2 rookies on defense

The Lightning finally settled on a roster Monday. It won't be 20 players, as coach John Tortorella wanted, or 21 to accommodate for the training camp inconsistency on the blue line. Nope, Tampa Bay will carry 22 players. It will keep rookie Matt Smaby, giving the team seven defensemen, and it also is keeping Mathieu Darche after left wing Andreas Karlsson strained his abdomen during practice.

So here is the team: Forwards -- Mathieu Darche, Chris Gratton, Jan Hlavac, Andreas Karlsson, Vinny Lecavalier, Craig MacDonald, Michel Ouellet, Vinny Prospal, Brad Richards, Andre Roy, Marty St. Louis, Nick Tarnasky, Jason Ward. Defense -- Doug Janik, Filip Kuba, Brad Lukowich, Mike Lundin, Shane O'Brien, Paul Ranger, Matt Smaby. Goalies -- Marc Denis, Johan Holmqvist.

Non-roster injured: Tim Taylor.

Injured reserve (not on yet but expected to be assigned): Dan Boyle, Ryan Craig.

The two-rookie thing on defense is most interesting. Apparently, the Lightning believes that both Lundin and Smaby have passed Janik as it pertains to on-ice development. But the team also does not want to lose Janik which it believes it would if it tried to get him through waivers and down to AHL Norfolk. We'll see how the three play and see what happens when Dan Boyle gets healthy.

The guess is that Janik and Lundin make up the fifth and sixth defensive spots. But as for playing two rookies, Tortorella said, "If they deserve to be there, they will be there. It's an interesting dynamic to have two guys come in who haven't see NHL hockey at all and trust them in those spots. But I think with our schedule we can spot them. It's not written in stone we have to go three pairs and play all six all the time during games. I think we can still try to give them a chance to be successful.''

Comments

[mbab]

have only seen two predictions
mike 13 3rd
phantom 11th
my prediction 10th... I just ducked to miss all of the knives thrown at me!!!but, there I said it and without being "negative" I will try to explain how I see our "team"
I just can't see how we improved our team from last year, and that on top of some injuries spells many ???? in tampa bay...our young guys have not stepped up to the plate the last few years so why do we somehow think they will make a difference this year...we hope, but do any of us feel..."yeah, we really added some missing pieces to the puzzle?" I don't...and by the way...we really do need a bunch of them to make a major jump in their careers... we had all kinds of defensive troubles last year..and we start the year with 4 proven d-men....and I am not hanging this on the "duo" in net..our defensemen don't check well..they don't hold the blue line well...but most important...their ability to move the puck was awful...this has been addressed in the paper to no end...but will it translate to improvement on the ice???hard to take that leap of faith...boyle's loss will be felt big-time...you do not replace 28 minutes of all-star hockey...ditto that 10x ...ranger..kuba...o'brien....how they play will dictate how this team goes for a while.....this is a tampa bay blog so of course their is alot of optimism....their is also some negative comments and people will be blasted when making them....the truth is this....outside of our area...no one sees any significant improvement...and all of these "rags" were published way before the injury bug hit....
janik.. smaby.. hvalet.. ward..roy.. macdonald..darche, lundin...we have 6-8 guys on our opening night roster that would not see many minutes on any of the top teams in the league...5 of those guys i listed above are 27-30 year old forwards that have had no impact in the nhl....gang they are not "prospects"..and feds/perrin were bums??...when looking at our roster it is hard to stomach that we let eric perrin go for 250kkkk.our starting 6(7) d-men are the single biggest question on the year....a much bigger concern than goalie.....MUCH....is this negative??..I more than anyone hope that i get to eat my words a month from now....i have tickets to about 20 games and will love each and everyone of them....but I will say this one last time.....the path we chose.....top heavy with stars and 30-40% of our team at minimum wage.....it makes for a very average hockey team...in round ball 4 guys never leave the bench....in baseball 5-10 guys get very limited action....in hockey, with 80 grueling games...you need a third and fourth line to contribute...you need all 6 defensemen playing hard accountable minutes....I just don't see that mix with this "team"...and last predictions, torts will blow a gasket real real soon.....and more of a statement than a prediction....how much longer can we endure the fiscal/roster/trade mistakes of one jay feaster??!!!go bolts go!!!

[Phantom, F.T.B.S.]

Well you don't really want to hear my prediction because it isn't about us in the playoffs with a nice neat bowtie.

