TropicalFruitGirl26

Yikes. Bolts fall 6-2 to the red hot Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. A three goal in three minute outburst by Colorado highlighted an issue the defending Atlantic Champions have had since the season started: Porous defense. TB has sorta been trading wins and losses so far this season and has them at around the .500 mark at 4-3-1. I'd like to think the Bolts' defensive problems will sort themselves out as the season wears on, but right now, they are looking pretty mediocre in that department and right now, not even getting the scoring they COULD be getting as well. Tempers flared in the game vs the Avs and one could see the frustration in the TB players as two fights broke out...something the Bolts outside of Cedric Paquette or Luke Witkowski don't normally engage in..... Eric Cernak and Victor Hedman both dropped the gloves against Colorado's Casey Calvert on two separate occasions in the game. After a fantastic character building win over the Boston Bruins the other night, the Lightning follow it up with a game against Colorado that could make most people wonder why the Bolts are such a big deal. Seriously. Pittsburgh comes to town next, and while the Pens have their own problems, they still have every bit the skill in their lineup to play right with the Lightning. If the stars on both sides show up, this could be a fantastic and very entertaining game. For the Lightning, another chance to prove they deserve to BE a big deal in the NHL and right their ship. Some secondary scoring for the Lightning would help quite a bit as would some more solid play overall from the defense.

Well, at this rate, if Vegas players are going to have to continually be tested for PEDs, they truly will give new meaning to Golden Knights...

As some of you who have posted with me over the last few years may know, I usually take an interest in a team outside my own for various reasons. Sometimes players I like change over to another team, the team itself has done interesting things in a given off season, or the team is just plain fun to watch. This season, I have been enjoying Vancouver Canuck games. Horvat, Boeser, Pettersson, Edler, Tanev, Miller, Hughes, Myers, Gaudette, Demko and even Markstrom in a contract year. What's not to like here? These guys play hard, play fast, and while they still have their issues defensively and their goaltending still needs larger sample sizes to truly judge if they have gotten better, the bottom line is, the team is very entertaining to watch. Thatcher Demko, in particular, if he pans out...wow.... Canucks may have found their long term goalie. Not sure if the Canucks make the playoffs this year, but they certainly should be in the mix, especially since the Pacific isn't looking overly strong this season. Van has lost some big games against the Oilers and Flames, but have also pulled out some equally big wins against the Flyers and Cup champion Blues. As of this posting, the Canucks are locked in a goalie duel with the NJ Devils. MacKenzie Blackwood and Thatcher Demko putting on a good show. And of course, this game features Hughes vs Hughes as Jack and Quinn's teams go mano a mano.

With respect to some good or up n coming teams that Bolts already played this early season, tonight begins a stretch of games that, IMO, will really show what the Lightning have in that locker room. The defending Eastern Champion Boston Bruins are up and the Bolts visit them in their own building. After that, the Lightning come home after a road heavy start to their season and see Colorado, Pittsburgh, and Nashville. So counting the Bruins tonight, that is two potential Eastern Conference finals previews and two potential Stanley Cup finals preview. Sure, that is looking WAY ahead, but as a fan, I can do that. TB players can't....they gotta focus on the teams at hand, but I certainly can and will. Cup or Bust...….

For sure.. Although, I rather like the Red Wings model of 20 years or so of continuous contention....and about a fistful of Cups to go along with it! Seemingly layer after layer of Wings' players coming up as older pieces were phased out, but never missing a beat.

