More than 100 girls from around the Tampa Bay area showed up Wednesday when the Tampa Bay Lightning opened the St. Pete Times Forum, including the ice, for "Girls Play Hockey Day". In conjunction with the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida, the event is designed to give girls a look at the world of professional hockey at the NHL level while inspiring a deeper appreciation and understanding of the sport itself.

"It's neat that these kids are excited about our team. They want to see it, they want to play hockey. Some of these kids have never even held a hockey stick in their hands and some have never even been here in the building before. So it's a cool experience for them." - Dave Andreychuk, Vice President of Fans and Business Development and former Lightning captain 

In addition, participants received special Girl Scout merit badges, dinner and tickets to the Lightning's game against the New Jersey Devils this Saturday night. More than just a peek behind the scenes, the girls were given the opportunity to suit up in hockey equipment and hit the ice.

"The first event we did with the Girl Scouts (last year) focused primarily on job opportuniities and they came out to the arena and talked to some of the different women who we have here at the executive level about their careers. We asked them to fill out an evaluation and we asked the girls 'what would you like to see next time?'. Every single girl said 'I want to get on the ice.' So we saw that desire and worked with USA Hockey to make that happen this year as well. This is year two of hopefully many years to come." - Alison Goodman, Senior Group Event Coordinator

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From a team press release:

LIGHTNING SET TO DROP PUCK ON 2011 HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY JAMBOREE

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that it will host the second annual Lightning High School Hockey Jamboree on Sunday, October 30, at the St. Pete Times Forum to officially kick off the 2011-12 high school hockey season. The event will be held in conjunction with West Central Florida’s high school hockey governing body, the Florida High School Hockey Association.

A total of 20 teams from local Bay Area high schools, including those in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota and Manatee Counties, are scheduled to compete in the tournament. Games are set to begin at 8:30 a.m. and will run throughout the remainder of the day, with the final match beginning at 6:45 p.m. In all, there will be 20 games played with each match featuring a 25-minute running clock.

Admission into the event is free and open to the general public. Complimentary parking will be available in the North Lot on a first-come, first-served basis, while additional parking will be provided in the East Lot for a $5 fee. Concessions featuring food, beer, soda and water will also be available for purchase on the Plaza Level of the arena.

The Lightning High School Hockey Jamboree serves as an additional way for the entire Lightning organization to follow through with its commitment of growing the game of hockey among teenagers in Florida. In addition, it continues to show its dedication to community hockey initiatives through a more hands-on role, with the goal to improve the overall quality of the sport and to ensure the proper recognition of the game in the Tampa Bay area.

One Brian takes another Brian's junk.

usually deals like that don't happen until Draft day -- pity party draft picks and what not...

"Steven is not ready for the NHL," Melrose stated on the Fan 590. "Steven is going to be a good player...right now he's just not strong enough physically to play against defencemen who are 6'3" or 6'4" that can skate as good as him."
-- Barry Melrose

You are an 18 year old hot prospect that is thrust into a team that is making a volatile transition of it's roster, from speed and an offense-driven-defensive system to... well, to Fantasy Hockey. You're paired up with big names and you're listed as a big addition to a club that is in transition and changing chemistry.

Do you thrive under that as you learn the NHL game? Do you reach the high expectations?

Lemme throw you another what-if: What if ownership hadn't changed? If Palace Sports were still calling the shots, if Jay Feaster were still in the front office (or Bill Barber for that matter, or someone else picked out by Ron Campbell or Tom Wilson) and John Tortorella was still behind the bench... What if that Lightning franchise drafted Stamkos #1 overall? Where would Steve be playing right now?

Odds are, back in the CHL for another year of maturing.

That is not pissing on Steven Stamkos or his game. This is not an attempt to undermine the kid or his future. The point is that, in a different scenario or situation, Steven would not be in the NHL this season or not pressed in the way he has been. Of course, in the aforementioned scenario, this would be a very different Lightning team.

As for the rest of Melrose comments (and Len Barrie's retorts) -- I'm just going to take the high road and dismiss this pissing match. Barrie has a track record of mouthing off and bad blood is being spread from somewhere in this organization... Tortorella, Dan Boyle and now Barry Melrose have expressed displeasure with their departures from the club. This is a very different atmosphere than what this fan is used to - where a transaction for the club did not generate such hostility.

