O'Brien: I saw it coming; Mihalik also sent down

Defenseman Shane O'Brien, traded Monday to the Canucks with right wing Michel Ouellet in a deal that gained for Tampa Bay veteran defenseman Lukas Krajicek, said he was not surprised by the trade.

"I just didn't feel things were going in the right direction here," Ö'Brien said. "They brought in some new people. I could see it coming. I'm not stupid."

O'Brien will find a welcoming committee in Vancouver, a team that wants to add toughness to its blue line.

"That is exciting that I'm going to a pretty good team," O'Brien said. "Once I get there and get to know some of the guys, it will be an easier transition."

Still, he said leaving the Lightning will be difficult.

"Great fans and a great city," O'Brien said. "It#s definitely tough to leave. I met a lot of good people here and made a lot of good friends. But this is part of our job. Obviously, they're moving in a different direction.I just wish my teammates the best of luck. That's about it."

Also, the Lightning re-assigned defenseman Vladimir Mihalik to AHL Norfolk.

   

Comments

[Don in St. Pete]

What a sad finish. Up 3-0 only to lose 4-3. V4 is not 100% and it shows, especially on the defensive end. We had lots of chances, but couldn't end it before OT. Kudos again to Lundin and also to Krajichek whos is so quick after being the last man back and delivering the outlet pass, he was the head man on the rush. No more cheap stick penalties as they're going to call them. I hope they've got it by now.

[Boltflasher]

Bolts being outshot 18-2 in 3rd...they have totally forgotten what they were doing earlier in game, are back to not hanging on to puck are trying to give it up too quickly....

[Boltflasher]

Bolts guilty of being outhustled in 3rd period again, not playing as team like the Ranger games, Carolina is supposed to be the tired team. If they lose this one, it'll be time for some sunrise practice...

[Don in St. Pete]

Lots of really touchy calls in my book both ways. I guess they're really trying to set up the offense in the new NHL. Bolts were at least a man down over the last 10 minutes and they finally got one with 9 seconds left. Mike Lundin has been exceptional tonight.

[Don in St. Pete]

Bolts dominated the first 15 minutes. Smith has only face a couple tough shots. Lightning were close to scoring a couple more.

[léo]

Woops.
7, not 8.
Sorry.
P.

[léo]

Whereas TB losing its first TWO games means...what, exactly, Ajax?
Mtl and Dallas got a point against solid teams. What Detroit City's excuse for getting NONE against some young'uns? And what Washy's for lettin' in 8 on the opener?
Furthermore, Mtl has not lost its 1st three games of the season in regulation in the last three years.
All part of the plan, baby.
What say you to that?
Sir.
P.

[ajax]

Detroit, Dallas, Montreal and Washington. 4 of the top names mentioned for the Cup and they all lose opening night. Maybe, just maybe the world isn't really ending for Bolt fans.

[Boltflasher]

Ouch!!!....McCabe out with broken verterbrae

[Steve R]

What can I say? Theo sucked last night, no ifs, ands or buts, he sucked. I'd start him again tonight, less time for him to mull over how badly he sucked.

Vezina? Yup, he's a lock.

Green is going to put up a bunch of points this year.

[Boltflasher]

Desperation?...not on Bolts, try the Crapitals...they may be forced to go after Khabi....

[léo]

SteveR,
You KNOW I love yeh. You KNOW it. So this is for YOU. To SHOW that I care and that I take the TIME to think about you. C'mon!

"Washington coach Bruce Boudreau called the loss 'unacceptable.'
'There were too many guys not doing their job,' Boudreau said. 'When you don't do your job, anyone can score seven goals.'
Theodore stopped only 13 of 17 shots.
'The last thing you want to do is pull your goalie on opening night,' said Boudreau, who called the fourth goal allowed by Theodore 'pretty weak.'
'We were still in the game at that time,' Boudreau said. 'I thought Brent would give us a lift, and he did for the next 20 minutes or so.'
Johnson (this is GREAT stuff!) gave up three goals in the final 6:03.
'We can't have third-period shortcomings like that when the game is tied,' Johnson said, adding he didn't expect to replace Theodore.
'You don't want to be in that position,' Johnson said. 'You don't want that to happen to your partner.'
Theodore was not available for comment."

