During practice, the Tampa Bay Lightning players decided to take one item of clothing off for every breakaway shot that they didn’t make.  I’m not exactly sure whose idea this was but the video that is currently making the rounds is of Martin St. Louis.  He ends up losing his skates and wearing flip-flops on the ice (kind of dangerous but whatever).
Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune wrote:  “After a near two-hour practice on Tuesday, and just after the coaches all vacated the ice, the players took a tongue-in-cheek approach in order to lighten the mood by playing a round …read more

The Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to terms to add Alex Tanguay to their roster and I’m really not happy about this one.   First of all, I think the Montreal Canadiens are stupid for dealing this guy away (along with a lot of their talent) and secondly, I hate to see another great player get sucked into the Bolts organization.

I know he’s a little soft but he’s a solid playmaker.  I think Tampa Bay got a good deal here but I don’t know how great it is for Tanguay.  I’ll try to stay optimistic since he really could work well …read more

It seems like the whole world has gone Twitter crazy and the NHL is no exception.  The Tampa Bay Lightning tweeted that they had traded forward, Evgeny Artyukin, to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Drew Milller and a third round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

In case you’re not following them, you can keep up with the latest Bolts announcements @TBLIGHTNING since it looks like that’s the place to look for breaking news.
“In acquiring Drew Miller today, we were able to add a character individual, a versatile with good size and the ability to kill penalties,” …read more

In a move that allowed them to avoid arbitration, the Tampa Bay Lightning have offered defenceman, Matt Smaby, a two-year contract.
GM Brian Lawton said: “We are pleased to announce this agreement with Matt today.  He is big, physical and really skates well for a man that stands 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. He played well for us last season and I expect his personal development to continue in 2009-10.”

The 24-year-old has only played with the Bolts and in his 57 NHL career games, he has recorded four assists and averaged 17:22 in ice time.  His record in the AHL is a …read more

You probably won’t be shocked to learn that the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Victor Hedman to a standard three-year-rookie deal.  The second overall pick was drafted by the team last month where he was rated as the top European player available.
General manager Brian Lawton said yesterday:  “We are thrilled to be able to take this next step with Victor today. He has a bright future and we intend on him being a member of the Lightning for a long time. We are excited to get his signing behind us so he can solely focus on hockey and the …read more

Tampa Bay Lightning captain, Vincent Lecavalier, will undergo athroscopic surgery to repair damage to his right wrist this Friday.  In 2007, Vinny had a similar surgery on his left wrist to repair damage to the triangular fibro cartilage.

I think it’s safe to assume that this is a good time since there is ZERO chance that the Bolts will make the playoffs but it would have been nice for him to play in the games that are left.  "Obviously it is disappointing that Vinny will not be able to finish the season, but we feel that it is in both his …read more

TSN is reporting that the Tampa Bay Lightning have offered a three-year contract extensino to head coach Rick Tocchet.  This will be Tocchet’s first full-time coaching contract since he’s mostly been an assistant coach.  He also spent 18 seasons in the NHL as a player with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and Phoenix.  During that time, he won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992 and went to the Finals with Philadelphia in 1987.  This is impressive but I think Wayne Gretzky has shown that you can be an amazing player and still be a sucky coach, …read more

The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent blue liner Steve Eminger to the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenceman Noah Welch and a third round draft pick.

I’m sure Mark Recchi is thrilled to be leaving the Tampa Bay Lightning to join the Boston Bruins, of the best teams in the league.  I was watching TSN just now and he seemed really excited in a telephone interview about the deal.  The 41-year-old had signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal with Tampa Bay prior to this season and is having a decent year so far having posted 13 goals and 32 assists in 62 games. In the 8-6 win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday, he contributed five assists. 
image: TSN

Seriously?  The game last night between the Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning was filled with so much mixed emotion.  I was thrilled when Flames captain, Jarome Iginla, broke the franchise record (830 – set by Theoren Fleury) for the most points accumulated by a single player (834).  When we had finished celebrating that, Iggy turned around and got his 400th career goal.  It was great until the Flames basically fell apart all around him.  First, Miikka Kiprusoff, who has been so incredible lately, just tanked and was eventually pulled.  After that, the Bolts just kept on scoring until, …read more