Two prospects signed

It was a busy day for the Lightning. Not only did it sign new assistant coach Mike Sullivan, it signed prospects Riku Helenius, a goaltender and the team's first-round choice in 2006, and sharpshooting forward Chris Lawrence, a third-round pick in 2005, to three-year contracts.

Helenius was taken with the 15th overall pick last season in 2006, when the Finn was considered the No. 1 European goaltender in the draft. But the 6-foot-3, 202-pounder missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. If he can regain the form he showed in 2005-06, when he had a 2.68 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage for Ilves Tampere Junior, the 19-year-old will be someone to watch. He played six games at the 2006 World under-18 championships and was 4-1-1 with a 1.83 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage.

Lawrence, 20, could be a future answer to the Lightning's lack of depth at forward. The 6-4, 212-pounder was fourth in the Ontario Hockey League with 47 goals for Mississauga and had 88 points. He also led his team with 15 power-play goals and six winners. Like many junior players, consistency will be Lawrence's biggest project. As general manager Jay Feaster said in the release announcing his the signing: "The only thing holding Chris back from achieving greatness in professional hockey will be Chris Lawrence and the issue of how badly he wants to be a special player.''

      

Comments

[Bolts Canucks Fan]

Off the subject of this blog, but congrats to the Ducks in winning the Stanley Cup. Personally, I wanted to see Ottawa win it, but know that Anaheim was a better team and it showed last night. It was nice to see the Neidermeyer brothers share the Cup. It was especially great to see Brian Burke celebrate as the Ducks GM. Vancouver has a great GM in Dave Nonis, but much of his GM skills came under the wing of Burke. Good job Burke!

The series is over and now we can enjoy the summer. All the best to you Bolts bloggers and one last thing, Anaheim is not the first West Coast team to win a Cup. Seattle did it and was the first US team to do so back in 1917. Might be off a year or so, but Seattle was the first. The Portland Rose Buds were the first to play for the Cup, until they moved to Chicago and became the Blackhawks.

Bolts Canucks Fan

[SarasotaBill]

Hey Tim A....don't expect this team to annoint anyone as the #1 goalie anytime soon.

There was a time when Habby was the #1 guy. Due to circumstance, our new #1 was Grahame. How did that work out? Last year, Denis was the named #1 guy. Shall I continue? I'd love to have a guy who was named the #1 guy again but I just don't see it in the cards for now. maybe an offseason move might make that happen but I don't see that either.

Nobody will be named #1 until they earn it. I think it's clear that there are no more free passes on this team. Show me the goods, I'll give the title to you. Give up soft goals, you will join the rest of the bunch.

As much as I would love to have a #1 guy here and named as such, right now, there is no clear suspect. I'm sure we both want to see a #1 here. Eventually we will have one but it won't be handed to anyone. I guess we will wait and see who earns it!

[Tim A]

Good points RTL. I was just trying to be a little humorous. I like that we have so many net-minders because it gives us alot of options. I'm just saying the brass should step up and say, we feel that this is going to be our guy next year, or this is our goaltender for the future, something to that effect. Don't leave the poor guy you just signed for a million hanging like a pair of skivies on a clothes line. At least say we have confidence that Holmqvist or whoever is our guy but we are going to check out some other talent in the process to give our #1 man a viable back-up. But really, how many goalies can the Bolts take to training camp if they are only going to take 26 people to camp?

[RTL]

Tim A - C'mon the team needs to sign it's prospects. One of the reasons the team is in the jam it's in is because before Feaster was our GM we rarely drafted a goalie. And like pitching in baseball, you can't have too many.

Ramo might be ready soon. Helenius is a few years off. Boutin is a probable back-up type. Kochechkin is the wild card.

I guess I'm saying it's better than the days of Dieter Kochen.

[Tim A]

I 'm going out on a limb here and say that the Bolts need to make up their mind about a #1 goal tender and quit stringing along all of their prospects like little high-school prom dates. Who is and who's not in the picture anymore? As of now I believe the Lightning have Helenius, Ramo, Boutin, Holmqvist, Denis and some Russian name I can't spell and God knows who else is in the mix. Its no wonder why whoever plays between the pipes in Tampa Bay can't generate any confidence. Someone needs to make a decision on who's going to be the Bolts' goalies and who's not going to be the Bolts' goalies and stick with it. Maybe A-coach Sullivan can bring some sanity to the asylum here. Out of the 26 players the Bolts are taking to training camp, how many are going to be net-minders? As of right now, it looks as if about 7 are going. WOULD THE REAL LIGHTNING GOALIE PLEASE STAND UP!

[Joe]

Any word on the broadcast of Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 in the Tampa market? I spoke to someone in programming at Directv & they are looking into the possibility of offering it.

[slapshot]

when can they play for the Lightning?