Just one game. Doesn't mean nuthin'! Maybe Theo ISN'T finished. (I swear Steve, there's STILL a reporter in Mtl, François Gagnon from La Presse, who ACTUALLY believes that not only is he NOT finished, but that he's goins to win the Vézina this year. The Vézina! Theo! May GOSH strike me dead if I lie or even exaggerate. I SWEAR it. François Gagnon.
So if you even feel REMOTELY confident in this guy, know that you are not alone and that even a Mtler can walk with the blind man. (not that you're blind; wasn't your call to sign'im)
Just one game. Doesn't mean nuthin'. Theo may very well bump into that bean-seller what ran into Jack, get a good deal on some magic beans, eat the beans, become Beanman the Super Goalie, I don't know.
But gimme somethin', Stevie.
This is what bein' a fan is all about. Steer the ship and don't ever bail.
Steer the ship, Stevie!
Theo's finished. Whaddaya say to that?
P.

[MaxHunter]

Ummm.... Has anyone heard from Damian? I was wondering if Erik Erlendsson jumped him in an alley way late one night because Damian was allowed to go to Europe while Tampa Trib wouldn't pay for him to go. *L*

[Boltflasher]

That would be my guess...Tomorrow will have the Bolts, Fla-LSU, and Rays-Bosox all at the same time...get those DVRs ready...

[PD]

baseball night I guess Flasher.
Theodore would like that one back. Huet too.

[Boltflasher]

Theodur....pulled in his 1st start in the second period, 13 of 17...

[PD]

Who starts in the crease tomorrow or is Mullet still keeping it a biiiig secret?

[Kincaid]

Not a bad marketing strategy once you get your head around it. If you are going to cry in your beer after a loss it may as well be in their beer.

[léo]

Saw from the last two goals of the game on.
Toranna played great! Only fair to say. Wings were definitely TRYIN'. They were tryin'. Couldn't believe it.
We're seein'em tomorrow, yikes; if they play like that, it ain't gonna be easy.
Speakin' of which,
You know that in Mtl, whenever Habs score 5 goals, you get 8 free chicken-wings at the Cage aux Sports.
New policy for this year: On Saturday nights, if Habs lose?
You don't pay.
Kooky!
P.

[Pd]

Mike, Leafs outskated them badly, thats why the Wings were invisable.
I thought the score actually flattered the Detroitrs.

When you cross check someone from behind its a penalty in the NHL, 100% no questions asked and thats where Stuarts 2 minutes came from.Dive or no dive.

Funny things happen when you have team speed , you take less penalties and Leafs only took two all night I think.

Should be fun watching these kids play, they won't be an automatic 2 points for anybody.

[Mike13]

Wasn't felling well last night, so I only watched about 1 period of the Wings-Leafs game. But I did have an observation, the ice seemed awfully crowded to me. Guys were almost never able to get open and show a little bit of style. Oh, and the refs were not very good either. Boarding was not called when Antropov slammed Stuart into the boards, but a little nudge by Stuart and a whole lot of diving by Antropov, and guess who sits? Osgood looked like he just never really settled in and Lidstrom was invisible.

[PD]

100% Don

[Hockey Chic]

Morning Fellow Bloggers,

DC did they leave you in prague or what? I guess we are going for a record here with the number of posts. What typically happens is that I comment and DC puts a new one out there. So here goes.

PD, I fell asleep to the leafs game it was at the onset very boring. I did see Kuby score and to tell the truth his appearance has changed so much I did not recognize him. Must be the lack of sun up there. lol

Anywho it is off to play hockey for me all weekend. Can't make it to the opener as I have playoff game that night in Brandon and tournament play all weekend. It does not get any better than this fellas.

So this is my post for tomorrow nights game. Go out there and kick some canes butt fellas. Hit the net, often and hard and skate, skate, skate. Lets show them what the team can do, I will be rooting for you guys even while I am playing.

