Are the Lightning going to be sellers or buyers at the trade deadline this season? Right now, it's too early to tell. Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun debate this topic on their daily debate on ESPN. Talk is that there is interest in Ryan Malone and pending UFA's Pavel Kubina and Dominic Moore. LeBrun says he spoke with Yzerman yesterday morning and as of now, Yzerman still believe their in this and will see how the next few games play out.

"Our team is winning," Yzerman told ESPN.com. "My approach is that if there’s any deal that potentially can be done which makes our team better now or a better team in the future that’s worth doing, I’m prepared to do it. But at this point, nothing has made sense from my point of view."

Here are your links for the week:

Your Lightning links:

• When you are a hockey parent, you want your son's games, no matter what time of night they air. Elisabeth Hedman wakes up at 1:30am local time in Sweden to watch her son play hockey, heading back to bed for a few hours of sleep before teaching kindergarten during the day. Also she was rather nervous when he returned to the ice last week to play (Globe and Mail)
• Tonight's game is being aired nationally on NBC Sports (NHL.com)
• During the AHL All-Star game, Joe Gregory, the Admiral's governor went looking for a possible replacement the Lightnings' AHL team. The clubs are currently in the final season of a five-year working agreement and nothing is guaranteed for next year (Virginian-Pilot)
• Bolt Prospects, prospect of the week is Alex Killorn who is a senior with Harvard, a Hobey Baker award nominee, and likely to join the Admirals at the conclusion of his season

The rest of your links after the jump...

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It's been a week without hockey. I'm not sure how you got through it, but personally I watched hours upon hours of glorious tennis, but there was still this nagging feeling of something missing.

If you did catch the skills competition, perhaps you caught Steven Stamkos going three for three on the shootout elimination challenge to win the event. Since he has gone 0-for-10 during the shootout the past two seasons, it should make you say "Stammer, why can't we see this more often?"

Here are your links for the week:

Your Lightning links:

• Stamkos is one of the players trying out the new Bauer Re-Akt helmet that is designed to reduce concussions. Stamkos and Claude Giroux talk about how players are taking a more active interest into their own safety (USA Today)
• Brett Connolly has been struggling since returning from WJC's (The Bolts Independent)
• Former Lightning owner Len Barrie gets evicted out of his $14 million house (Globe and Mail)
• Andrew Johnson of The Hockey Writers wonders if the Lightning and Red Wings could be trade partners. Guess it took him a far leap to make this connection huh?
• Not to take away from his shootout goal scoring at the ASG, but I have an issue with Stamkos' hair (Lightning Hockey Blog)
• Carrie Selivanov, daughter of Phil Esposito has died after long illness. She was married to former Lightning player Alex Selivanov (TBO.com)
• Former Lightning goalie Karri Ramo scores a brutal own goal in a KHL game (Puck Daddy)

The rest of your links after the jump...

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There are currently nine players out currently with injury for the Lightning, with Dana Tyrell being the latest addition to the injury team. But sometimes with hardship comes great quotes from coaches, like this gem from Boucher:

"The hockey gods," Boucher said, "are whipping us left and right."

Here are your links for the week:

Your Lightning links:

• "Lightning hit hard by injury bug" is the headline on NHL.com. Thanks captain obvious!
• Mathieu Garon's new mask (In Goal Magazine)
• Instead of sending him back to juniors, the Lightning are giving some tough love to Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay Times)
  
• Matt envisions which characters in Super Mario World the Lightning players and organization would match up to. The one for Downie as the Big Boo is uncanny (Don't Trade Vinny)
  
• Last year in the playoffs we had Sean Bergenheim but Dominic Moore is beginning to become considered a 'clutch' player, agree or disagree? (Lightning)
  

The rest of your links after the jump...

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I would start this intro about how the two teams playing tonight faced off last year in the Eastern Conference final and now are at polar opposite of the Eastern Conference standings, but instead let's talk about how Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times has Steven Stamkos as one of her pluses in her pluses and minuses article, citing Stamkos being the first player to reach the 30 goal mark this season.