This club is OK on paper, symbolic of the cardboard effort we get out of the majority of the guys.
When I say every shift, every game, it gets tuned out similar to the way Torts is getting tuned out. These guys and Ramsey gave up on him too often. (Am I the only one to notice?? Must be. No problemo, I'll get some therapy then.)
I see spotty intensity and a nearly complete absence of a 'refuse to lose' attitude (save for Marty St. Louis). When we give up one goal there is NO steely resolve to make that the ONLY dad gum goal, whilst we answer back with 3, 2, or even 1 immediate retaliatory score. And what the heck is a shutout??? A shutout in Tampa Bay is a front page rarity!

Tortorella needed Andreychuk to get into the kids' heads about "Safe is Death". Now believe it or don't, this club reflects the namby-pamby Brad Richards game of 'you don't hit me, I don't hit you', 'go fast', and "Aw shucks". He leads the club in turning down Tortorella's volume, while Lukowich is back to turn up the boombox. Puke. We're lucky we play in the pansy East, because Western clubs consistently eat our lunch. Out there, we'd be munching on whale dung at the bottom of the ocean with the Coyotes.

BTW, my favorite all time Bolt was Rudy Poeschek. Not the most talented guy out there but plucky and he rarely, if ever, slept-skated a shift. He hopped over the wall and the other club wanted to know where he was, or else...BOOM! He always stuck up for his mates and occasionally put the biscuit in the basket. Give Torts 18 of those types (with quick blades) to listen to his coaching and look out!

No way to predict how far we'll fall; this seems like our year for the injury flu. The bad news started with the word that Dingleberry Doug is coming to town. Columbus couldn't laugh any louder, could they? They steal Modin, watch us SIT Richardson, (the guy who most helped Denis look respectable,) and now MacLean is coming to town to whiz in everybody's oatmeal. The distant chortle you hear is coming from Ohio--and Sunrise, Fla.

I have to wash the taste out of my mouth when I see us as the #2 team in the State (Hey, if we can't wax the Stinking Panthers...) and watching the Caps, Isles (Nolan, another great coach) climb over us. Things are so bad in Atlanta, we can only hope they break our crash to the bottom of the Southeast.
But cheer up, this should be a decent draft year and we look pretty good for a low pick already.
I don't have any idea about the top eight for the post season. I will predict a few clubs worse off: Atl, Bos, Mont, Tor. I guess that leaves us at #11 in the East. Hope this is a really, really good draft year because we have a table down in front.

On the other hand, everybody else could tank and we'll take the Cheese once again...

Yes Mike13, I saw Clymer flapping in the breeze and liked he and Cibak too, but recall his times in Torts' doghouse.
Andrew Hutchinson is out there as well, but I think we should cease the collection of New York State castoff defencemen.

God, I love this area and the club --for good and not so good. From game one at the Expo Hall screaming at Semenov to shoot the damn puck, to wondering why everybody in the house stood up and blocked each other's view whenever a Bolt touched the puck. I take our shortcomings on the chin and scream the loudest on my block when we do well. Probably why I like John Tortorella; leave the sugar coating and pie in the sky to someone else.
Go hard when you go over that wall, and when you don't, we go back to work to determine why. Success only comes before work in the dictionary. We have history of being outworked. I hate that.

I'm profoundly remorseful if I've ruffled feathers. MBAB, you shouldn't have asked. But I like my crow with Oriental hot peanut sauce, and I have a bottle at the ready...

Now go out there and ruin that idiot Barry Melrose's day!
Go You Maniac Bolts!!

[Tim A]

Mike13, I like your predictions, I just hope they are right. You should hold on to your predictions and see how far from hitting them you come at the end of the season.

I think If the Bolts can solve their defensive woes they will definitely make the play-offs and advance past the 1st round. Three great forwards now possibly a 4th great forward in Ouellette or Hlavic. I like the idea that The Bolts are no longer a one line scoring threat. If they stay true their goals for this season and stay focused, I can see semifinals or better

[Mike13]

Two topics here: Ben Clymer and my response to Mike Babnik's call for a prediction.

Ben Clymer was put on waivers by the Capitals over the weekend and he cleared. He was sent down to their AHL affiliate in Feaster & Denis' old stomping grounds (Hershey). Anyone else think that he might be worth snagging on re-entry waivers if the Caps try to bring him back up? I always liked Clymer and thought that he brought an interesting dynamic to a club with his being a Defensemen/Forward. Might not be a bad pickup for $500K...