The Rosies are sparkling baby....Lets get our first home win..

Go Bolts!!!

[Don in St. Pete]

PD, At times I can see where you're coming from, but as a fan from the infancy of this franchise, I get peeved. The Buc fans around here can tell you how the tightwad Culverhouses played to empty stadiums and how the new ownership and addition of Tony Dungy as coach turned around a miserable franchise for Gruden to grab the credit. Whatever happens this year with the Bolts, the heart of the franchise is still the core and it was built by Feaster and Palce Sports. Unfortunately that group was loyal to a fault even when certain members weren't doing their job ot were doing a lousy job at it. PD, Yoy have admit that except for a few far out prospects and Blair Jones, the Feaster ERA struck out on the forward lines. They did slightly better on the back end with Ramo, Smaby, Mihalik and Quick but compared to most other NHL teams, our system was an abject failure. This was not because of a coaching malaise as management believed but do to lack of talent in the scouting staff. I hope that OK can turn around the development program of the Bolts, because as you've said and I agree ( especially as the cap goes up ) it is critical to be able to bring your own prospects through the system and not have to delve into FA for role Players.

[Not the Marlboro Man]

OK so its been two days and there hasn't been a new insightful topic to blog...what's up with that Damian? Lost your mojo? Come on dude, give up the words!

Oh well I guess I can go back to sipping adult beverages instead!

[Boltflasher]

Yes, PD, they did!...agree!

[Boltflasher]

I watched miss Alanis!, but did switch to NLCS when Leppard came on..

[PD]

Right on Don
Leafs out skated and outworked them. Toskala did the rest.

Good for Ron Wilson because there is much to be said for a disciplined team approach.

[Don in St. Pete]

Max, I missed that part, but I wasn't too impressed with their show. I saw them in 1979 when 2 of the guys were only 16 and 1 was seventeen in Frankfurt Germany, when they blew away Led Zeppelin. Led was dead, and plant played the whole concert sitting in a chair. Plant's voice was cracking and you could hardly hear him. Go Bolts!

[MaxHunter]

Not a lightning thing but...

Who just saw Joe Elliot of Def Leppard put the stanley cup upside down on national television?!!!! ROFLMAO

Max

[Don in St. Pete]

How about the Leafers, eh? Way to spoil the party boys and I'm guessing the rest of the league better pay attention. You've got to bring your "A" game in this league or your going to lose, plain and simple. great to see the talented young kids in Toronto getting a piece of the action. GO BOLTS!

[PD]

Phillips and a 1st round pick for ole Marty
LMAO Ajax

[Don in St. Pete]

Flasher, Agreed! Unless you could bring back Pronger, Phaneuf, Neidemayer, or Komisarek then it's a foolhardy excercise to even think about tradin MSL. I didn't include Bouwmeester or Green because I don't think we could dance with our division teams. The trade deadline is another matter. If we're in the hunt and we need a guy to help put us over the top, I believe these owners will sign on big time.

[Boltflasher]

I don't think there is a Defenseman in the NHL right now that would bring to the Lightning, the ROI, return on investment, that Marty presently brings to the Bolts. How significantly would a single Dman improve the Bolts defense...not very, whereas, Marty engenerates the whole team and the crowd with his play and puts fannies in the seats. I agree that yes, MSL would bring his greatest value in return now, but that return value is less than what Marty's current value is to the team, the MVP line, to Vinny, and the fans he puts in the seats. I can not imagine some my coworkers saying: "I can't wait to get to the Forum to see the exciting Willie Mitchell play defense"...you've got to be kidding....