Just a quick rundown of key players swapped out and brought in on the 19-20 version of the team.... OUT: ---Ryan Callahan...gritty winger whose playing career is basically over after succumbing to degenerative back disease. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators for G-Mike Condon and a 2020 6th round pick, in a paper transaction to clear cap space. ---Adam Erne....another gritty type winger, young up n comer, probably has a ceiling of 2nd or 3rd line winger, but a guy who always brings energy, physicality, and is transforming into the type of agitator player many teams love to have on their team, but hate to play against. Traded to the Red Wings for a 2020 4th round pick. ---JT Miller....a kinda do everything type top 9 center/winger who despite his many talents, found himself often the odd man out in the TB lineup. His salary of 5+M didn't justify keeping a guy who really never found a "spot" on the team. He was traded to Vancouver for minor league G- Marke Mazanec, a 2019 pick (G-Hugo Alnefelt) and a 2020 conditional 1st round pick. ---Anton Stralman….solid, steady but aging blue liner was a UFA not offered a contract. He now plays for the Florida Panthers. ---Dan Girardi.... another aging, solid blueliner whose speed took a nosedive the last couple seasons. Also a UFA and as of this time, does not have an NHL team. ---Louis Domingue....technically still with the club, but now buried in the minors, as the Bolts don't have a spot for him at the NHL level, and rumor is, they are hoping to trade him and get whatever they can for him. Decent netminder, but still with enough holes in his overall game that leaves him as an NHL back up at best. IN: ---Curtis McElhinney. Split time last season with Petr Mrazak on the Carolina Hurricanes. A 35+ yr old veteran whose sole purpose on the team is to provide starter Andrei Vasilevskiy with rest while the team can still feel confident that they have a guy back there who will stop pucks. Curtis fully understands this is Vasy's team and he embraces his back up role. ---Kevin Shattenkirk. Bought out by the NY Rangers after a disappointing season that was no where near worth his cap hit of 6.65M. He signed a low rate 1.75M one year deal to build his value back up...and help the Bolts with his PP skillset in the process. ---Pat Maroon. Big tough, but sometimes maligned winger due to perceived "coasting" in games. He nonetheless is a Stanley Cup champion having played a sizeable role in the Blues' capturing of their first Cup ever. He says he wants to win another and he too signed a one year contract with the Bolts, at a $900K cap hit. ---Luke Witkowski. Mean, rugged 4th liner/bottom pair defense swingman, who was originally developed by the Bolts, then traded away, and now re-acquired on a two year, $700K AAV contract. ---Luke Schenn. Another tough defenseman (notice a theme here?), who also signed a 700K deal, but for only one year. Currently in AHL Syracuse, but he IS an NHL defenseman, albeit bottom pair caliber, who no doubt will see playtime as soon as the inevitable injury happens as is the case over the course of an 82-game season. ---Carter Verhaeghe. 24 yr old center/winger who had been toiling away in the minors for a few seasons for the Islanders then the Lightning, now being given a chance to see what he can do with the big boys of the NHL. He had a career best 82 points for TB's AHL Syracuse Crunch over 76 games last season. Other players currently not on the big club roster but could get some serious looks at the NHL level at some point this season... ---Callan Foote (D), big bodied, 20 yrs old, TB's 1st round selection (14th overall) in the 2017 draft. Had 10 G, 31 points and was a +16 in 76 games for the AHL Crunch last year. ---Alexander Volkov (LW, RW) 6'1, 195 pound, 22 yr old drafted in the 2nd round in 2017. Since coming over from the Russian junior leagues two seasons ago, he has posted back to back AHL seasons with 45 and 48 points over 75 and 74 games respectively. He also posted a +19 his first season, a +26 his second season and has shown remarkable consistency, even if he is nothing flashy or spectacular, and also seems to have a bit of a mean streak as he has been known to check with intensity while he scores goals and doesn't seem afraid to rack up penalty minutes while he goes about his business.

With the embarrassing shellacking by the Blue Jackets now firmly behind them (but hardly forgotten), the Bolts embark on the new old quest of capturing the Cup and bringing Lord Stanley to the bright beaches of West Central Florida once again. Armed with new faces, a newfound grit in some of the newer players, more maturity for the younger core, and the knowledge of what can happen if they aren't properly prepared to face a red hot team, this team should be more focused on winning a title rather than setting regular season records. For the Tampa Bay Lightning, their true judgement will begin around May.....because no matter how good a season they have, it will be hard to top what they did last year over the course of 82 games...and the ONLY way to truly top that season, is to win it all and wipe away the disgusting taste of a 4-game sweep. Truly a Cup or Bust year for the Bolts. And even though they are built for long term success, that mantra may follow them around until they finally do raise Lord Stanley's prize.

I've been paying a bit more attention to the Wings this season (you can thank having Stevie Y as your GM for that) and you have to think that the Wings not being good defensively WAS going to be a reality. Spike hit the nail on the head: When Danny DeKeyser isn't there, the depth falls off a cliff when it comes to actually preventing goals. IMO, DeKeyser himself probably shouldn't be a top pair D, but on this team he is, and well, there is part of the problem as well. Offensively, you have guys back there that are still pretty good, and that part of the game is lead by Mike Green and hopefully for Wings fans, Filip Hronek. I STILL have the Red Wings as playing out a season that won't be as bad as some people think (they won't be last), but despite them playing some solid games throughout the season, they will miss the playoffs as they are not good enough to crack the top 8 yet. Bright spot? Yzerman, despite being a forward in his playing days, seems to know a little something about drafting, developing, and fixing defenses and goaltending quandaries. When he took over the Lightning's GM seat, the Bolts had a defense very similar to what the Wings have now.... poor defensive minded players, some way too young players, some players who were at the end of their useful NHL careers, and still others who were being played well out of their ideal slotting. The Detroit GM will sift through what he has, and if he does anything like he did in TB, the Wings can expect, at some point, to have a very good, mobile, and probably larger sized defense (he seems to favor the bigger defensemen over the smaller ones...as long as they can skate). And along the way he will also look at different options for goaltending (and not just plug in bodies for the sake of it) who have a real shot sticking..... again, just like he did in TB....and, since the Wings will be drafting relatively high (probably top 10 in most instances), you can be sure that he will acquire some very good talent along the way. In the meantime, expect your Wings to go through a few highs, lots of lows, with "serviceable" players place holding positions till the younger crop can definitively take over. DON'T look for Stevie Y to go for the "home run", sign some player to a ridiculous contract based on past glories, knowing full well his team, as a unit, simply isn't ready to compete. If a player is a vet, has a good skill set still, and is reasonable on the contract, he can play for Detroit on short term deals till a proper contending core can be formed. Also, don't be surprised if Yzerman trades off some good young talent now, which may cause some people to initially question his decision making, to acquire BETTER talent (or picks) for down the road.....seen him play that card with the Lightning as well. And almost every time, he makes his critics eat their words. Watching the development of guys like Larkin, Chowolski, Hronek, Bertuzzi, and Adam Erne (he is really stepping into his role as agitator with the Wings...a role he played lightly on the Bolts), who could be the Wings' version of a Patric Hornqvist, should still at least, be entertaining for the present time.