Bolts Prediction: 7th seed, maybe 3rd. I have this weird sense (don't call me an optimist because I'm almost never optimistic about anything), but I think things are going to work out this year. I think our forwards are talented enough that we could win the division and finish 3rd. That is really going to depend upon how well the other 4 teams do. The Caps upgraded on both offense and defense, but they still don't have the guns that we have. It's not like Ovechkin is going to challenge Gretsky's goal record. Carolina is predicted to have a comeback year, but I'm not buying it. Atlanta will continue to be a tough opponent and will be very hungry to return to the postseason after getting a good taste of it last year. Florida upgraded in goal but didn't do much elsewhere. I'm not convinced that they've got what it takes to sustain their competitive nature for 82 games.

To be really bold, here's how I see the Eastern Conference shaking out...the Atlantic division is going to be extremely competitive this year...

1) Rangers
2) Senators
3) Lightning
4) Flyers
5) Penguins
6) Devils
7) Thrashers
8) Capitals

Yes, I see a rematch against the Devils in the post season and I see it turning out differently in 2008.

[mbab]

I went on a bunch of sites to see how we are viewed around the country...I found about 6 sites that either offered thei prediction or odds to win the cup...same as a prediction...we were rated no higher than 6th...8th twice.....11th....15th....and just a statement that said we wouldn't make the playoffs.....i thought one was rather....insiteful??...lightning do not make playoffs and are forced to get rid of one of the big 3...probably st. louis.....I could write a 1000 page blog on that comment alone....but the buzz is nationwide...lack of depth and goaltending issues....i think if they addressed the lack of depth the goal tending would go from a C to a B overnight.....with all of the injuries, on top of new players and new "young" players I think our bolts are in for a tough year....sure hope some of the new kids really surprise....go bolts....phantom, another joe, nan, Grod, sarasota bill, phantom, nnancy, wiggy,satch, goldenbolt, mike13, joe, FTBS,...anyone out their going to put it on the line and make their own prediction......Damian you gotta go on record....go bolts

[Tim A]

The Bolts are well on their way to developing some first class defensive players. Shane Obrien is going to be a big help and Matt Smaby will develop as time goes by. I remember just a few short years back how Pavel Kabina turned his clumsy mistake filled game into a first class show. This year I believe that Shane Obrien will step up. Defense is the toughest position to master. These backward skating masters who literally have to have eyes in the back of their head and then be able to absorb everything that the other team wants to throw at them are the makers or breakers of a championship quality team. Teams that have had to rely on the trap in the past by using good quality defensemen have been often been successful in the league and rely very little on their line's abilities to score lots of goals.

The Bolts are the antithesis of the trap. They try to use speed and fore checking to break down the other teams momentum before they can exit their own zone. This is nothing new but it requires a 100% effort and little room for error. Every player on the team has to buy into this system. If you have two over zealous defensemen it can often times lead to problems with pinching too much and leaving the defensive zone unoccupied, thereby giving up odd man rushes and open lanes.

I hope these new defensive faces on the Bolts have learned enough about Tort's system to make a difference since they've lost Dan Boyle for the first part of the season. The rookie Smaby is impressive with his size and Lundin is impressive with his play so far. I hope that these guys can succeed beyond expectations and hold the fort until Boyle gets back, if not its going to be a rocky start.

[Another joe]

I think Lundin is here for the duration of the season. He seems to be that kinda player. Give me a smart blue liner any day of the week, rookie or not.

It Thursday night yet?

[Phantom]

Loved what Sarich and Pratter added to our legendary pre-lockout climb. But ask me again if I'm more comfortable with them, wearing clodhoppers for skates or two rookies and I think you get the idea.
Coach 'em, play 'em, and bring 'em along; and none of this healthy scratch watching from the booth jazz, the way we abused Richardson.
It'll be rough going at first, but by the time we come to our senses and call upon Ramo, these guys will be having other GM's licking their chops.

Don't we have roughly $30M tied up in offensive firepower to alleviate some learning curve pain?

Every shift, every game. Kick booty.
Drop the puck already!
Go Bolts!

[Lightning rod]

I agree with Another Joe. I also expect bumps in the road, but it's time to play some real hockey.

SB1 wink wink

[Another Joe]

At some point we have to play our young guys. Why not get them some experience now since bouyle will miss 1st few games. When boyle comes back send one to the AHL.

Lundin has been pretty impressive with his solid play. 4 years of college hockey has him ready.

im nervous about our blue line but excited for the season to finally start and see how they do. they might end up being awesome!