[Don in St. Pete]

I think not naming the goalie is a phsyche job on the other team and I expect everyone know who'll be starting. Personally, I'm tired of the trade MSL talk and while the discussion brings up good point, the fact is MSL is our best clutch player and losing him would mean we weren't going anywhere in the playoffs even if the dman acquired help get us there. In defense of Lawton and the new owners, there were no top 2 dmen available except Campbell and the thoroughly shake-and-baked Redden who was horrid for the Rags in our Prague series despite scoring a goal. Orpik had a great playoffs but has been an underachiever for a few years as a #6. I say go with what we=ve got at if we're in the hunt you pull the trigger and bring in a rent-a-player, or one you can sign who could help. None of us true fans expected the Bolts to actually go from worst to first, we were only hoping to be competetive enough to challenge for a playoff spot and continue to build on that next off season. Despite what a few bitter individuals have said, it the team is competetive and the players are having fun, the FA's will come. here's a link to an interesting quote on the Lightning Insider's Blog on the Bolts homepage. Check out what Melrose says about R2KN.

http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=385710

[keith]

Ajax, thanks for being the common sense grounding on this pessimism-over filled blog. If the boys win a couple of games, all this goes away. New everything, 360 degrees,14 (count 'em 14) new players on the roster....lets wait until 10, 20, 40 games into the season before we start building the hangmans stand for OK et al.
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was the 2004 team

[Boltflasher]

I agree I don't understand the big mystery surrounding whose starting in goal Saturday...both goalies were great in Prague...

[McGz]

interesting discussion about msl. I think he's primed for another big season. I think prospal doesn't take a yr off either. Vinny bounces back from his surgery for top five in scoring too. Call it a hunch. There isn't a value as good as msl league wide. I would be interested to see some numbers iif someone could prove otherwise. Not just throw names out.
On another note. I'm not impressed with melrose so far, at all. Why is he screwing with the goalies? Smith should get the start no ifs ands or buts.
His system (so far) is about as soft as my silk sheets and there has been less hitting and tenacity than on those same sheets on the ice. What gives? I keep thinking back to the vancouver game last year (when everyone including mr positional m lundin) recorded a hit. The game was entertaining.

[ajax]

Marty's salary makes him the 64th highest paid player in the NHL, next year he won't be in the top 100. Safe to say on anybodies scale he is a top 25? 35? player. I guarentee they could trade Marty at his salary tomorrow, no questions asked. A one for one trade is probably impossible, the list submitted above surely wouldn't be a heads up trade, we would have to get more(as in a number one draft pick, or more) I believe any of the players above would be packing in less than an hour if they could get Marty. That is a sure sign you didn't get enough. Just me.
Trading Marty would be telling VL4 that they are playing for the future. I think owners are playing for this year. I think VL4 is playing for this year. I would welcome any move that would allow us to win. Marty at his relatively low salary would require one sweet pot in return. Their are 25 Damn in the league that make more than Marty, another way of saying Marty is a steal at this salary. I would be open to anything, but the one for one would be a very very short list, from there you would definitely need a team willing to sell a bit of their future to get Marty this year. Let the search begin.
I find something truly amazing. People angry that they traded Richey at 7.8 mil, then wanting to trade Marty at 4.33 mil. Seriously folks?? Another reason the blog is open to all opinions.

[Harvey]

Ajax - I liked this......

"Has every move been a winner?? Is every move in any business a winner?? No, it is a moving target and you keep trying."

A moving target - Exactly!

OK has shown no timidness as far as being very active in the free agent market, taking on additional salary, and trading bodies in an aggressive attempt to hit that moving target. How close they come remains to be seen. I really like some of the moves and see others that make absolutely no sense to me yet I will patiently wait to see what develops. It ain't gonna be overnight.

Half this team is new and everyone is playing under a new system. If there was ever a team that could have benefited from an extended training camp, this is it. Just so happens this team has had the shortest camp ever. It was cut short to travel to Europe. That may have helped the team gel from a personal standpoint but certainly didn't help create an on-ice comfort zone. It's going to take a bit longer to see where this team is.

[PD]

Well said Mark and I am not so sure it isnt too later to trade Marty.

The point about the fans is moot because unless we get a presence back on D, its over by Thanksgiving and there won't be any fans.

Me I target in no order : Regr, Willie Mitchel,Chris Phillips and Ohland.

[mike p]

In my opening part by 'I would like to say...' I mean 'I hope that ownership show class by not trading him.'

