Last Night from Tampa Bay’s Perspective

Rich went to last night's Tampa & Edmonton tilt, and he had the opportunity to assess the game as well as interview Vincent Lecavalier and Rick Tocchet.

With Tampa Bay seemingly playing their 100th pre-season game last night, I had a chance to catch the Bolts in action in Winnipeg against the Edmonton Oilers. 

First off, I have to say that I am thankful that the Lightning dressed basically their entire regular season roster for the game.  In the lineup for Tampa Bay was Vincent Lecavalier, Alex Tanguay, Martin St. Louis, Steve Stamkos, Victor Hedman and every other significant Bolt you can think of.

Here are my thoughts on the Bolts’ forwards from last night’s contest:

• Martin St. Louis is the heart and soul of this team.  He never stops working, is always in the right position, is smart with the puck and makes everyone around him look better.  He is, in my opinion, a shoe-in for Team Canada.  In fact, when asked about St. Louis last night, Tocchet touched on how lucky Team Canada will be to have him in Vancouver.

• Playing center for St. Louis the majority of the game was Steven Stamkos.  Stamkos makes the game look easy with his fluid stick-handling and lethal shot.  It looks like his confidence has carried over from the second half of last season, just by the way he carries himself, both on and off the ice.

For a complete look at his assessment, click here.