I wrote off bringing in Jassen Cullimore in pre-season. Maybe that was a mistake. Or maybe circumstances would make it look like it was?

Jassen's not putting up big numbers for the Panthers -- that's no shock -- but he's stable. Though he's only played in 21 games this season, he's averaging 14:38 of ice time and is a solid plus 7 at this juncture. If Cullimore was back on the Bolts, however, the situation he would be playing in would be different from where he is now...

Here's the Lightning defense numbers for you to look at:

NamePlus/MinusAverage Ice Time

Filip Kuba+625:10
Paul Ranger-225:31
Shane O'Brien-322:06
Brad Lukowich-1617:47
Mike LundinEven15:07
Doug Janik-510:45

Look at Brad Lukowich's numbers. He was supposed to be 3rd pair this season (with Boyle, Ranger, Kuba and O'Brien playing in front of him). With Dan Boyle's injury, Brad's been asked to do much more and he's averaging almost 18 minutes of ice time... And weighing down the D with a minus 16. I'm not putting blame on Brad as so much pointing at the numbers.

If Cullimore were here, it'd likely be the same case -- more games, more ice time, more asked of him and lower numbers.

However, those numbers would likely be better than Doug Janik's. The other drag on the defense in his non versatility on ice, Janik's TOI average of 11 minutes or so puts more pressure on the kids (2nd year player Shane O'Brien and rookie Mike Lundin) to cover. Of course, others have had the opportunity to step in and beat Doug for a roster spot -- but that didn't happen. So Doug is playing where and as he should -- as a #6 defensiveman... All while I was expecting the rookies (be it Lundin, Smaby or others) to serve the role and be brought along slowly.

Dan Boyle's return can't come soon enough... But then again, getting the ownership situation squared away couldn't come soon enough either -- having a de-facto roster freeze doesn't help remedy the ills of the franchise.

Johan Holmqvist starts in net tonight for the Lightning against Florida...

...

Let me say it again, maybe this will register for some of your die hards and some of you non-die-hards. Johan Holmqvist starts in net tonight versus the Florida Panthers. In six games versus the Kitties in 2006-07, he was 1-2 with a 4.88 GAA and a .841 save percentage. Do I need to go on? To put it shortly, Johan was a disaster versus the Panthers for one reason or another. Versus numerous opponents last year, he looked fine if not great in net. But when it came to the Panthers it wasn't the greatest performance that he could put up... And that's putting it lightly.

18 Goals allowed and 113 shots faced in six games. That's only close to 19 shots a game for the mathematically challenged. That's unacceptable.

But here we are, it's a new season, a new start... Will Johan make the most of this tonight or will we see Marc Denis getting his first action of the season to spell Holmer? I'm hoping for the former and fearing the latter. I made a big deal about the Lightning playing a division rival on Saturday and this is just as big... Division rival trying to reverse it's losing ways with a new backstop with a reputation all his own. If the Lightning fall into the same trap as last year against the Panthers, this could end badly.

That's why I'm wariest about Holmer regressing into 2006-07 form for tonight.

Boyle's out, O'Brien's in. Kubina's gotta step up and we're playing Southbeast Champion Carolina tonight in Raleigh... Here's Casonblog's take:

Tonight will be a huge test. Tampion Bay is hungry and grinding to get into the playoffs. Gut check night. How do the 'Canes play coming off a bad loss to the Craps? Like Staal, Justin Williams looks frustrated to me-Ditto Matt Cullen. Will we see Big Joe?

Meanwhile, Acid Queen's trying to rally the troops.

Meanwhile, it would seem certain fans at Sun Sports TV's message forum are finally tipping the Hurricanes the respect they deserve for being on top of the NHL. Last time around? They were deemed the "3rd rate tropical storms" from the homer elite at Sun Sports. This time? It's Carolina. Maybe someone learned something about respect between then and now? Probably not.

The Habs are within 2 points of the Lightning now, this is no game for John Grahame to stumble in. Grahame does have a 4-0 record this season versus Carolina this season... So there is hope...

