But you could tell when we were over there that they have a pretty tight group and the way Joe Maddon operates he has fun with the guys. . . so it’s a little similar to us as we got to hang out with them and see what they are like. And it just goes to show you the character they have on their team and they never quit. To be nine games out in September and still come back to win the wildcard is unbelievable.

“It shows the resiliency they have and if I’m the Texas Rangers I’m a little nervous right now playing the Tampa Bay Rays.’’

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Tampa Bay Lightning reduce training camp by 27 players

Posted Sep 25, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Sep 25, 2011 at 03:12 PM

For Lightning management and coaches, the relatively easy decisions were made on Sunday. Now general manager Steve Yzerman and company have a little over a week to make the difficult choices.

Tampa Bay reduced training camp by 27 on Sunday, leaving 26 players remaining. Those remaining players will practice Monday morning before the team departs for
Quebec to spend three days at a mountain resort north of Montreal before closing out the preseason with two games against the Canadiens, on Thursday in Montreal and Saturday in Quebec City.
The Lightning must cut at least four more players to get down to the maximum of 23 before the season begins on Oct. 7 in Carolina.

The following players were placed on waivers Sunday, and assuming are not claimed by another team, will report to Norfolk: Forwards – Mike Angelidis, Michel Ouellet, JT Wyman, Alex Picard and Trevor Smith; Defensemen – Richard Petiot and Mike Vernace.

Players who do not require waivers and were assigned to Norfolk: Goaltenders – Dustin Tokarski, Jaroslav Janus and Pat Nagle; Forwards – Tyler Johnson, Richard Panik, Carter Ashton, Alex Hutchings, James Wright. Defensemen – Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas

In addition, forwards Cory Conacher and Matt Fornataro along with defensemen Jeff Dimmen and Kevin Quick were released from their tryout agreements, but all four players are under contract with Norfolk and will report to the Admirals on Monday. Also released from their tryouts and assigned to Norfolk were forwards Eric Neilson, Gabriel Desjardins, Philip-Michael Devos and Pierre-Cedric Labrie. Ondrej Palat, a seventh-round pick in 2011, was also assigned to Norfolk’s training camp.

D Daniel Milan, who came to camp as a tryout before signing a three-year entry level contract, was assigned to his junior team, Moncton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Among those remaining in camp vying for the last spots on the opening night roster include 2010 first-round draft pick Brett Connolly, Mattias Ritola, Blair Jones, Tom Pyatt, and Dana Tyrell.

“There is absolutely no clarity, and right now it’s the opposite, there is a lot of players that are fighting for spots,’’ Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. “And they are not necessarily fighting for the 13th spot, they could be fighting for higher spots. And that is what I told the players the other day, the vets and everybody, it’s not still “let’s get through this training camp’’, if somebody is better than you, they are taking your spot.’’

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Lightning add defensive depth

Posted Sep 23, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Sep 23, 2011 at 04:57 PM

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed defenseman Daniel Milan to a three-year, two-way contract today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced. Milan is currently attending the team’s training camp.

Milan, 6-foot-3, 194 pounds, skated in 68 games last season with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, recording 14 goals and 38 points. He led all Moncton defensemen in goals and also ranked first among all QMJHL rookie defensemen in points. His eight power-play goals were good for fifth among all Wildcats skaters. In addition, Milan appeared in five QMJHL postseason games, registering a goal and an assist. Following the 2010-11 season, Milan was honored as Moncton’s Rookie of the Year after breaking the club’s scoring record for first-year defensemen.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Milan enjoyed a successful career in his home state before making his junior debut with Moncton in 2010-11. Serving as team captain in his senior season at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep, he notched five goals and 18 points in 31 games and received High School All-State honors, as well as Catholic League All-Conference recognition. As a result, Milan became the first player from the Michigan high school hockey system to make the jump directly to a Major Junior hockey league team.

