Pettinger in, Koci out, Ward on waivers

Busy morning for the Lightning, which claimed forward Matt Pettinger on recall waivers from the Canucks, lost enforcer David Koci on waivers to the Blues and put Jason Ward on waivers as well.

Pettinger, who turns 28 on Wednesday, had three goals for AHL Manitoba, and has 56 goals, 105 points in 354 NHL games with the Capitals and Canucks. His contract calls for $1.1-million in salary. But since he was claimed on recall waivers, Tampa Bay is only responsible for half ($550,000). He is expected to join the Lightning and not be sent to AHL Norfolk.

Koci was put on waivers Monday and claimed by the Blues. That is the most interesting part of this process because coach Barry Melrose had hyped Koci since the summer. But Koci played only one game, Satruday against the Wild, and played just 41 seconds and had four minutes in penalties, and neither were good penalties.

Melrose even said he would be trying to get Koci more playing time. Anyway, asked before the announcement of Koci going to the Blues, Melrose said, "That's a business decision. David Koci did everything we asked of him. Obviously, going out and getting those two penalties, I was forced to play him a little bit different than I hoped. I hop David Koci doesn't get picked up. I want to keep him in the organization. We will have injuries and he wil be a guy we get back. But that's a business decision more than a hockey decision.

Still, it isn't as if there have been brawls breaking out all over the place that Koci has had to address. But as Melrose said (in what might be the quote of the year), "That's why the United States has a nuclear aresenal. It's called a deterent. Do you think (Minnesota's Derek) Boogaard is in the lineup because he's going to get 10 goals? I don't think so."

Vice president of hockey operations, Brian Lawton, was not immediately available for comment.

As for Ward, no surprise he is on waivers. He has not yet played this season, and tonight will be a healthy scratch for a fourth straight game. And the Lightning has numbers issues. The roster was at 22, one under the limit when the day began. Adding Pettnger and losing Koci keepis it static. With center Ryan Craig (groin) almost ready to return and defenseman Marek Malik close to being signed (we assume), that would bring the number to 24. Ward leaving the roser reduced the number to 23.

We'll know at noon tomorrow if Ward is claimed or if he is off the Norfolk.

Comments

[coach bill]

Right on,D We also have Gratton, Hall, Malone, Vinny, and now Milik? Did I get his name right?

[D]

This team has enough muscle without Koci. Arty's presence alone keeps guys honest out there. And if you don't believe that, ask someone who saw his drive-by on Colby Armstrong the other night. When Arty's on a mission, you know it, and so does the target.

Isn't baseball over in like 10 days? It goes spring though fall, and hockey fall through spring; it's not clear how they compete with each other for fans except in October.

I don't know any hockey fans who consider baseball a viable alternative.

[Boltflasher]

Another thing the recent articles up in Ontario (as usual) about a 2nd team there fail to mention is the recent tumbling of the Canadian dollar as the economic downturn now hits Canada, which may play havoc with the escrow clause in the current CBA...(see the article about the escrow in THN)

[Boltflasher]

PD, you're discussions on a franchise move are always and only focused on TB. There are several other franchises in far worse shape that do not draw nearly as well as here. This time of year here is not the time to talk about attendance (during World Series and football which is why it is silly). If TB had not won the Cup when it did, then TB would probably be in the dire straits that ATL, FLA, and NASH (and maybe CLB) are in. One of the other franchises is more likely to move than this one. No Stanley Cup winner has moved and TB has proved it will pack the house with a winner. All of the aforementioned have not proven that. The discussion on sold tickets versus actual fannies yes, we've already been through that and is a mute point.

[PD]

Spare me Ajax there are 2500 on the seasons tix waiting list in Toronto..thats 8 years worth.

[PD]

Flasher you and I have had this discussion before, round and round on attendance and tickets sold vs tickets distributed.

But lets say 13000 ish did commit to a ticket last night. The NHL deems the line for a failed franchise at 12000 per game.

Seasons tix have not hit double figures here this year, whence last reported by Damian , so then the viability of the franchise now rests with walk up sales, no?

And that's all I have said all along that there is big trouble if this team doesn't have the perception of contending.

The up coming road trip means a whole bunch more than has been published.

