Ramsay looks back with without anger

Craig Ramsay said he looks back on his time with the Lightning as a "great'' time. Ramsay is an assistant with the Bruins after being fired last summer after six seasons with the Lightning in which his stick-first defensive philosophy became the subject of a good-bad debate.

"I loved it in Tampa,'' Ramsay said. "It was a wonderful opportunity to go down there and a great group of players to work with. It was fun.I loved my time there and really enjoyed meeting and working with all those people.''

Ramsay has the same duties with the Bruins as he did with the Lightning, mainly working with the defense. He said the dynamic is different working with two other assistants. With the Lightning it was just he and coach John Tortorella. He bemoaned the Boston traffic and said he has played golf just once since he has been here.

"As tough as it is to leave, you look back and the places I've been, I've met so many good people, and now I have a chance to do it again,'' Ramsay said. "It's going to be a good opportunity for me.''

      

Comments

[Andrzej]

Personally, I believe that the primary influence on performance of a team has a manager. Any coach has to work with the players the manager signed the contract with. An assistant coach is even less influential. It is nice to recollect Mr. Ramsay for a moment but I would rather look carefully at the trades and new acquisitions made by the manager.

Most of primary players, including the goaltenders, remained the same. If at the end of the season TBL won't be better team than the last season, it will prove that the change of assistance coach was merely a "skin-deep cosmetic".

[goldenbolt]

Andrzej, I have been beating the drum for the past two years questioning the why keep Rammer. He had a cup year with the hokey, pokey, sticky checky 'd'. He neutered the strong players - just think back to how many times the team would back up into there zone collapsing on the goalie. When we had the WALL he could see thru the forest homer, denis, grammar and burke could not / can not see thru the tree's like the Wall. It will take a bit of time to learn the new system, deny the blue line easy entry, make use of the body with positioning but it is coming. Tonight is another test and trial. Come 20 games into the season we will get report card and really begin to asses the team.

Go Bolts

[Another Joe]

Im starting to agree with the waiting 20 games theory. I admit I was to excited about the 3-0 start. After 20 games boyle should be back for about 10 and we can see how the team is progressing. I do like the way Ward fits in with Richards line. Gives that line some toughness.

Rammers defensive scheme kept the puck out of the net against the lightning pretty well last night. Could it be that the problem in the past 2 years wasn't the coach or the system, but the lack of talent on D?

[bear]

Well, to quote an old joke, "even Helen Keller wouldn't be happy to see the Bolts D lineup"

You have Boyle a #1 who will most assuredly be traded at the deadline and a bunch of other nameless guys who are 5,6 , at best, on most teams.

To Torts credit they have been playing pretty good team D but I think he will be hard pressed to keep that focus up on a mostly offense first style team.

The elephant in the room remains in the goal crease.

Its also worth note that singling out Bolts record vs Boston is a bit of a strawman. Their record vs the entire NE division over the last two years is well under.300

[hockey chick]

Why the heck are we having to talk about Goalies again this year. Denis and Homer are both good goalies and we cannot place all the blame on them.

It takes a team to win or lose a game not just the goalie. I do agree that it seems with both of them that the minute they get scored on soemthing deflates inside them and rightly so. Goalies are a weird bunch, necessary but strange and it is not just the goalie the d or the o that makes the game. It is the TEAM and once everyone coaches, players and fans stop pointing fingers then maybe they can come together as a TEAM. Lets go bolts.

By the way Rammer is one hell of a guy and I wish him nothing but the best.

hockey chic

Q> Why the heck are we having to talk about Goalies again this year?

A. Because the Bolts are too cheap to get a real goalie and with respect hockey chic, quality in net matters big time.

[hockey chic]

I agree that quality in the net matters a great deal. I guess I did not say that well. What I meant to say was I am tired of talking about the issue. This division is won or lost most of the time by a point or two. We need to solve the net minder situation and solve it now not ten or fifteen games into it. If there is inconsistency in the net then address it now. Hope that is as clear as mud now.

[bear]

Thomas Vocoon, Cam Ward , Kari Lehtonen, Ollie Kolzig, Holmer

The defense rests, no pun.

Feaster could sign a very servicable Curtis Joesph for a million dollars..why they don't is beyond me.

[goldenbolt]

4 - 2 48 wins to go. Decent 'D', hard game.....

Lundin - what a story.

Prospal - 7 goals. 50% of what he had last year.

3rd line adding some timely goals.....

no one thought that was possible at the beginning of the year.

What about those 2 win rangers?

50 mil for What?

[the shrink]

Good points but I'll assess after 20 games. Boyle will make a huge difference on special teams where the Bolts have low league rankings.