Forward Ryan Shannon, who had his 2011-12 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning marred by injuries and never quite lived up to his promise, seems to have landed in Europe.

With NHL free agency more than a month away, it shouldn't be too puzzling why a player would sign overseas this early (read: NHL CBA negotiations and uncertainty of the future / complications that may arise from it). But with lackluster numbers to coincide his limited play, playing in Europe is another avenue for Shannon to rehabilitate his value. The length of the deal provides stability for him and his family.

So, Ryan signed with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss-A national league. The deal is reportedly a three-year engagement (and it is official per the Lions own website). What they're getting is a speedy forward who put up 12 points (4 goals and 8 assists) in 45 games this season for the Lightning. When Shannon was signed last off-season as an unrestricted free agent, he projected to replace Sean Bergenheim on the third line with the Lightning, and possibly see playing time among the top six forwards.

But with a glut of mid-level players to begin the season, Ryan was playing musical-chairs for ice-time with Mattias Ritola, Tom Pyatt, and Blair Jones also vying to be on the game day roster. But even as that glut of players gave way via waiving, demotion, and trade, Shannon still didn't start clicking offensively where and when he played.

My apologies to the boys in Norfolk tonight, as not only will I be missing the game tonight, but this preview is going to be pretty rushed, too. I'll be cheering for you in my heart, though, even if I can't be following along. Do good work. Don't get hurt.

The Ads lead the series 2-0 now and the action has moved to St. John's, Newfoundland for the next (up to) three games. Check out Cassie's most excellent recap of the action from Saturday. Game tonight starts at 6:00 ET. Radio at 1021thegame,com. Or check out the Norfolk team website and the St. John's team website. On Twitter, follow @NorfolkAdmirals, @AdsGameUpdates, @BoltProspects, @DanMarazza, and @BeekerAdmirals for game info and game updates.

Also on tap tonight: the New York Rangers play the New Jersey Devils at 8:00pm ET on NBCSN. The Rangers lead the series 2-1. Check in with our friends at Blueshirt Banter if you get a chance. Unless you're a Devils fan. Then you're on your own. Sorry.

If you tried to predict the outcome of the 2012 IIHF World Championships, and I'm sure you did, chances are you were wrong. That's okay. Pretty much everyone was.

The Preliminary round held few surprises besides the ability of France and Norway to challenge teams they weren't supposed to be able to challenge. And TeamUSA wasn't really expected to end up in second place in its group. Still the teams that were expected to be bad (Kazakhstan and Italy) ended up in last place, and the teams that were expected to dominate (Canada, Russia, and Sweden) ended up on top.

Then came Quarterfinals day. One by one, three of the top four teams were eliminated from medal contention. Canada. USA. Sweden. Only Russia survived. Of course, it helps to have Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Semin, and Alex Ovechkin on the same team. (The Flyers, Predators, and Rangers say "you're welcome," by the way.) And it helps to have Semyon Varlamov putting up the tournament's highest save percentage at 93.99% (that's .940 in North American).

In the end, the tournament belonged to the Russians. They went undefeated, never even needing overtime to decide a game ("Juggernaut," anyone?) and came away with the gold medal. Slovakia took the silver and the Czechs took the bronze. The Finns, after having a very good early tournament, lost 4 of their last 6 games and ended up in 4th place. Canada, Sweden, and the US came in 5th, 6th, and 7th.

How did the Lightning players do?

Teddy Purcell (CAN) played 10:07 per game, had 1 goal and 1 assist on 9 SOG, and was a +1. Nate Thompson (USA) played 11:19 per game, had 2 goals on 6 SOG, with even plus-minus. J.T. Brown only played in 6 games (5:40 per) but took 8 SOG, had a goal and an assist, and was a +4. Victor Hedman (SWE) played 18:55 per game, had one assist on 12 SOG, and was a -1.

2012 rankings http://www.iihf.com/competition/272/homeiihf/world-ranking.html

2012 tournament results: http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/272/IHM2729900_76_10_0.pdf

Richard Panik opened up the scoring early. Very early. We're talking 51 seconds into the game type of early.

