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

[rbc]

Leo,pd, the bolts will be fine. I am willing to give this new regime time to build. Next year we can go out and get that stud d-man without losing stl. The new owners had a vision and i am willing to see it thru, if the team does not compete and looks bad then yes i will be unhappy and vocal. It's been less than 90 days (ownership) only 2 games into the season and i personally said it will take at least 20-25 games to gauge their progress and see where we are at as a team. Both pd and leo's main teams are canadian in origin, thus i take anything they say as a fan of another club just trying to raise the ire of the other team fans. That said, unless your a wings or even a pens fan last year was another year the leafs and habs didn't win the stanley cup and boy, are the years piling up. The southeast division holds the last 2 cups won by the east and the habs and the leafs haven't been close in 15 years. Tell me am i story telling? fact.

[PD]

no attribs Leo
also no faith in Cowboy Barrie getting the right guy for him.

[léo]

Whoa, whoa, PD.
I'M not "bang on". That was the consensus on the team990, for what THAT'S worth.
Like Ajax says, "reporting the news".
Only difference of course, is that in this case, the "news" comes from the CONSENSUS of a VOX-POPULI in Hockey City, instead of just some yahoo off the Net. (Ajax's words; not mine!)
What do I say, PD? Dramatic, draconian move. If handled properly, possibly VERY advantageous.
But if mishandled?
Bloody tragic.
Youse's team; what do I care?
P.

[Mark]

Boltflasher,

It does suck that Craig is hurt again, but he has caught a very nice break with being signed this year. I really hope we can get something from him soon.

To everyone else, patience.

[PD]

Ajax grab some Prozac, you are turning into Captain Quig with your ball bearings.

[Pd]

Bang on Leo and word for word , man for man what I have said for 6 weeks.
That Marty trade needs be made, moaners aside.

[léo]

The Hockey News believed you, MikeP; they called the Lightning to win that year.
Anyhoo,
Montreal Radio this morning,
Subject: Bolters. Vox-populi.
Consensus: Good talent; bad "balance".
Solution: St-Louis for Stud defenseman. Straight-up.
Explication: Good reasons, bad reasons, nobody cares, bottom-line is all.
St-Louis superb. Yet St-Louis losing steam. Irrevocably. Supreme Value is Now. Value will lose steam at same pace as St-Louis. Irrevocably. V4 is the Lightning. Lightning will survive without St-Louis. Yet cannot survive without Solid D.
St-Louis's particular contract WILL bring SUPERLATIVE D.
Bottom-line: Such a trade WILL make Bolters better NOW and LATER as well.
Subjct posed: What does Tampa Bay WANT from their club? What is your OBJECTIVE in the National Hockey League?
Then we moved on to how to stop Detroit City...
P.

[Hockey Chic]

Ajax I love ya man.

Well said.. Go Bolts!!!

[mike p]

Yes! Well said ajax! Us 'dreamers' will keep on dreaming! Do you think anyone believed me in 03-04 when I was dreaming the lightning would win the cup? I can't make such a claim this year, but I CAN hope for the best!

[Mike13]

Max, I'm fairly certain that Chicago did not drop Barker. They simply sent him to the minors. I think he would be a wise investment if he were to become available for cheap.

So Kyle McLaren gets sent to the minors, and the Panthers waived Cory Murphy. And the best we can do is pick up Jamie Heward? I'm confused. Does Lawton and Co. want our D to suck?

[Tackleberry]

Ajax,
Amen...

[ajax]