Ummmm….trade Jake now his value will never be higher??? He just scores his first to even up the game at 1.

Alright, so I drafted Radko Gudas figuring playing in Washington, he'd have more of an opportunity to put up more assists and SOG than he did in Philly due to the Caps' more wide open playstyle. Gudas DOES have a pretty good shot and he might still do that. However, I think we all know, Gudas' best assets are his physicality and propensity for PIMs (well, that's an asset in fantasy hockey, not necessarily in an actual NHL game ) So far, he has been so-so for me....the assist numbers I was looking for aren't really there and he has been averaging about 2 SOG per game (not bad, but would maybe like some more), and his hits are just now starting to come around. I guess what I am really waiting for (in addition to some extra production on the team he is playing on) is for ol Radko to just lose his %$#$ and outright win me the PIMs category in any given week! Between he, McNabb's nastiness, and some of the forwards I have who sometimes play nasty (or dirty, depending on your point of view), I expect PIMs to not be too much an issue for me. Cmon, Radko…..when are you gonna go ape%$#@ on someone this year? The Green Star Blades await your assists, shots, and 10 min misconducts....do not disappoint....

And it worked well for Fenton importing Predator rejects into Minnesota.... Oh wait...bad example.... Nothing to see here....move along...

In that case, they might wanna petition the NHL to NOT schedule them again to visit Radko Gudas' home in the future. Just like the player, it gives them lag....

I know...I just got your report... Something about some crazy lady talking bout importing recycled Minnesota players. Will take it under advisement...

What the heck is going on with Philly? They don't seem to have their legs tonight. Look extremely slow out there, as a whole, keep getting beat to loose pucks, and are rather easily relieved of the puck once they DO get it. Not a good formula for beating Calgary. And the Flames' defense really hasn't looked particularly effective....yet the Flyers can't seem to do anything with it.

Johnny Holding sitting in the penalty box... 4 on 4 for some seconds before The Fly embark on a 1:45 long power play

Penalty on the Flyers for Pitlicking….. Instead of TK time, now its PK time...

Ok, I am sure we can all agree..... the Flyers and myself (for FHL purposes), needs a goal by one Mr. Travis Konnect-Me Let's go TK!

Aww, cmon now.. He IS an integral part of the Philadelphia Wild!!

Welp... Tampa Bay is lighting up Carey Price....from a fan standpoint, I am lovin that. From a fantasy standpoint....sucks. I have Price, and so far, the Bolts have struck him for 3 goals on just 11 SOG. Those types of things have a tendency to be harmful to goalie categories.... Still waiting overall, for my team to start scoring goals. On paper, they look like they should be real good...gotta remember...early season, patience, they will 'come around'.... Score already!!!

Great start for Buffalo, obviously. Small sample size. Lots of wacky things happen at the beginning of the season. Many of which are not indicative of how the season will actually go. I like what Buffalo has been building the last few seasons, but at the end of the day, until they actually DO something, they are still the Buffalo Sabres trying to be relevant in the NHL. Part of the growing process.

And "Loomina"?

So, you are worried about Star Trekian warp speed players going so fast, they might go back in time? Hey, whatever floats your boat... Interesting point that I never really thought about before.....guess I just thought the defense would go willy nilly all over trying to cover more ground, when the SMART thing would be to just cover the same dangerous zones they would before and the smaller players can skate all they want around the outskirts. Nice one!

Yea....proposal was so unbelievably a no-brainer, that I can see why Holland barely had time to put on his bathrobe and slippers before he slam hit "accept" on that deal.... all the while laughing like a maniac.... The cook caught him COMPLETELY by surprise when he told him Calgary was on the other line...……

Dumba just blasted Letang against the boards....nice.

Refs didn't see it as contact by the Pens.....challenge fails.... PP Pittsburgh. Salt in the wound...