2013 Tampa Bay Lightning season preview part 4: Lightning team depth and predictions

In the fourth and final part of our 2013 Tampa Bay Lightning season preview, we highlight the roster and give a final prediction on the season ahead.

2013 Tampa Bay Lightning season preview, part 3: Stengths and weaknesses

Part three of our 2013 season preview; Raw Charge looks at the team from an overall prospective, finding three strengths and three weaknesses for the team this season.

2013 Tampa Bay Lightning season preview part 2: The "In"s and "Out"s of the Tampa Bay Lightning roster

A brief guide to the players that have come and gone since the last time the Tampa Bay Lightning took to the ice. Part two of Raw Charge's 2013 Lightning season preview.

2013 Tampa Bay Lightning season preview part 1: The process of the 2011-12 season

Our four part preview of the 2013 season starts with a summarization / recap of the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2011-12 season..

Tampa Bay Lightning place four on waivers; is the roster likely set?

With several players on wiavers today, it gives us a glimpse of what the likely opening night roster is for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Guy Boucher says Tampa Bay Lightning roster to be finalized Friday

The Bolts continue workouts and scrimmages in Estero, with beat reporters Erik Erlendsson and Damian Cristodero following the team along and reporting on things, as well as opining here and there about surprising performances by Syracuse Crunch invitees.

With the new season starting on Saturday at Times Palace, Damian Cristodero shared a little nugget with readers from the lips of Guy Boucher:

Candy from coach Boucher for anyone going to Friday's practice in Tampa: "When we hit the ice Friday, we'll have our team."

— Damian Cristodero (@LightningTimes) January 16, 2013

Odds are that the roster has already been decided upon, but an extended look-see is taking place for some of the young players for the sake of experience. Erik Erlendsson had an article in the Tampa Tribune today stating that forward Cory Conacher is doing everything he can to prove he belongs on this team.

If Conacher is making the team, then that leaves one or two roster spots if the Lightning intend to use a full 23 man roster. This puts bubble forwards such as J.T. Wyman, Kyle WIlson, Mike Angelidis and Tyler Johnson on notice: they have one more day to sell themselves.

For those who want to bring up the defense situation (as Radko Gudas and Mark Barberio are turning heads), that's a totally different subject and discussion to be had. We'll talk about it later.

2013 Tampa Bay Lightning Goaltending Preview

Anders Lindback faces more challenges than simply a shortened season. How will he fare?

Sun Sports / Fox Sports Florida unveil 2013 Tampa Bay Lightning broadcast schedule

The revised television schedule for the 2012-2013 Tampa Bay Lightning season was released Tuesday afternoon.

Tampa Bay Lightning training camp schedule for the week of January 14

With the home opener fast approaching, the Tampa Bay Lightning will head south to Germain Arena for the next four days to hold their post-lockout training amp. All the fun gets underway at 6:15 this evening in Estero. The Lightning will then head back to Tampa n Friday for another public workout at the Tampa Bay Times FOrum.

All times are subject to change, and though it doesn't say it - the Germain Arena practices are supposed to be open to the public. Are you going to be at practice in Estero this week? Let us know in comments.

Monday, January 14 at Germain Arena
6:15-8:15 p.m. - Practice

Tuesday, January 15 at Germain Arena
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Practice

Wednesday, January 16 at Germain Arena
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. - Practice

Thursday, January 17 at Germain Arena
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Practice

Friday, January 18 at Tampa Bay Times Forum
11:30 a.m. - Practice (Open to the public with a free lunch offered for fans on the West Plaza)

Lightning open training camp with fan fest

The Tampa Bay Lightning got down to post-lockout business Sunday by opening their pre-season training camp and turning it into an open house event for fans.

2013 season primer video

Okay, the lockout ist kaput, the NHL is back up and running again. But uh, what happened during that lockout thing? What changed? What's gone on?

Our friend Dirk Hoag from On The Forecheck, gives you a primer on thing... All the nitty gritty changes that were part of the mess that was the 2012 NHL lockouts:

Lightning finalize training camp roster with four more from Syracuse

The Tampa Bay Lightning have finalized their training camp roster by naming four more players from Syracuse, but not exactly who you'd expect

2013 Tampa Bay Lightning schedule released by NHL

After a long day of waiting, the Tampa Bay Lightning schedule is released to teh public.

Vincent Lecavalier's 1000th game will be against the Islanders

The full Tampa Bay Lightning schedule for the 2012-2013 season has not been released, as we're waiting for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), but word has leaked out that the Bolts first few game dates at the Tampa Bay Times Forum are as follows:

Saturday, January 19th versus Washington Capitals
Monday, January 21st: at New York Islanders
Tuesday, January 22nd: at Carolina Hurricanes
Friday, January 25th: versus the Ottawa Senators

What this means is that Vincent Lecavalier, who has a grand total of 998 NHL games played - and all in a Lightning uniform, may play his 1000th career game on the road at the Islanders. It's possible that he could be held out those two road games so that he plays his 1000th game in Tampa, but that's probably not very likely in a shortened season. However, the Lightning will almost certainly still celebrate his accomplishment during the following home game, versus the Ottawa Senators on the 25th.

