Smokeader

NHL Department of Player Safety; sending consistently inconsistent rulings, fines, and suspensions since June 1, 2011.

Folks, this IS the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some of these players may never get a chance at the Cup again. Scheifele was in a no win situation. If he checks up, he is acussed of not giving an effort to prevent the goal. If he plays as he should and give everything he has and makes contact, he is called a dirty player. As for retribution, Weber was on the ice and made no honest effort to get involved. Some pushing and shoving, more trash talking than anything else while the zebras were in between. The physical contact we have seen does not bother me anywhere near what the amount of stick work we are seeing does. When one of the top ten players in the league takes a two hander so far behind the play that it is not even in the same area code as the puck and does not return for the rest of the game, yet the NHL determines no further punishment than a minor penalty is needed, I have an issue with that. Does not matter who the players involved are, if you knock an opponent out of the remainder of the game due to a penalty, the league needs to set a standard. If the player misses time due to the injury that you inflicted, you miss the same amount of time as your suspension.

Time for the Leaf ownership to clean house. If the players cannot finish a series being up 3-1, it is time for changes. Since the players are pretty much safe, that means management has to take the hit. If you cannot motivate your players to beat your longest standing historical rival for just one more game to close out the series, then management needs to become folks who can do that.

Awesome stuff. One of the issues we have been seeing in the system during the last few seasons is a lack of depth and bodies. We also send players to Orlando for the ECHL team, as we should. It is far better to give folks quality ice time in Orlando than third or fourth line minutes in Syracuse. Once the annual injury bug hits, it seems to hit both Tampa and Syracuse at the same time. I understand that the purpose of the AHL is to be able to send folks to the NHL. That being typed, when you are not dressing 18/2 for games there is an issue. I agree the time for the Lightning is indeed now. That is my point. The lack of decent depth in the AHL should be a cause for concern. In the past, we had the best farm system for the league. Looking at the current Lightning roster, as well as the players we have traded away to create the current roster, and you can see where all the hard work that built this team is paying off. The cupboard sadly, is indeed drying up as there are no more than a handful of players who spent time in Syracuse this season that I would consider ready to step in and play even a limited role in Tampa. It is time for the Lightning to start holding the draft choices again to bring the players into the system for five years down the road when they are the skaters the Bolts are building the future around. Seattle will present a perfect chance to open up some cap room, hopefully without throwing in too much of the draft future. Nice chatting with you. Please have a pleasant evening.

Lightning need to close out this series tonight and leave the payback to the preseason for the 21-22 season. Back to back now is far more important than payback given the amount of money the Lightning have invested in their current core. Stamkos and Kuch have proven to be injury prone, and the Tamp Bay farm system is but a shell of what it once was. Living in Central New York and following the Crunch, I see the real story rather than reading what the sports reporters want you to believe. Perfect example is if the Lightning pipeline was so deep and rich, there would have been no need to split the AHL franchise with the Panthers this season.