It's not just Tampa either, unfortunately, but Fla has been dealt the worst cards in this economic mess so discretionary dollars will be just that and many will be emptying the piggy bank for baseball.

For the 1st time ever I am starting to believe the concept of moving another current team to the Toronto market could now happen.

[Melanie]

Coach Bill - I'll take my sippie cup with a JagerBomb please!!

Koci is out, Pettinger is in and who knows how much longer Ward will be here.

How many players will be here at the end of the season that started the season??

Doby. You know the first

[Boltflasher]

Tino, I was there. Bldg was over half full, and since it seats 19,000, that makes about 11,000 to 12,000....

[Tony]

They finally win and no TV not even on CI.OH well nice to get off the schnied.

[VoiceoftheCasperPDBillDonTwinerChicAjaxMikeFlasher]

"You are all morons."

A blanket overgeneralization to be sure, "Patrick" (if that is your real name), but let's say it's true. Then it's enough to make one wonder what drives a person to repeatedly read and respond to the remarks of 100% morons. Isn't it? Especially in a forum where user names carry no identity and confer zero accountability since they can be applied by whomever to whatever post they choose.

~ {Fix it please} ~

[Tino]

Anyone quoting the "paid" attendance last night was obviously not at the game. Actual attendance was around 4,000, or 20% capacity.

It was empty.

[Boltflasher]

Attendance in Columbus: 12,057...are they moving the team? Attendance in LA last nite: 13,891...are they moving the team? On Sat night, Lightning outdrew two other NHL cities and only 1500 short of Calgary-Edmonton on a night they were competing with local Rays Game 6 and Gators-LSU an 90 miles away. Talk of Bolts move is silly right now and not one of your better arguments PD...

[ajax]

Toronto got 19,222 and lost their 5th straight. 13,922 screaming hockey fans or 19,222 people reading the newspaper while a hockey game is going on. Take your pick. Go Bolts Go. You can't ruin this smile tonight PD. By the way, Toronto is averaging 270 people less than the last two years. Are they moving the team?

[Boltflasher]

Good to get a win however they got it...first milepost coming up Sat with Sharks.

[PD]

Atlanta will be quite happy to take a point here.

The flip side Don is that our strength , Offense, has had a governor slapped on it to protect the back end.

Did they get 14000 2 night?

V$....how funny!!!!!!!!

[Don in St. Pete]

Who cares how we got it, we got the 1st one under our belt. There will be many more to follow. Our defense and goaltending has been awesome. We have been strong where all of our detractors said we were defficient. Who'd have thought that Mark Recchi would be the guy to score the opening goal. We got a little sloppy in the 3rd and the results show that. V4 came up with the big shot when needed afer missing a few in regulation. GO BOLTS!

[McGz]

Goal by V$ to win it! Should've never gone to OT though.

[Mike13]

Nice....Atlanta comes in and steals a point. How demoralizing!!!!

[MooDaddy]

YOu have got to be kidding me, Atlanta tied it up! Is this deja-vu! Damn guys play the full 60 min!

[Don in St. Pete]

Very disappointing performance by the Bolts in the 3rd period. All of thos missed opportunities in the 1st period are staring us in the eye now.

[Don in St. Pete]

I'll try to make it, but I forgot about the previous commmittment. I was looking forward to it for the past month. If I can take care of business and get ready on time, I will be there. Go Bolts!

[coach bill]

We'll miss you Don. Any chance you can make that other thing we talked about on Nov.8-9? Sarasota Bill - hope you can make it Sat. Night. I've got something for you. We are looking good for the Happy Hour Sat night @ Shots from 6-7:30. WE have 11 so far. Let me know if you're coming so I can give a head count.

[ajax]

From what I hear, all 4 lines are playing pretty close to equal. That is a good thing, that builds team unity, 20 guys pulling and playing together. When Vinny and Marty play 21 minutes and only score 70 points and we WIN, that will make me very happy. 27 minutes a night, 90/100 points, and the worst team in hockey is a year I can live without.

[McGz]

2-0 Lightning, out shooting and out hustling the the Trashers! I guess thats not too hard though. Time to put them out of their misery in the third period!