Tampa Bay Lightning and NHL schedules delayed via legal wrangling

This is not the NHL versus the NHL Players Association all over again, is it?

NHLPA voting to ratify the 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement ended around 8 this morning, we don't know the results of that vote at this time but it's safe to assume the CBA was ratified. With the NHL Board of Governors having ratified the CBA on Wednesday, it looks like everything is aligned and we can get on with the release of schedules and official player movement can take place, right?

Well, not quite. The lockout cannot be lifted and the league can't get back in gear until the actual paperwork is done and a Memo of Understanding has been signed. From Kevin Allen of USA Today:

The MOU is the memo of understanding, which contains all of the major points of the CBA. Both sides need to sign off on that before the NHL can officially lift the lockout and announce schedules, etc.

Legal language, it's hard enough to understand... Think about the job it takes to write it all out!

So, once again, we're in a holding pattern... That, or more aptly, we're listening to the Final Jeopardy theme song. The problem is, this likely won't only last 30 seconds... But it will be shorter than a four-month wait we've endured to get to this point, that being the verge of a new Lightning season.

Some notes on the 2013 Tampa Bay Lightning schedule and training camp

The 2013 NHL schedule gets released on Saturday and the Bolts open their brief camp on Sunday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Tampa Bay Lightning will open season against Washington Capitals

Both local beat writers Damian Cristodero and Erik Erlendsson report that the Tampa Bay Lightning will open the season on January 19th not against the in-state rival Florida Panthers (as I erroneously suggested last night), but against the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green and the Washington Capitals. The season opener will also be the home opener as at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Cristodero provides a bit of a timeline for the next several days of team and franchise functions in his post on the subject of the season opener: The Bolts will split training camp between the Tampa Bay Times Forum and Germain Arena in Estero. Sunday and Monday's training sessions at the Tampa Bay Times Forum is expected to be open to the public. No word if that will be the case for training in Estero later in the week.

The complete season schedule is still unknown and may not be released for another several days. We'll keep you posted on the matter.

Will Tampa Bay Lightning face Florida Panthers opening night?

Schedules still haven't been released for the NHL's 2012-2013 season, but during the day today many match-ups have leaked out, such as the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at Staples Center. Many of the other games that have been leaked had sounded lie they were squarely supposed to spark emotions and be rivalry games.

Which leads us to a tweet by The Buffalo News' writer Mike Harrington:

Very possible these are Jan. 19 East games: OTT-WPG, BOS-NYR, MON-TOR, NJD-NYI, TB-FLA, PIT-PHL, WAS-CAR. #Sabres would be idle team

— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) January 10, 2013

Florida. In Sunrise, i would presume. And how fitting in a way, after all the NHL lockout cost both clubs the chance to renew their rivalry as early as the preseason. There were supposed to be nine total contests between the Lightning and Panthers when you included those practice contests in Tampa, in Sunrise, and the neutral site of Estero (home of the ECHL's Florida Everblades in southwest Florida, near Naples).

Everything will officially come out soon enough, and I'm more curious about the Lightning's second game, as that will be captain Vincent Lecavalier's 1,000th NHL game. That would be a great event to open the home schedule with at Times Palace.

Tampa Bay Times Forum conversion: From "Raw" to rink in about 15 hours

The Lightning put out a release Tuesday morning that the team was putting down a fresh sheet of ice in anticipation of the start of the abbreviated season. Seeing the latest episode of World Wrestling Entertainment's flagship show "Monday Night Raw" had been hosted inside Times Palace on Monday night, you've got to imagine it was one grand undertaking to take down the squared-circle and set and put down NHL ice.

You be the judge. The Tampa Bay Times has a time lapse video of the conversion:

Still no news on when the Lightning home opener will be and who will be the opponent. So while the Forum now boasts an ice sheet, we just don't know when the Lightning itself will make use of it.

NHL training camps expected to open Sunday

Via The Canadian Press' Chris Johnston on Twitter:

NHL training camps expected to open Sunday, according to Bill Daly.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 8, 2013

What ISN'T clear at this moment is where the Tampa Bay Lightning plan to hold camp sessions. Damian Cristodero at the Tampa Bay Times reported yesterday that the Bolts may head out-of-town for camp in order to foster team bonding. Possible destinations include Orlando and Estero... Or in private, at home at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik addresses Bolts Nation

Continuing a trend of NHL owners addressing fans on Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning released a statement from team owner Jeff Vinik.

Tampa Bay Lightning announce jobs fair at Tampa Bay Times Forum

A number of part-time positions must be filled before the start of the NHL season.

2013 NHL training sessions and the Tampa Bay Lightning

So you heard the NHL Lockout is ending... Just when are training camps starting? A window of dates give you the gist when you can expect trainign camp to start.

2013 NHL Lockout: Tampa Bay Lightning players, it's finally time to report

With the tentative new CBA, it's time for wayard players to return to the Tampa Bay area.