Tampa Bay Lightning – So Hot, So Cold!

Lightning players dropping ice time for this season include forwards Evgeny Artyukhin, Ryan Craig, Adam Hall, Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen, David Koci, Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Malone, Matt Pettinger, Vaclav Prospal, Mark Recchi, Gary Roberts, Radek Smolenak, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, and Paul Szczechura. Defenders include Steve Eminger, Jamie Heward, Lukas Krajicek, Marek Malik, Andrej Meszaros, Cory Murphy, Janne Niskala, Paul Ranger and Matt Smaby. Goalkeepers include Olaf Kolzig and Mike Smith.

Neither player is currently on injured reserve. Without a doubt, a great coach and support team plays an integral role. Coaches and lighting coaches include interim head coach Rick Tocchet, assistant coach Wes Walz, assistant coach Cap Raeder, video coach Nigel Kirwan, head athletic coach Tom Mulligan, assistant athletic coach Mike Poirier, al massage therapist Mike Griebel, team manager Ray Thill, assistant team manager Clay Roffer and assistant team manager Rob Kennedy.

As the Lightning affectionately refer to them, there is more than one player in the pipeline for this team. Lightning strikers include Dimitri Bezrukov, Brandon Bochenski, Anton But, Justin Courtnall, Luca Cunti, Kyle De Coste, Mitch Fadden, Alexi Glukhov, Chris Gratton, Johan Harju, Blair Jones, Denis Kazionov, Dimitri Kazionov, Justin Keller, Alexander Killorn , Zenon Konopka, Chris Lawrence, Matt Marshall, Alexander Polushin, Pavel Sedov, Brandon Segal, Juraj Simek, Wyatt Smith, Vitali, Smolyninov, Matias Sointu, Ilya Solarev, Dana Tyrell, Albert Vishnyakov, Radim Vrbata, and James Wright. Defenders include Mark Barberio, David Carle, Justin Fletcher, Andreas Holmqvist, Scott Jackson, Vladimir Mihalik, Kevin Quick, Andy Rogers, Jay Rosehill, Michael Ward, John Wessbecker, Ty Wishart, Luke Witkowski and Jan Zapletal. Goalkeepers include Riku Helenius, Torrie Jung, Vasily Koshechkin, Karri Ramo and Dustin Tokarski.

The Lightning earned a victory against the Sabers and will end the month of January with games against the Hurricanes and Flyers, both on the road and at home, respectively. In February, the Lightning will hit the road and take to the ice on the road against the Islanders, Penguins, Hurricanes, Oilers and Canucks. For the rest of the games in February, the Lightning will host home games against the Islanders, Thrashers, Maple Leafs, Capitals, Blackhawks, Devils and Bruins. In March, the Lightning will hit the road again to play the Flames, Maple Leafs, Panthers, Canadiens, Capitals, Lightning and Bruins. The month of March also has many home games planned where Lightning will play host to the Penguins, Blues, Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Capitals, Thrashers, Blue Jackets and Senators.

In April, just five additional games mark the end of the 2008-2009 NHL season. At home, the Lightning will finish their season with road games against the Devils, Islanders and Thrashers; the last of which is the final game scheduled for Saturday, April 11. The Lightning will also welcome the Penguins and Capitals home in April to round out the season.

The Lightning currently rank 12th in Eastern Conference League play with 42 points from 16 wins, 21 losses and 10 OTs.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *