Quick Strikes: Eight Lightning players will represent their countries at the Worlds

The Lightning

The 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship starts in two days, eight Lightning players are going to participate in competition. [NHL.com]

Eight Lightning players will be featured at this year’s World Championship, highlighted by Team Russia, which features three Bolts: goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, forward Nikita Kucherov and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev. Additionally, young forwards Anthony Cirelli and Mathieu Joseph will compete for Team Canada, Ondrej Palat and Jan Rutta will suit up for Team Czech Republic and Erik Cernak will play for the host Slovakian National Team.

Anthony Cirelli helped his team defeat Team Austria in a pre-tournament game in Vienna.

The Tampa Bay Lightning started their Teacher Apprecation Week by visiting some schools and kindergartens in the Guide the Thunder program

We are continuing to review each Lightning player’s season. JustinG wrote a nice 1,000 word article about Alex Killorn [Raw Charge]

Let’s get this out of the way right now - I ride or die for Alex Killorn. I confess an unabashed, biased support for the Harvard man. He may be my favorite current player on the roster. So yes, I was the lone writer on the staff to give him an “A”. I will not apologize for that. Nor will I hold it against GeoFitz for giving him a “C”. Alex Killorn is a polarizing player among the Lightning fan base. You folks giving him a “F”, let’s just agree to disagree.

In the new edition of Tampa Bay Lightning Draft Mulligan, GeoFitz remembers the 2004 NHL Entry Draft [Raw Charge]

Today we’ve got the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. The Alex Ovechkin/Evegeni Malkin draft. Two surefire Hall of Fame players back to back at the top of the draft. The Lightning though are at the very end of the first round because... THEY WON THE STANLEY CUP! So... how did the Lightning do with this draft? Let’s just say we’re not very likely to be keeping many players the Lightning selected. Also, with this being the last draft before the 2004 lockout, we still have nine rounds in the draft.

The Game

The St. Louis Blues have advanced to the Western Conference Final after beating the Dallas Stars in the 2nd overtime in Game 7. Ben Bishop made 52 saves but it wasn’t enough.

It needs to be mentioned that Ben Bishop has outstanding stats in Game 7s over his career.

It was already the third Game 7 during this postseason that was decided in overtime.

The Edmonton Oliers officially presented Ken Holland as their new General Manager & President of Hockey Operations.

Mike Babcock will be back with the Toronto Maple Leafs next season as Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has confirmed [Pension Plan Puppets]

For all that there is a perception of a philosophical divide between Dubas and Babcock that isn’t based on much beyond typical culture war ideas about what any person in their fifties thinks vs someone in their thirties, they both draw on the same areas of management and hockey analysis for their decisions. At least if you go by what they do and say, not how they say things. From my perspective, the philosophical divide is more significant between Babcock and his old boss.

Richard Panik scored this beauty for his national team against Norway.