PWTRPWR
Buccaroo
User is Offline
Joined: 27 Sep 2007
Posts: 993
 6438
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:57 pm Post subject: Lightning Team Report |
|
|
Lightning Team Report
Yahoo! Sports
14 hours, 41 minutes ago
The Lightning’s streak of playoff appearances ended at four seasons. And when they fell, they fell hard.
The Lightning were hampered by a lingering ownership change that still has the franchise in limbo and handcuffed management when it needed to fix their problems this season, most notably when defenseman Dan Boyle was out of the lineup for the first four months of the season following wrist surgery.
And unless the ownership situation clears up before free agency begins on July 1, the outlook for immediate improvement does not look good.
Although there are 15 players under contract for next season at a payroll of around $35 million, the Lightning have some holes that need to be filled. The first order of business once again is trying to find some scoring depth behind All-Star forwards Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis. Tampa Bay has already targeted a second-line center and winger as the top priorities on its summer shopping list.
Help on defense is also needed with the team lacking any true veteran, stay-at-home presence on its blue line. Though the Lightning have some solid young defensemen—including recently acquired Alex Picard along with rookies Mike Lundin and Matt Smaby—having to rely on inexperienced defensemen this season to play upward of 20 minutes a night certainly caught up with the team.
The goaltending tandem of Mike Smith, acquired from Dallas at the trade deadline, and rookie Karri Ramo showed glimpses of greatness down the stretch, but the team is not yet sold on the duo as a unit to open the season next fall and might seek a veteran goaltender to pair with Smith.
But with potential owner Oren Koules still struggling to find the necessary financing to close the deal, Tampa Bay is looking at the possibility of having a payroll much closer to the salary floor (believed to be in the neighborhood of $40 million) next year than the salary cap, which might end up in the $54-55 million range.
Season Highlight: The Lightning thumped division rival Carolina 6-1 on Nov. 14 for their fourth consecutive victory as center Vinny Lecavalier factored in on five of the six goals with a hat trick and two assists. Lecavalier capped off the night by completing his hat trick with a shorthanded goal against former teammate John Grahame.
Turning Point: There was plenty of hype on Dec. 13 surrounding Calgary’s first visit to Tampa since Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup finals, but the game turned out to be anything but another Cup final preview. The Lightning came into the game on a 3-1-1 stretch to pull its record to .500. Despite scoring six goals against Miikka Kiprusoff, Tampa Bay lost by three goals, starting a downward spiral to its season. The loss was the first of three in succession and began a stretch of seven losses in eight games and one win in 11 games. The loss to Calgary also marked the end of goaltender Marc Denis’ career in a Lightning uniform; he was sent down to the minors shortly after suffering the loss in relief.
Notes, Quotes
• Lightning center Vinny Lecavalier will have to undergo surgery on his right shoulder after suffering damage to the labrum following a hit from Washington’s Matt Cooke in the next-to-last game of the season. Lecavalier sustained a separated shoulder and will need 12-15 weeks of rehab over the summer before resuming normal activities. He is expected to be fully healed before training camp opens in early September.
• Tampa Bay finished the season with its fewest number of road victories (11) and fewest overall victories (31) since 2001-02, when the Lightning had an 11-23-7 road record and 27-40-15 overall record.
• The Lightning front office staff will be glued to the television set on April 7 when the league hosts the annual NHL draft lottery. All 14 non-playoff teams are eligible for the lottery, but a team may not move up more than four spots, meaning only the bottom five teams are eligible to land the top pick in the draft. Tampa Bay has not been an interested party in the lottery since the end of the 2001-02 season, when it ended up with the third overall pick but traded it. The Lightning have not made a selection in top five since picking Alexander Svitov with the third overall pick at the 2001 draft.
Quote To Note: “I trace the whole thing back to the press conference (in August) where they announced that we were sold and ever since it was announced it was going to happen in 60-90 days or whenever it was. And here we are at the end of the season and we don’t have a deal closed. It’s just been one thing after another all season.”—Lightning general mananger Jay Feaster on the black cloud that has seemed to hover over the team all year.
Roster Report
Most Valuable Player: Center Vinny Lecavalier started off the season garnering plenty of league MVP attention and was among the league’s top scorers for most of the first half of the year. Though he tailed off in the second half as the team plummeted to the bottom of the standings, Lecavalier still finished in the top 10 in scoring. He is the first player in Lightning history to record consecutive 40-goal and 90-point seasons.
Most Disappointing Player: Right wing Michel Ouellet was brought in as a free agent to provide scoring depth on the second line alongside Brad Richards. But at various points in the season Ouellet was either playing limited minutes on the fourth line or was a healthy scratch, which didn’t include the 18 games he missed because of a shoulder injury. At the time of Richards’ trade to Dallas, Ouellet had eight goals. It took a late flurry for Ouellet to finish the year with 17.
Free Agent Focus: Tampa Bay is no doubt going to be more active in trying to bring in prospective free agents rather than concentrating too much on its own guys whose contracts are up. The Lightning has 15 players under contract for next season, but don’t expect the likes of Andreas Karlsson, Doug Janik or Andre Roy to be back with the team. Restricted free agents such as D Alex Picard and LW Ryan Craig are on the short list of players who need to be re-signed. Once free agency begins on July 1, Tampa Bay is expected to be active to trying to bring in some second-line scoring help along with a veteran presence on defense and possibly a veteran goaltender to team up with Mike Smith.
Player Notes:
• D Dan Boyle finished the season with the worst plus/minus rating of any defenseman in the league—minus-28.
• RW Marty St. Louis ended up with 25 goals on the year, his lowest total since scoring 16 during the 2001-02 season, when he suffered a broken leg and played only 53 games.
• D Mike Lundin was the only Lightning player to appear in at least 15 games this season and not score a goal.
_________________
 |
|