Optimists see possibilities and usually channel their energy toward a good outcome. When good doesn't come their way, they look for new ways to succeed, they never stop moving forward. Pessimists convince themselves that they know the "real truth". They relish the day that they can feel good about failure. The ultimate goal is the "I told ya everything sucked" It usually paralyses their life, and they never know it (but everyone around them sure feels the pain) The pessimists on this blog spend 1% of their energy on what Hollywood and company has done good, and spend 99% of their blogs on each and every move that just wasn't perfect enough. The drum just keeps pounding for them. TO them it is, IF we could just undo every wrong move over the past 4 years, let alone just the past 8 months. We would have Khabby and Bryzgalov in Net. With Boyle, Mezzy, Kubina, Carle, Sarich and Ranger in front of them. The MVP line starting the game with Richards Malone and Modin following them up. Stamkos would be on the 4th line getting 8 minutes a night to break him in, as the third line of Fedetenko Stillman and Gratton would be dominant on some nights. And oh yeah, the Davidson's would of sold to a Sam Walton heir, and Scotty Bowman would be our GM. Some people write in this dream state. They can only dwell on the moves that didn't work. Hindsight makes them feel so good. And they try so very hard to convince the other 98% of the blog how dillusional all of us are. Personally, I like the possibilities. You know I really think these idiot owners invested 100 million of their own money to throw it down the tubes. Yeah that makes sense to me. In very tough times they have spent 7 million more than billionaire Davidson spent last year, next year it will be closer to 10 million. Are they going to make money this year. I am 110% sure they know they aren't. But somehow they (foolishly to some) think they are building for better times. I know I know, they need to be "realistic" and not "optimistic" One thing for sure is proven, no matter what you type, the simplest answer will always be, All of you are dreamers. All of you just won't admit how bad the new guys have made it. You, mean we might finish 31st??? One thing for sure, you will never win an argument with a pessimist, never. It is like trying to straighten out a corkscrew.
The new owners changed a proven loser. A colossus breakdown of a Stanley Cup team. I feel like printing that every single day, ten times a day until some of the pessimists, "GET IT" Has every move been a winner?? Is every move in any business a winner?? No, it is a moving target and you keep trying. After two years of Davidson and Company sitting on their hands and their checkbooks, we finally got owners who care and are working 16 hours a day and writing checks again to correct things. But, I know the answer already, they are trying, but they are idiots and they have ruined a good thing" Yes, they dismantled the worst team in the NHL. Some of you want Torts and Danny and Richie back for another great season of 6-4 losses. 6 guys from last years roster are not even in the NHL and you say the new owners are all to blame??. Let me type that again. 6 guys that were on our opening night roster a year ago are not even in the NHL. That is the definition of nowhere to go but UP!! Wake up and see that they started with water right up to their noses and have been digging out hard, to try to breath this club back to respectibility. Just my gentle opinion.
Here is a thought. What if the Davidson's still owned the team? At least 6 hockey players would be happy, and a couple of our resident pessimists could revel in Lighning misery.

[Steve R]

mike p,

So you're assuming that Philly is going to have long term success based on last year and having their forwards signed for the next three years?

52%

[Tackleberry]

Two down 80 to go. 160 possible points remaining. Give the team time to jel. The bolts have some growing pains before they ever get to the playoffs. No argument there.

We (as fans) need to give the team time. It will be rough at first. It is virtually a new team. How many will say that this team is worse than last years?

Can someone do some stats to see how many teams over the past 10 years have made the playoffs when they lost their first two games of the season? I am not saying the bolts will make the playoffs this year, but they have a better shat at the playoffs than last years roster.

Go bolts!!

[Hockey Chic]

The sky is falling chicken little. Some of you guys kill me it has been two games and oh my god everything bad that can happen its going to happen right. BS

I have said all along it is going to take some time for these three alumni MSL, V20 and V4 to bring this team together but it is going to happen. Sooner hopefully than later and yes I have my freakin Rosies out and polished.

PD maybe you are right about OK and their financing aka rental of this team but hey they said the same thing about the Rays. Nuff said. Oh and polyanna rosies what the hell is that? I got your polyanna PD.

By the way if you are so for Torts he is on TSN go there my friend and take your negative bs else where.

I am not saying we are going to win the cup but a little optimism is better than none.

Go Bolts!!

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[Boltflasher]

I see Craig is hurt yet again...the guy just can't catch a break...

[MaxHunter]

Since Damian hasn't posted anything today, let me ask this....

what do people think about Cam Barker? Chicago dropped him and i was thinking, "Maybe this kid could work in Tampa."

Discuss amongst yourselves. *L*

Max

[Beau]

F-4,

Not really sure what you are implying? That I'm not who I say I am because I don't have a hundred posts, or because my posts are sometimes more angry than others?

[Beau]

rpc,

Very mature to try and take jabs at peoples financial well-being and occupations. My advise is to only talk about something you might know the slightest little bit about. But I guess you are a multi-millionaire just like OK and Barrie?