[mike p]

I would like to say that the ownership were classy enough people to wait until next summer to get a stellar Dman and keep St. Louis. As it's been mentioned, if we wait it out a year, we can have both! Reasons ownership should not trade St. Louis (and I'm not gonna whine): a long time ago in hockey we had a thing called loyalty. Some teams like Detroit still have that. They have the ability to retain players, sign them to contracts for less money than they are worth, or even attract other players to play for them for less money than they are worth. St. Louis made a detroit-style deal with Tampa Bay. I'm sure he could have gone somewhere else for a couple million more a year than what he got in Tampa. Here's a guy who at that time, had to decided, do I want to stay in Tampa? or should I leave for more money? Sarich left, Kubina left, Khabby left. St. Louis stayed. Despite the lack of class the owners have shown so far to the players (i.e. Boyle), it would show an utter lack of class to trade marty.

[Mark]

I couldn't agree more rbc. Your logic is solid, but I will say that OK and the boys throw more curve balls than strikes. (Sorry for the baseball analogy, but just getting excited for Friday.) I hope they are thinking more about team dynamics than anything else right now.

However, I think PD also makes a great point. In theory, if your going to trade Marty, then this would be the best year to do it, but there are too many negatives to making that trade. Much like rbc's opinion, I believe bolt fans will start to revolt if you MSL is traded. Especially, if the trade turns into a bust. It maybe smart from a logistical angle, but it may be too much of a change.

I too am looking forward to seeing a year of improvement. If they are better at the end , then I can take the early mistakes for an exciting finish. I believe a cup run after being worst in the league is obviously achievable (Rays), but a very lofty expectation. The Bolts have Good coaches and players. They will figure it out.

[pd]

and of course you know why some are general managers of nhl teams lining up to pay it and others are notorious blog cry babies.

[Casper]

Ajax, that was a magnificent diatribe.
Over the past 3 or 4 years there have been five really good blogs. You were signed under two of them.
(Possibly a third, under a former moniker before the peripheral pollution wafted in... Wink-wink.)

Thanks.

Go Bolts!

[ajax]

Please give me some suggestions on who we would be trading heads up for Marty. Remember we are into the cap/salary friendly years for Marty. His average pay for the next three years is 4.33 million per year. So keep that in mind with your suggestions. Keep the years in mind also. We surely don't want a guy for 1 year that will leave. Think Value. It will be a very short list I assure you, but give it a try. Since the new owners will surely screw it up, give us some suggestions. Surely radio free Canada had more than just a suggestion and backed it up with some substance/suggestions, no??.
http://www.nhlnumbers.com/sort.php?pos=D&type=salary0809
http://www.nhlnumbers.com/freeagents.php
Here is NHL salaries for Dmen and UFA's. How many All-stars, scoring champs, past mvp, Team Canada guys do you see on that list for 4.3 million. None. I know he is slowing down blah blah blah. Last two years, 5th and 12th in scoring. I just have to say this with a huge smile on my face. You don't want 33yr old Marty for 4.33 million but 37yr old Mats Sundin is a bargain for 8-10 million. Now I know why some people drink.

[rbc]

Thats my point, this is not a cup team and bringing in a stud on defense is not gonna change that. Trading marty will bring the fans down on ok and the boys. Next year the lightning lose alot of salary and can bring in a stud on the d-side and not lose marty the team would be stronger for it. You people want the world in 90 days well that's not reality. The playoffs would be great, but i be happy if they showed improvement all year long. Players like marty are not easily replaced and deserve to finish their career in the cities they played heart and soul 4. Go Bolts!!!!!!!!

[léo]

Exactly, rbc.
The PAST is what counts the most for TB.
We wanted to know what TB WANTS.
Now we know.
To content themselves with their past.
Fine.
You sure put my Team in its place, rbc. What did WE win four years ago, right? Nuthin'.
Boom. Checkmate on Leo.
P.

[pd]

rbc I have been here two yrs following the bolts actually.

There wil never be a better time to trade Marty than right now unless you think this is a cup team.