Espo back on radio, says defense is fine

Lightning founder Phil Esposito said he wasn't sure he would be back as an analyst on WDAE's broadcast of Tampa Bay games (he says he never has worked with a contract) until a recent talk with owner Oren Koules, who invited Esposito back for another season with play-by-play man Dave Mishkin.

"It keeps me close to the game," Esposito said of his Lightning broadcast gig. "It keeps me looking at the teams and it helps me with the radio show I do on XM. And it keeps me involved with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which I always wanted to do."

As for Tampa Bay's chances next season, Esposito said the defense is the key, and despite the blue line being relatively young and inexperienced, he said there is plenty of potential.

"I like Matt Carle," Esposito said of the 23-year-old defeseman the Lightning got from the Sharks in the Dan Boyle deal. "Paul Ranger is going to be a heck of a lot better, and I think Shane O'Brien is going to be better. He was playing a game (last season) that he was not familiar with and trying to do things that were not his style. He was trying to be more offensive than he really is."

It's a good point. O'Brien did seem stuck in some strange Twilight Zone last season. Playing in a system in which the defense was told to push into the offensive zone, O'Brien said it was just what he was looking for, and he was pushed by the coaching staff to develop his offensive instincts. O'Brien has those instincts but it seemed to get to the point where he was stuck in the middle of trying to create offense while trying to play responsible defense. Both suffered and O'Brien was benched for the season's final five games.

"Sometimes when that happens, a player gets himself where he loses confidence in his abilities and gets himself really screwed up," Esposito said. "I sometimes think that's when coaching staffs make a huge mistake trying to make a player do something he's not capable of doing. I think Ranger is capable, (Filip) Kuba. I like Alex Picard a lot and this kid they got (Andrew Hutchinson). He's a right-handed shot, which is very important.

"Quite frankly, after meeting Koules, I was really impressed with the way they're doing things over there. I know the team is going to be a hell of a lot better. Early on it's going to be tough, but I think everything is really looking good."

Comments

[Dave]

Amen, Karma. Steve Dumeg offers good hockey knowledge (the morning schlubs bring zip) but he's all about football til January.

I don't recall Espo ever candy-coating his view of the Bolts. He uses diplomatic language but I don't ever recall hearing him offer a lot of false praise. If he says the D can stand up, it's probably true. If it's full of holes, he would have made that apparent in his remarks.

[Stacey]

Hey Jim-NJ, what did Stamkos say? I can't listen to anything at work.

[karma]

Ever since Espo started his show on XM (ch 204), I haven't listened to the local AM "sports authority". If you don't have XM, and you love hockey, you don't know what you're missing.

[Twinebulge]

Why squids for those who were wondering? We thought they were octopi. (For those still wondering: octopus --> 8 legs --> 8 wins formerly needed to clinch Cup --> throw dead octopi on the ice, only in Detroit for some reason)

Either way, how Ouellet and Jokinen are similar to mollusks is another issue to be explained

[Jim-NJ]

OK, I'm starting to take back a lot of what Ive said aboot Stamkos. He has a youtube video of him on Entertainment Tonight (thanks TBO) and with a lot of those "little"comments he's been making the past few weeks, he's getting a little big-headed. Am I the only one seeing this? Or is nervous-confidence making him say things like that? I retract an earlier comment, he's now known as "Steve" Stamkos to me.

BTW, our D is ***NOT*** fine. The potential is through the roof, but this is a sport that's "what can you do for me now?" as much if not more than with potential. Proof is that the Sabres would be Cup Champs almost every year.
Smith is a good goalie, he's not a Cup goalie. Our forwards are great, the coaching is very up in the air, the ownership is supportive, and the fans are the best in the world. Bottom line, and I don't think too many people would disagree. And until the season starts, that's all we'll know.

I say that Smitty's not a Cup goalie but then again, there's not too many left in the rest of the league for the time being.

[Steve]

I completely agree with Chris. Without Espo we, in the Bay area, would have nothing. Zippo. I think everyone, and I do mean everyone, knows this. I want to acknowledge my personal sincere thanks to him. Great to have you back Phil!

[Mike13]

Squids for those who were wondering.

[Not the MArlboro Man]

I've said what Espisito has said all allong about the defense. The only real disagreement I have with Phil is that I believe that from what I've seen of O'brien that he has skating issues. He gets easily beat to the outside and doesn't have the speed to recover. The style that Tortarella demanded absolutely exacerbated his problems. O'brien is a number 7 defenseman at best and was not worth a fisrt round pick that Feaster gave up for him. As far as his toughness...I don't think anyone will ever doubt that. Thank God Tortarella and Feaster are gone and that shotty halfassed defense along with them is gone too.

I wouldn't look for a top 1 or 2 shutdown defensemen until some team gets some injuries to their lines or either the trade deadline makes someone a seller out of nencessity. You can bet your bottom dollar that Oullette and Jokkinen will be on the bait wagon when it happens, in fact right now both of them look just like something that's going to get thrown out onto the Joe Louis Arena Ice before their opening game.

[Don in St. Pete]

Well said Turtle. I'm very optimistic. Ranger should be healthy and Kuba and OB should bounce back after a dissappointing season. I'm thinking our d is good enough to keep us in the hunt until the trade deadline when Lawton et al can swing a deal for that top 2 shutdown defenseman.

[chris]

Still say we should issue a mighty "God bless Phil Esposito" before each game. Without him we would only have the panthers for a "home" team.
Glad you're back Espo

[boltcc]

Nice to have Phil up there, he calls it as he sees it. The Lightning is his baby, glad to see he's still part of it.

[Voice of the Turtle]

The wisdom (or lack thereof) in Phil's words will be evident by midseason. We all know that his comments, if nothing else, represent a sincere explanation of his perspective.

Personally, I am certain of two things: 1) there is a definite need for a more veteran presence on the Lightning blueline, and 2) there are enough hockey-smart people in the management hierarchy to recognize and to ultimately deal with that problem.

One of the reasons to support a more sanguine posture toward the Bolts' 2008-9 campaign has to do with the system to be instituted by a new coach who, unlike his predecessor, intends to design a mode of play that suits the strengths characteristics of his roster rather than forcing square pegs into round holes.

[Kincaid]

Whats the guy gonna say Bryan, D'oh/

[Bryan]

This is the same thing i've been saying for... I don't know, 5 months?

Thank god someone else can relay this same thing.