Here are your links for the week:

Your Lightning links:

• Your stat for today for something positive via the Lightning website: Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier have combined for the most goals among any pair of NHL teammates since Christmas with 16
• SB Nation Tampa Bay's mid season review of the Lightning
• A year later, the Panthers and Lightning have switched fortunes (SBN)
• Cory Conacher continues to impress with his rookie season with the Norfolk Admirals. "To be honest, there are other players a little more ready to play at this level, at this time," BriseBois said, "but Cory is knocking on the door. It probably won’t be this year, more than likely, but we expect him to play for the Lightning soon." (Burlington Post)
• Gary Shelton writes "Egad. The Tampa Bay Lightning has become the Tampa Bay Bucs." (Tampa Bay Times)
• Days of Y'Orr picks apart our goal differential and provides a dancing Boucher photoshop

The rest of your links after the jump...

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One thing that people who aren't hockey fans don't get is that the hockey community is one big, extended, not-necessarily-always-happy family. They tend to look at the most brutish and violent aspects of the game we love and form a less-than-flattering opinion of those who play it as well as those who follow it as maladjusted, knuckle-dragging, cement-headed sociopaths with an insatiable lust for gore and mayhem.

And it thoroughly mystifies them that the only professional sport that openly condones any kind of fighting is also the only one where opponents line up after a hard-fought playoff series and shake hands. They fail to understand that the love for the sport itself that binds those in the hockey community together is ultimately stronger than any loyalties to individual factions that might temporarily divide us and that even if we don't always like each other, there is a deeper-rooted respect for one another.

The spirit of that unity is never on better display...unfortunately...than when tragedy strikes. Such is the case in the wake of recent severe spinal injuries suffered by Minnesota high school players Jack Jablonski and Jenna Privette.

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I wanted to write a story about the Lightning that wasn't depressing. Because it's the middle of winter and the sun's been hiding (here in Nashville, anyway), and because it's the December-January mid-season lull when it all starts to become a grind, even for the fans. And because watching the games and reading the post-game analyses has gotten a bit depressing all on its own regardless of what's going on in the world.

I sat and I thought. And I thought and I sat. And, hey, a new year is coming. 2012. The winter solstice has passed. The nights aren't going to be getting longer anymore--or at least for another six months. The holiday trading freeze is over. Anything can happen.

So I'm going to ignore all the bad news for now--just for now--and focus on things that can make me happy in the middle of these doldrums. As always, your results may vary.

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Great news about Martin St. Louis tonight. NHL.com writes that St. Louis traveled with the team to San Jose today and returned to practice with the team. He wore a full cage during the drills today at the HP Pavilion but there is no timetable yet to whether he'll be back in the lineup tomorrow or on Friday in Colorado.

Here are your links for the week:

Your Lightning links:

• Mathieu Garon rides a hot streak into being the starting goalie for the Lightning (St. Petersburg Times)
• Late last week Cristodero wrote that Boucher hinted that Ohlund might not play this season (St. Petersburg Times)
• Brett Connolly pledges to put work ethic before skill. He also non-nonchalantly recalls squishing his hand as a kid, having 3 broken bones and needing surgical reconstruction to fix it (Vancouver Sun)
• Want to watch Brett Connolly at the WJC's this year? NHL Network will be all medal-round games and five additional preliminary-round match-ups (NHL.com)
• It is fan-posted but do check out Cory Sznajder's post on the Lightning OZ "Coke" Chart. Also check out Cory's Hurricane blog the Shutdown Line

The rest of your links after the jump...

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Every time Michael Farber writes, I just want to share how well he writes with anyone who will care. With the two firings of coaches in the Southeast Division, he takes a look at what happened, the back story on the new coaches and a look at the other two coaches in the division.

With all this turnover in our division, it seems a bit strange that Guy Boucher now has the longest tenure out of the group. What was his response to being told this? "That’s what I hear," Boucher said. "I’m so experienced now."

Your Lightning links:

• Former Bolt defenseman Mike Lundin has had a hard start to the season with a freak back injury that has him just just returning to practice last week (editor note:  Lundin played his first game of the season last night in the Wild's 3-1 victory over the Bolts)
• Nolan looks at coaching in the Southeast Division saying that the Lightning are the most stable team in the division (Frozen Sheets Hockey)

More links after the jump...

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