Did a little standings-reading last night just to get re-acquainted with this... thing known as the NHL. Carolina is sitting pretty on top of the the Eastern Conference right now (82 points) and has a commanding lead over the Lightning (68) in the Southeast (14 points).

They need 10 points to wrap this thing up... The Lightning are almost assured a second place finish, but it'd be one to remember for the ages if they ran the board to close out the season. Not going to happen of course...

Welcome back to NHL action... They'll be rockin' at Times Palace momentarily as the Lightning square off against in-state nemesis, the Florida Panthers. Last time these two teams met, I was left shocked and awed... It's time to shake off the rust and put on skates, put up your dukes and check your jock strap. The Run hath come undone by the Olympic break. It's time for the Lightning to Dash.

OK, this is where everyone who thinks I've given John Grahame a hard time over the course of hte year gets to post comments and tell me off...

.948 Save Percentage in January , a plethora of shutout minutes in a row and all that... Grahame is, I have to admit it, on fire...

And tonight continued the trend.

The Lightning were facing the Capitals -- who had played the previous night, beating up on the Maple Leafs -- with Brent Johnson in net instead of Olaf Kolzig who had started the previous night...

It took 11 seconds to tell the difference.

Ruslan Fedotenko opened up scoring 11 seconds into the game and the lightning amassed 39 shots total as they drubbed the Caps 5-0. It's Grahame's 3rd shutout in 4 games (29 saves - including several heavy barrages of shots) and the team's 7th win since January 17th in LA (7-1-1, 15 points). This game comes a week after a very disappointing loss to this very caps team in Washington and with Bolts absent of one of it's top players.

Brad Richards scored back to back special team goals -- a short-handed shot where he took all day to shoot on an out of position Johnson, and then during a five on three power play near the end of the second -- while Ryan Craig was a plus three on the night with his own goal...

Well, Bolts fans, if you thought the Lightning had a shot at catching Carolina in standings, todays move could put a serious damper on that...

After 3 games, John Grahame is sporting a 1.35 GAA with 85 saves

Timo Helbling - rookie and #6 defensiveman - is -1... Same as Pavel Kubina and Dan Boyle.
On another Helbling note, I'm too incompetant to spell his name right (previous posts spell his name "Hebling").

Saturday marks the Lightning's first out-of-state road came in 3 weeks, a three game series that ends next Thursday at Southeast rival Atlanta.

Atlanta has hosted two very lopsided victories versus division rival Washington... And this has been without Ilya Kovalchuk who has been resigned by the Thrashers.

Tom Jones picked up on the Ottawa Sun rumor of Bob Boughner...

Cory Stillman has a problem with the Lightning.... It's relayed to the readers at NHL.com:

"I don't know much about their thinking. They had different plans. Whether it was to free up money to sign other guys or what, I don't know the whole scenario, but I'm gone."

Lets review what happened with Cory Stillman - in his acquisition as well as his departure from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tampa Bay lost right wing Vaclav Prospal to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks... Prospal got a huge signing bonus and a yearly pay that was comparable to what Tampa Bay was offering. Jay Feaster, looking to fill the void, traded for Cory Stillman... Stillman was expendable in St.Louis because he was an RFA looking for a payday on a roster that was already bloated with mega-million dollar stars.

Stillman got a one year contract from the Lightning worth 2.7 million dollars and avoided arbitration, that was more than what Prospal was going to make with the Ducks that year (signing bonus not included).

Cory did what he was brought in to do -- filled the void that Prospal left and was expecting a huge payout for his services after the conclusion of the 2003-04 season. The Bolts signed everyone who was arbitration eligible - sans Stillman. Instead of giving into the payout that Stillman was looking for in Arbitration -- the Lightning re-acquired Prospal from the Ducks for a song and let Stillman go. The re-acquisition actually saved the team money, brought back a familiar piece of the puzzle and moved a player who seems more money-grubbing than a team player.

Whether letting Cory go turns into a big problem for the Lightning remains to be seen. Stillman might be gunning for the Bolts but the Bolts are gunning for bigger game than revenge against a former teammate.