First Night, First Impressions

by John Fontana on Oct 6, 2006 4:07 PM EDT in Game Previews

For opening night of the 2006-07 hockey season, I have to think the Lightning's efforts started and stopped with Marc Denis' first game between the pipes for the Bolts.

The game itself was drab -- on and off the ice as the broadcast on local television where the picture and sound quality were pathetic at best -- and ended in a 3-2 shootout win as you know. But Denis' effort was of note... Even though you didn't see acrobatics in net.

That's part of the reason it's of note.

During play, you weren't on-edge wondering if the desperation shot would get past him. Denis performed both coolly and collected when faced with pressure. He did give up 2 power play goals to put the Lightning in a hole -- but those are as much defensive faults as a great effort by the THrashers.

Maybe I'm making excuses for him? Maybe not.

Onto the rest of the Lightning -- it was odd watching the Bolts and not seeing the familiar #33 and #13... It was even odder witnessing #15 on ice once more as it's been 3 years since Nikita Alexeev was last on the Lightning roster. But the change in members on the roster didn't change around enough with the Bolts. They still have a weakness on the top lines -- especially non-shooting Dmitry Afanasenkov. They still aren't playing as well as they should on the power play...

Oh, yeah, that and Ryan Craig will go in front of the net and do the dirty work... That and Vincent Lecavalier is a nightmare to defend on the shootout.

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Comments

Testing out AJAX comments again. They did not work last night in the game thread.

by John F. on Oct 6, 2006 4:08 PM EDT reply actions

hmmm, funny

by John F. on Oct 6, 2006 4:11 PM EDT reply actions

test

by John F. on Oct 6, 2006 4:12 PM EDT reply actions

it makes no sense. Either information doesn’t show up at all or I get spam comments where my own comment should be. Sorry I am testing in plain view on Boltsmag

by John F. on Oct 6, 2006 4:13 PM EDT reply actions

John, you made a key point…I realize today that last nite I never felt that sense of dread when the Thrashers approached the goal that I was so familiar with last year.

One of the two shots Denis let in last nite (5 on 3, thru the crease, open net chip) was unstoppable. The other (the slow trickler) would have been a ESPN highlite if he had kicked it out, or if a teammate had helped him out and cleared the puck. I’m happy. And Torts is too, judging from an interview I heard in WDAE yesterday afternoon.

So, what is AJAX gonna do for us, again?

by Hinch on Oct 6, 2006 4:56 PM EDT reply actions

Hinch, Ajax woudl just make the comments instantaneously added without refresh.

But I keep hitting problems every time I try to employ them on here. No big loss.

by John F. on Oct 6, 2006 5:28 PM EDT reply actions

On the morning after, I still couldn’t shake a sense that Lehtonen is better than I thought he was, as he was able to squeeze those pads and stop potential 5-hole shots from some of our best forwards. So even though the Trash hardly made a splash with a non-offense, I had a sneaking suspicion that Lehtonen could end up channeling some of Luongo for us this season. Hope to be proved wrong on that one, of course. On the up side, how ‘bout that Craig? A big WTF to those hockey “reporters” who saw a possible sophomore slump with that dude. And Alexeev did have the hands when he made that nice feed to Craig. Could be a fluke, but nice to see just the same. Denis was magnificent in the SO, and with his positioning skills maybe he doesn’t need to be big and/or long-limbed. That’s all for now, she wrote.

by Marsha on Oct 6, 2006 8:23 PM EDT reply actions

except to say John, the Ajax feature just worked.

by Marsha on Oct 6, 2006 8:24 PM EDT reply actions

Everything was great except the horrid lightning announcers. “The Chief” Bobby Taylor is quite rancid. Especially when living in a hockey town previously, and being used to better more informative announcing. They really need to find someone else.

by shawn on Oct 7, 2006 9:02 PM EDT reply actions

I love The Chief. He tells it like it is. When he’s pissed at a bad call that a ref makes, which is only like 2-10 times a game, he’ll let you know about it and won’t give some PC appropriate remark. He’s a former goalie that played with the Flyers, something I forgive him for, but his experience and honest comments make me love to hear what he will say next.

by Laura on Oct 9, 2006 10:22 AM EDT reply actions