[Don in St. Pete]

Well so far we've survived some pressure in our zone. The other team always counters our surge, don't they? Smitty has been awesome and by what I've heard on the radio, Krajicek, Ranger and Lundin have been very solid. In addition R2KN, Vrbata, Gratton and Stamkos seek to be excelling here in the 2nd period. Coach Bill, I can't make it saturday, I forgot I have to do the monofilament cleanup at Coffee Pot Bayou Bird Nesting Island in St. Petersburg on saturday and it's just too much.

[Ozmodcon]

5 games played...

Well, with all these new faces, new chemistry to be built, new coach, guess we better start the firesale after 5 games right?

Not saying contender, for sure, but lets at least wait 'til the end of November to see what this team is like after some gel-ing time.

[SarasotaBill1]

Yes, it's the real one! The number should tip off those who know me. I will also say that I will never post under this name again. If you see it, it ain't me. A few of you know what name I post under now. Casper knows and I think ajax does as well.

Anyway, after reading posts from longtime posters it's clear the words didn't come from the true source. We all know their style and attitude. If you have been around as long as Casper, Ajax, and myself you can pick it up pretty easy. Names have changed more than once in some cases. A little common sense will tell you where the posts came from.

Coach Bill, keep up the good work. Nice to see many of you have gotten together at the games. I look forward to meeting some of you on my next trip up. I had to beg off the season tickets the last 2 years so I only get up there a few times a year. I look forward to meeting all of you.

L Rod, I saw you were joining the crew up there. You are obviously still here. I have an incling to your new name but I'm not sure. If you see casper there, ask him, he knows mine. Looked in 116 for you a couple of times last year and couldn't find you. Had the pic of you holding the cup with Andy at Hattricks and still couldn't find you. Seems like the seats were 8-9 maybe, about halfway up, something like that. Anyway, I had to close the address I had (long but interesting story) so I lost your e-mail. If you can, leave an unsigned post and let me know - first initial, last name. First name, last initial. I know the provider and I think it's .net. Just so you know it's me, you saw my name and last initial which created some conversation. Nuff said. Look forward to jawing with you again. By the way, that drummer you know was right, gotta pay to play!

PD - from Sarasota? Hard to believe I'm from there as well. So is Olin and another whose name escapes me right now. I'm always up for a trip to the Sports Page to catch an away game with other fans. Maybe we can all catch up there for a game.

Over the past couple of years there have been some great posters who have stumbled across this place and regularly contribute well thought out posts. A few Lightning fans, but mostly Lightning AND Hockey fans. Fine with me. Let em become Lightning fans first. In short order they will become hockey fans. We have also seen a psychotic individual disrupting a great board. I guess the attention starved little b!+(#'s mommy didn't love him enough.

Ignore the punk. If disrupting a great board is the only thing he can accomplish in life, well.....as pathetic as it is, he will continue to do so until SPT bans his isp #. Till then, ignore the B!+(#! Or as Hockey Chick refered to him - @$$ head! I love that!!

Don't anyone run away. Keep the posts coming. All will be well soon.

[Don in St. Pete]

I love what I'm hearing here in the first period, listening to the game on the radio as I couldn't attend. Seems like Vrbata is buzzing tonight. A couple of great saves by Smith and Lehtonen have kept it close. 5 shots by the Trash, how about our d eh? Jokinen seems to be standing out as well. Now they need to keep the pressure on and keep them off balance and taking penalties. Sooner or later they will tire and we'll run up the score. What is up with the MVP line? It seems like whenever the Trash has pressure in our zone it's when the MVP line is on the ice.

[Mike13]

Seems to me like "the shrink" is back. Talking to himself again.

[ajax]

Don, Hockey Chic etc I am the champion of comments and no personel insults. I came close about a week ago and regretted the moment I hit post. I never liked Feaster but thought it was horrible people would attack him because of his weight. It has gotten out of hand. I am 110% sure Damien and his staff can figure this out very quickly if they choose to. This is a nice blog that every three months or so gets one nasty person. He is back fulltime. Damian get your internal people on it and bloc the creep, please.