Anybody that wants to "stay positive", have a blast. Keep spending your hard earned money on this team if you want to. It really doesn't matter to me. When the team plays in a manner that I appreciate, then I will support them win, lose, or draw. But as long as they suck to watch, I will not support the team. Maybe a couple of players, but not the management, coach, or anybody else that I feel does not do the right thing.

[Don in St. Pete]

I still consider the $48 mil plus better than the $42mil from last year. At least we have NHL talent throughout the roster, instead of a dozen AHL'ers. That explains everything, now that we know you're a disgruntled Tort's fan. I guess you'll be watching a lot of TSN this year.

[PD]

Heh Flasher the Bolts aren't spending to the cap but showing to the cap. Don got that one right the other day.

Bolts lied to Boyle to his face. Thus my point that free agents will be sucking a long hard breath before considering this market

Am I wrong on Koules and Barrie being severely underfinanced and in some danger of losing their rental franchise if this team doesnt come out of the shoot winning in this economy?

I'll stick with that and I have been here almost two years as a big Tortorella fan.

Frank sure, Pollyanna rosies? not here.

props L Stvr

[keith]

Saturday please hurry.....enough of this stuff. Lets at least have a game to disect and kick around. Nothing makes this pessimism/reality go away more than a couple of wins

[Boltflasher]

My attorney is an admitted pessimist...I can't walk down the hall to the bathroom without him warning me of the hazards and pitfalls that await me on my trip down the hall. However, he rightly says he would not be a good lawyer if he wasn't! Its OK to be a pessimist, but be a realist by admitting it...

[Boltflasher]

PD, you're a pessimist, not a realist...you're extrapolating negativity from all events that occur, that's pessism not realism. You said prior to the free agent signings that none would want to come here. You said Vinny would not want to live here in Tampa due to the local economy. You said ownership would not spend anywhere near the cap. A realist does not interpret EVERYTHING negatively. The Wikepedia definition of realism: "A concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary." Your constant prediction of doom and gloom is not fact, and therefore, not a "realist" point of view. Your predictions are your own conjectures that may or may not come true and are not fact, therefore, not realist. Definition of Pessimism: "Pessimism, from the Latin pessimus (worst), is the decision to evaluate, perceive and view life in a generally negative light."

[léo]

Arrrgh,
Yeh dorty, blody, scalliwag!
Ave'yeh no honor?
P.

MikeP,
PD is being extremely harsh. Much more than yours truly in fact but in all fairness, his overall point is undisputable, that free agents, though lured by a variety of reasons, become more attracted to a team that has a FUTURE than they would towards one who DOESN'T.
Now Philly is an example of a team quicky REBORN, not quickly CONTENDING.
Consider: A) They finished 6th. And from 6 on down, the teams weren't all that great.
B) They beat a team in the 1st round of the playoffs who, MATHEMATICALLY, had finished 8th, therefore, a lesser seed were there no divisions.
C) They triumphed over a team in the 2nd round who dominated every game except for the last. Dominated. The REASONS for that team's failures are ALL on that team and have NOTHING to do with the Flyers had they PUT THE PUCK IN THE NET... like they did all year and was their marque de commerce.
If anyone says "Biron", I will scream. He was good; I'm not saying the contrary. But his posts were better. And so was his red line, which I'm sure he had ridged somehow.
If the Kid had stopped HALF of the BANANAS he let in? Finished in 4.
D) And so following the melted team, boom, Philly's true colors showed against a REAL team. Pitt.
Argument: Philly was NOT a contender. Philly ain't there yet.
But they're up there. They are at the top of conference and with reason. They're NOW a heck of a good team, GETTING BETTER as the COHESION sets in.
Why? Savvy, savvy moves by the GM.
Question is now: Do the TB moves COMPARE to the Philly moves KNOWING that it takes at least SOME cohesion time?
Answer is: No.
Conclusion: PD's statement, though bristling with brutal frankness (Yeah, PD, what'up? You're such a meanie) is...well...frank.
While "suck" and "awful" as adjectives are maybe being used a bit prematurely, (gotta see the POSITIVE somewhat, and it's there) can we agree on "very, very suspect"?
WITH free-agents.
P.