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Heading to the Lightning home preseason game Friday? Read this first

Posted Sep 22, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Sep 22, 2011 at 06:40 PM

The following is a statement from the Lightning intended for fans attending Friday’s home preseason game due to all the renovations still taking place inside the St. Pete Times Forum:

The $40 million transformation of the St. Pete Times Forum will continue through the month of October as the design and construction team works diligently to complete the extensive arena project. The aggressive renovation remains on schedule for a majority of the projects to be completed in time for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s regular season home opener on October 17. However, certain areas of the Times Forum will still be under construction this Friday when the Lightning play a home preseason game against the Florida Panthers.

“We are asking fans to ‘pardon our dust’ this Friday,” said Chief Operating Officer Steve Griggs. “We are very pleased to be able to showcase certain areas of the facility for the Panthers game, but we knew when starting the project that we would not be 100 percent functional for some events and this game will be one of them. But the facility is coming along fabulously and we know fans are going to be excited at what they see.”

New sports lighting has been installed, the terrace and club levels have all new seating, concourse floors have been resurfaced, hundreds of gallons of paint have been applied to the walls inside the bowl of the arena, all of the arena’s suites have been renovated and beautiful main concourse vistas have been created allowing fans to see inside the bowl.

“Wow’ factors like the grand pipe organ and performance stage, the 11,000 square foot outdoor party deck, new digital signage and live lightning strikes will debut for the regular season opener on October 17. Later this fall, the arena’s reconstructed restaurant and a grand west entry featuring a new ticket office, team retail store and deli will be unveiled. Additionally, an extensive photography and art collection will adorn the interior walls of the Times Forum, offering fans a walk through the history of Tampa Bay, the Lightning and the Tampa Bay Storm.

As fans prepare to attend Friday’s game against the Panthers (7:30 p.m.), Lightning management asks them to please take note of the following:

The McDonald’s Ticket Office (and will call windows) will be located in temporary facilities on the West Plaza near the parking garage
The Metro PCS Client Services Lounge for season ticket members is being relocated to the Rolling Thunder marketing vehicle near the ticket office
Doors to the arena will open at 5:30 p.m. to allow fans more time to enter through stair towers on the east and west side of the Times Forum, rather than the conventional entrances, which are being rebuilt as part of the new West Entry

Fans with questions are encouraged to call the St. Pete Times Forum before coming to the game on Friday at 813.301.6500.

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Tampa Bay Lightning lines and lineups for first two preseason games

Posted Sep 19, 2011 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Sep 19, 2011 at 02:25 PM

The Lightning announced the lineups for the first two preseason games. The first game will be Tuesday in St. Louis against the Blues while the same two teams will meet on Wednesday at Amway Center in Orlando. Both games will air on local radio, but which network has not been announced. With the Rays on 620-AM, the Lightning will not be on their flagship station

For Tuesday’s game in St. Louis, the line combinations are expected to be:
JT Wyman-Mike Angelidis-Eric Neilson
Dana Tyrell-Adam Hall-Alex Picard
Mattias Ritola-Nate Thompson-Ryan Shannon
Carter Ashton-Dominic Moore-Steve Downie

Defense
Victor Hedman-Brett Clark
Mark Barberio-Pavel Kubina
Richard Petiot-Radko Gudas

Goaltenders (who will split time)
Mathieu Garon
Jaroslav Janus

For those making the trip over to Orlando (or for those fans in Orlando)

Line combinations
Tom Pyatt-Vladislav Namestnikov-Blair Jones
Brett Connolly-Vinny Lecavalier-Teddy Purcell
Richard Panik-Tyler Johnson-Michel Ouellet
Cory Conacher-Steven Stamkos-Marty St. Louis

Defense
Mattias Ohlund-Eric Brewer
Marc-Andre Bergeron-Matt Gilroy
Mike Vernace-Bruno Gervais

Goaltenders (split time)
Dwayne Roloson
Jaroslav Janus

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