[dan]

it looks as if no one really knew what to do to get this team going , get a REAL COACH here, bring in someone in the trenches, a minor league coach would be better, not a celebrity coach who has not been behind a bench in a decade. The thing they did with boyle was soooooooooo stupid, bringing in roberts, recchi was all melrose's fantasy team, and forget defense, laying the stamkos kid out there for the 3rd shooter in the shootout shows how stupid melrose is

[McGz]

Wow this blog went downhill fast... Koci was a non-factor for this team to begin with, since preseason. Ward will finish his career in the AHL. Pettinger could rebound with a change of scenery and back in the SE div. I think the team should be set for this year, unless the Malik signing goes bad and another vet d-man is reclaimed on waivers. Lets get some continuity and some wins. Go Bolts!

[coach bill]

Hank- I'm not posting at all except to promote/ advertise the happy hour on Sat. night. Boltflasher, I talked with DC and he said he'd try to stop by but I think if he does come, it'll be early. Many of us have already expressed our concerns. It's too bad that this person feels he(?) has to be so disruptive to satisfy his ego. It really doesn't bother me at all. I really feel sorry for him. Some of his posts suggest that he is IS a fan of sorts. Why don't you join us,imposter? You can start off with a new name and jump in. Come Sat. night. It might not be a great idea to tell all who you are but I wouldn't care. You'ld still be welcome. I'd rather listen to your hockey comments than the meaningless insults. I talked with Casper today and he has really cut down on his posts because of these intrusions. What a shame. Go Bolts!

[D C]

Yeah, right. I have nothing better to do on a coverage night than to meet a bunch of disgruntled morons at an overpriced bar and listen to all the twits complain. You're not on my schedule let alone my radar.

[Hockey Chic]

Hanks, why don't you do what I do and IGNORE all posts signed "coach bill." None of them make any sense at this point. The "real" Bozo will resurface under another name and all will be normal again. Bet you can tell I've got my rosies polished.

[Boltflasher]

Even though I may not be going to the game on Sat, I may come by if DC is going to be there so we can maybe discuss what to do about the impersonator...

[Hank]

Coach Bill reads like a manic-depressive. Hey Coach, please pick one of your personalities and stick with it. You are beginning to worry me, Son

[Boltflasher]

You people have really been getting into the glue sniffing today if you think the league is going to move a recent Stanly Cup winning franchise...the empty seats at the last game were not as many as I expected with home Rays ALCS and Gators-LSU games at the same time...

[ajax]

bill....that really was me. Don needs some humility and a few others here do too.

[coach bill]

Wahhhh!!! I'm a crybaby. No one else can post here without my consent. Will someone please change my didy? See you at Shots with my Sippee Cup.

[tank]

PD, the NHL and even the people in Winnipeg have said that MTS center is too small (15,000 for hockey per wikipedia). Also, remember when Basille was going to move the Preds to Hamilton ON? He had already worked out a deal with the Leafs in paying them fees for infringing in their footprint and was actually going to put some games on Leafs TV. The chances of Toronto getting a second team are much higher than Winnipeg getting a team.

[Pete]

Hey, If they want a fighter and since we're signing all of these goofy players then why not bring Proby out of retirement?

[coach bill]

DC- Please do something about this imposter who is rude and insulting and uses our "names". Those latest posts from Hockey Chic, Ajax, and me are too crude and insulting to be from us. Please track this down and block him( or her?) off. Bloggers/ Posters- The party s still on for 6-7:30 at Shots on sat night. 11 of us "regualars" are in so far. I'll post the names soon. Let me kow if you're coming so I can give the mgmt. a head count.

[Patrick]

Trust me guys, the last player we need is Darren McCarty. He is a shell of his former self and would get killed against most legit guys. Or just anyone who is semi tough and can handle himself with the gloves off.

And i agree, this organization is a complete walking contradiction. Say one thing, speak passionately; do exactly the opposite.

cinema verite

[PD]

I can answer that one for you Vott.

You are watching Cimema verite

Most here have no idea how fast this can burn out of control if the product is laughed at and building continues to be partially full.

There will never be two teams in Toronto.

Winnipeg is more than ready to reclaim a team.

[Bolts!]

This coaching staff sucks, man, they said want toughness, want a fighter and waive him. What a hell will they do?
I can't understand.