[Not the Marlboro Man]

I wouldn't be worried about any long term success until the Bolts can establish any success at all. New coach, new players, new philosophy...new freaking everything. This team outside of one line has no identity as a team what-so-ever. It doesn't matter if you build a team out of free agency or not. The Bolts had success from free agency. 4 Straight playoff appearances. IMO their success is not discounted because they built from free agency. That's all this team has had to work with since iit inception because they are still fairly young in the league and have had to overcome ownership issues for more than half their existence. For being as young as they are in the league and having all the significant trouble that they have had, I think this team is pretty amazing.

Building through the draft is no sure fire way of building a team either. How many teams hit a home-run with a draft pick. The year that the Bolts took Gratton as a #1, was the same year that someone took Hossa as a #1. Its apparent "who" you would take now but it was shear luck the way that things turned out. 50% of this game is luck and the other 50% is hard work. Hard work for the players, scouts, coaches, GM's, owners, and so on.

Quibbling over useless psychobabble like some of you do, is just beating a dead horse that no-one gives a crap about. Some of you need to stop being democrats and get a job!

[mike p]

Sorry, I meant 4 seasons.

[mike p]

umm, Philly now has a very solid core (at least of forwards) locked up for the next 3 seasons. So I would say that 5 years is a reasonable amount of time to deem 'long term' in the NHL.

[Steve R]

mike p,

What part of long term wasn't clear? Does Philly's season last year and projected top 4 finish this year constitute long term? You tell me what you consider long term success.

[mike p]

Nice shot PD...and Steve R, PD is wrong...unless the Philly doesn't count as a team. There was a last place team built up almost entirely from free agent signings...but they didn't turn it around, I'm dellusional...get a clue

[Steve R]

PD is right, normally when you build a team through mostly free agency you're not going to have any measure of long term success.

Smart for you guys to hire the elder Malone, he'll probably help you next draft. But that talent won't be on the ice for a couple of years (unless you're in the lottery..)

[David]

Why wasn't I invited to the Torts firing party that OK talked about on Ottawa radio?

Now that's a much more important issue.

[PD]

Full of Hate Don?
or are you full of Delusion Don?

[Don in St. Pete]

RBC, Give it a rest. There is no sense arguing with PD, as I learned. He is full of hate and nothing but. You just feel sorry for people like that and move on, don't even feed their anger by responding to the post's.

[PD]

You mean an AHL team with Lecavalier, St. Louis, Boyle and Richards on it don't you?

RBC you have fired a direct bullet into the heart of the problem though..no drafted developed talent playing well for still low salaries here. See Detroit.

It's a fanatasy to think anyone can win a cup without them. You spend on big free agents only when that base is in place and that puts you over the top.

Trying to buy a competitive team from scratch actually just can't be done. Its like a dog chasing its tail.

The expectation level here is way off.

If we get to 9th or 10th in the east it should be called a big success. Baby steps.

Will the fan base buy that? Doubt it.

[rbc]

Frothing, you are the people frothing. My opinion is give it time and see where we end up. I like the moves that they made and they had to make those moves. The bolts were a ahl caliber team last year, not only my opinion. They are trying to make the bolts into an nhl caliber team (that's gonna take time). When was the last time we had the luxury of having nhl caliber players in our farm system? we did't the bolts were the farm team. Yes, i would love a #1 stay at home defenseman that punishes teams that came in our zone, but so does everyone else and they don't come cheap. OK has only had the keys 4 90 days or so, give them time and if the team looks like it did this pass weekend after about 20 games then jump their sh*t.

[PD]

You will see how much Oren and Barrie have in their pockets in a few short months RBC

They can't survive, nor can the franchise on empty seats.
With that back end and this economy, well guess what?

They are actually kind of renting the franchise from Palace SE

I'm hardly a hater, just a realist.

I totally agree on giving it 20 games but for different reasons. Stay tuned

btw why are you frothing?

[rbc]

Why the hate pd and beau, you jealous that len and oren carry around more in their pockets that you will ever have? Maybe that they have the power to make decisions for the lightning the team that they own and the biggest decision you make is whether to ask the customer if they want fries? Get lives after 2 games and you want throw in the towel.

[Pd]

Beau I see you have drawn the ire of the low information fans so rest assured that you are on the right track.