He also had what might've been another goal three minutes after that, but it was waved off. It was determined that the puck hit a post and didn't go in, so it was not reviewed. However, from where I was sitting, I never heard the clang of frozen rubber hitting iron.

The Norfolk Admirals came out of the gate strong. They dominated much of the first period and forced the St. John's IceCaps into icing the puck four times the first half of the period. They also managed to stay out of the penalty box for the first half of the period as well.

They ended up taking three penalties in the last seven minutes of the first. They even had a 30-second 5-on-3 penalty kill. During which, Dustin Tokarski made an outstanding save at literally the last second of the period.

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It's time for Game 2. On Thursday, the Admirals played a very good game and got the reward for it, a 6-1 win over the St. John's IceCaps. Yes, it was a beat down, but the best part of it was that the team looked like the team that put up 28 wins in a row to end the regular season. Thirteen of the 18 skaters registered a point in that game. They never let up, even at 5-0. Still, one game is a fluke. Four is a series, and if the Admirals want to take this round, they can't allow themselves to take their wins for granted.

Here's video courtesy of fox43tv.com

Admirals take lead in conference finals: fox43tv.com

Alex Killorn was a last minute scratch for Game 1. Given how well he's been playing since he joined the team in April, that's almost certainly an injury or illness. He practiced this morning with the team, but no further news on his status so far. I expect Dustin Tokarski in net, though that hasn't been confirmed, either.

Catch the game on 1021thegame.com at 8:00pm ET.

In NHL news, the Los Angeles Kings are systematically dismantling Mike Smith and the Phoenix Coyotes and now are up 3-0 for the series. The New York Lundqvists Rangers managed a 3-0 win against the New Jersey Devils this afternoon, in a game that the Devils dominated for two periods then lost control of in the third. The Rangers now lead the series 2-1 and are throwing Henrik Lundqvist a champagne shower in gratitude.

As a follow-up to our story from a few weeks ago regarding Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik's interest in the Channelside Bay Plaza retail complex next to the Tampa Bay Times Forum, it would appear that Vinik has emerged as the top bidder for the property.

Actually, to use the words of the TBO.com article on the matter, Vinik has emerged as "the only qualified bidder".

The article accentuates the notion by providing a quote from a member of the competing bid, which sounds like a concession:

Ken Jones, who was helping to lead the Edwards bid, said, "I have a lot of respect and admiration for Vinik's group and we hope to be helpful in any way. I'm excited to see a guy with his level of commitment and dedication to be involved in this.".

The bank will present the Vinik bid to the Tampa Port Authority in the near future, though the Port is under no obligation to accept Vinik's bid/offer for the property.

I know we're all worried about the goaltending situation for the Lightning. Even the slightest of rumors get magnified out of proportion to their original form. And while Steve Yzerman has said he'll take his time and not make any moves until after the World Championships, which end Sunday, that doesn't mean he's not hard at work making decisions.

And those decisions are going to be very tough ones. Currently, the team has 3 goalies under contract for 2012-13: Mathieu Garon, Dustin Tokarski, and Pat Nagle. Jaroslav Janus will be a Restricted Free Agent as of July 1. Riku Helenius has no contract with the Lightning, but the franchise holds his North American rights. In other words, the situation in goal is unsettled to say the least. It seems reasonable to think that everything hinges on who will partner with Garon in Tampa Bay in the fall. Everything else will flow from that.

And to decide that, Yzerman and his staff first have to figure out where the goalies in the system are right now and project where they are likely to be in the next year. Then they have to weigh that against the kind of talent available outside the franchise and decide whether to wade into the very unpredictable goalie market.

I don't envy Yzerman this job. Here are a few possible scenarios for goaltending based on how the team evaluates the talent currently in the system and the team's needs. Each one has its benefits and problems, and there are fewer really good solutions than one might think based on the rumors and speculation out there right now.

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