Yes, bad blood and hurt feelings happens in sports or the business world when there is an abrupt change, but this is a grand departure from a classy face the Lightning used to operate under.

As for the rest of the Lightning roster... Maybe this is all playing out in order to light a fire under the players? A fictional drama? One can dream, right?

The Florida High School Athletics Association doesn't sanction or recognize interscholastic Ice Hockey in Florida high schools. Bay areas counties also ignore the sport and the fact that there are indeed local high school teams that field teams.

So, hockey fans, would you like to step up and support for a local prep hockey team?

One of Boltsmag's longtime readers and participants on the site asked for some exposure for the high school program she is working with, J.W. Mitchell High School in the Trinity area in Pasco County and their Mitchell Mustang Ice Hockey team. The Mustangs are having a banquet, raffle and silent auction on October 14th at the Seven Springs Country Club in Pasco county (catered by Carrabbas Italian Grille). There will be door prizes as well. I'll post more when I have that information.

Meanwhile, I realize there are hockey programs for several other local high schools in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties among others in the great Tampa Bay area. If anyone wants to mention their HS Hockey team (oh, and my alma matta supposedly won the "state championship" last year -- state championship in quotes simply because the state doesn't officially recognize the organized scrimmages).

I'll likely be around for the Draft this evening but I wanted to make sure to make mention of James Mirtle -- the bread and butter of hockey reporting online, IMHO -- live blogging. The Blog is supposed to be featured on the Glove and Mail sports page. You can jump directly to James G and M blog posts right here.

You have to give props to the late-afternoon draft this year. It may be tough on your patience to wait for the draft to begin in Vancouver, but it certainly turns up the hot stove by at least 10 degrees.

And the Lightning play a dominant role the rumors that are raging on the pre-draft hot stove. There are reports the Bolts are after Evgeny Nabakov from San Jose, or perhaps Marc Denis from Columbus... There's also a chance J.S. Giguere could be heading this way but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

I'll try to report more as the draft progresses.

I've made very little mention of the Tampa Bay Sharks on Boltsmag this season, and I am overdue for a couple of posts on it (besides requests for help on the subject)... This oen shall start things off as I announce SEJHL action at TBSA:

Tampa Bay Sharks (8-3-1)vs. Rockledge Hurricanes (6-7-0)
@ The Tampa Bay Skating Academy, Jan. 7th @ 7:45 pm IN THE South Rink

Tickets on Sale at the Door….$5.00 Adults $3.00 Seniors and Children (Kids under 4 years old are FREE)

Double header Week-end..

Tampa Bay Sharks vs. Palm Beach Ice Hawks (5-7-0)
@ The Tampa Bay Skating Academy, Jan 8th @ 9:45 am in the South Rink.

Saturday and Sunday were tryouts in Ontario for the WHA Super Junior hockey league... On Sunday in the US, there was a tryout camp as well at the Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar, Florida where WHA brass showed up to begin the launch of the WHA Super Junior league.

The first portion of the WHA SJ consists of the Southeast Junior Hockey League which I've covered from time to time on the site. The SEJHL still exists, as I had been confused about what would become of it, and has been purchased by the WHA for their use. The SEJHL continues to be a C-level Junior hockey affiliation under USA Hockey bylaws but the quality of play is supposed to be improved under WHA ownership.

Bobby Hull was in attendance, as was Brad Park of New York Rangers fame and several other former pro hockey stars. Hull and Park, during evaluations, were impressed by the number of "diamonds in the rough" that were participating in the tryout camp. There were around 60 local kids and bay area based hockey players that participated.

Hull tried to explain to players and parents the fact that the WHA was alive and well and that this was an extension of that. He also spent time trying to explain that the players would be put under a microscope by the media because of who the organization was and what they were trying to accomplish.

Hull hoped to compose two teams out of the players who showed up (out of the planned six) and the league was planning to use the uniforms for the LA Sharks for the Oldsmar Sandsharks. Other teams would have original WHA monikers in the league. There was also talk of more Junior Hockey leagues being purchased by the WHA but that talk will remain speculation for now.

The WHA still hopes to re-launch at the professional level - with perchance some of the kids that are to partake in the Junior Hockey(s) that the WHA will own and operate... but for the moment, eyes will shift to Florida for the continuation of the grand experiment: Junior Hockey in the sunshine state.