I do think you give Lawton way to much credit. The man behind the curtain in the cowboy Len Barrie is the one who is pulling the strings. He of a cup of coffee in the minors expertise.

Feaster was straight up..these guys just lie and bullst their way through it. Wait and see how many future free agents come to Tampa now after how they treated (lied to) Dan Boyle. Hint , none of any real worth.

Our man Barrie has also proclaimed to the hockey world that his rejigged Bolts are the new SE champs too.

I would suggest a few teams might take exception starting with the Caners on Saturday. Washington is laughing at him/us.

This bad roster wasn't built in two games.

[Nate Dogg]

People, people, people! No doubt Feaster made bad trades, but he had a self-imposed cap to deal with. That's why we were always trying to find the next MSL. And plus...it's in the past...who cares??

[mike p]

I remeber back when we got Karlsson and the lightning advertised him as a 'swedish scoring star'. His actual stats say he had 94 goals in 316 games in the swedish league, hardly enough to be considered a 'star' at an NHL level which we soon found out! REALLY BEAU? really? You think someone who doesn't judge a team by the outcome of 2 games is a fool? Again, laughable..clearly you don't actually watch hockey or pay attention to how teams develop. Yea, the lightning could suck, or they could jell as a team and do quite well. I really am not expecting much from them right off the bat and neither is coaching or management. How many times have we heard that the first few months are going to have many 'bumps'? As a fan, I don't expect great things right away from the lightning and you must also realize that rebuilding a team into something great from nothing does not take 1 year (unless you work some black magic like Philly did). Let's calm down folks and make assessment on the mangement and trades AFTER the season or at least 20 games!

[Mike13]

Casper, my only worry about McLaren is with his history of injuries.

[Mike13]

I disagree with Beau's notion that Feaster was unlike Lawton. He was just as shady. He brought in career minor leaguers that had no business of being in the NHL and he brought on marginal NHLers and tried to pass them off as pure goal scorers.

[Casper]

I hope Mihalik returns soon, and bring some mean this time.

I flinched through my 'patience' at the performance of our new D.
Mez is doing well, he could redoux the Ottawa magic with Mihalik to tutor but Vlad will have to hit. Much.

Adding Kyle McLaren will wash away much of the pink in our dainty defense. Nabokov is going to miss him and Mike Smith will marry him.

Every shift. Every game. Win.
Go Bolts!

[F-4 Bombloader]

Who knows Beau? Is there another "stage name"? The infrequent posts under 'Beau' resound familiarly with 3 or 4 others, sensible and on point at times and rancorous other times. Heck that could be 80% of the bloggers here. LOL.
(Note: the latent Sarasota Bill is a charlatan. The real SB is/was far more urbane and knowlegable with adroit syntax. Miss you man...wink-wink.)

Agree that this is shaping up like a B movie. Glad I didn't bet the sagacious one who wrote that this is all window dressing precursing moving the Club out of the State.

No worries, we'll get another.

Go Bolts!

[Bob]

Why panic? Cuz every game counts.

[Beau]

mike p, the only fool is the person who uses "it's only 2 games" as an excuse. Sorry to ruin yours or anybody elses hopes and dreams, but this team sucks! They are horrible, not only result wise, but they are not even remotely entertaining. The point about Feaster is that people who know me, know how much I disliked Feaster (as GM), but Lawton is much worse. They both have made horrible trades, but at least Feaster was as upfront as he could be...a solid person. Lawton (as well as Melrose) have shown the propensity for doing whatever it takes, whether that be lying, conniving, or any other means of "pulling the wool over our eyes".

I was very happy when we got Melrose and so far he has been a HUGE disappointment. It doesn't matter that it is only 2 games into the season, because all you have to do is read his words and then watch the team he puts on the ice to see where this is going. Can he turn it around? Sure. And I most definintely hope he does. Hell, maybe it is really Lawton at fault for everything...I don't know, but as the coach he gets held responsible just like everybody else.

Lawton was hired because the new owners/cowboys were impressed by his 40 page plan LOL. Guess that plan entailed becoming as soft as possible. Face it, Lawton was a huge disappointment as a player, and now, while I can't say he is a disappointment (because I didn't have high expectations when he was hired), he is still showing that he sucks.