Game day means a short list of links today. The Lightning face off against the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7:30 EDT on NBCSN and WFLA 970AM. Check out the Raw Charge game preview.
Local
Tampa Bay Lightning Power Play Podcast 10/08/2013
Ben Bishop talks about Chicago and Rob Ray talks about Buffalo.
For Bolts, plenty of lessons learned early
Ryan Malone said. “We had a little meeting (Monday) morning just to make sure that everybody is on the same page, what needs to be brought to the table every night, what’s acceptable and what’s not. And early on you have to make sure you get those lessons in and learning as fast as you can.”
Bolt Statistics | Tampa Bay Lightning data and analysis.
“Tyler Johnson, Richard Panik, and Ondrej Palat were on the ice for a grand total of (1) Fenwick event in their favor. Johnson and Palat had a Fenwick For % in the single digits which isn’t just bad, it’s like NHL players versus AHL players bad (which may not be far from the truth, and might explain a few things).”
That doesn’t sound good. Meanwhile, Richard Panik will sit this one out.
#TBLightning Scratches for tonight’s contest: Panik, Sustr, Barberio, who are taking extra work on ice during today’s morning skate.
— Missy Zielinski (@Missy_Zielinski) October 8, 2013
National
Watch Jonathan Quick’s gaffe lead to Ryan McDonagh goal (Video) | Puck Daddy – Yahoo Sports
You know there was some parade-level swearing after this one. (Also this hurts me to the core of my goalie soul.)
Peter Laviolette fired by Flyers; Craig Berube to take over – Broad Street Hockey
Well okay then.
Whicker: Kariya leaves hole in the Ducks’ scrapbook | kariya, ducks, game – Sports – The Orange County Register
Paul Kariya won’t hear of Anaheim retiring his number.
Start to NHL season plagued by same old outrageous performance exaggerations | National Post
‘It’s early. Repeat it, hold it like a totem, breathe it in, breathe it out. “
International
Former Olympic MVP Miller must impress Bylsma to earn spot on U.S. team – NHL – Sporting News
He’s always watching you, Ryan. Always.
Hockey Canada and Nike unveil Team Canada jersey for 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
“These jerseys are distinctly Canadian and will ignite our nation’s pride…” says Hockey Canada president and CEO Bob Nicholson. So far, I think they’ve mostly ignited your nation’s sarcasm.
Farm Report (Minor leagues)
Return to hockey an important sign of transition for Syracuse Crunch goalie Riku Helenius | syracuse.com
“I don’t like to give excuses. But you’re a pro hockey player. You have to fight through it,” [Helenius] said. “It was in my mind lots of times. But at the same time I’m not the first, or am I going to be the last, pro athlete to go through things like that. Last year, I wasn’t that good. I should have played better.”
The Market (Numbers)
Does Fighting Deter Other Nasty Business in Hockey? – Pension Plan Puppets
So far in this study, the cheap stuff (slew footing, slashing, etc.) appears to be unaffected one way or the other by how willing a team is to fight, although the conclusions drawn here ought to be a bit less dramatic than the author makes them. Among other things, the argument is predicated on the idea that “fighting” means an enforcer is on the roster and takes care of most of the grunt work, which isn’t always the case, right, Jon Cooper? And what about fights that are called as roughing?
Another concern is that, in practice, players are deliberately and voluntarily taking on some of the enforcement role that referees officially have. So often we hear the phrase, “the refs are calling this game too tightly” as a way of indicating that the players are going to want to take some of that self-policing power back. Fights kind of take the place of certain minor penalties being called, but in a way that’s impossible to quantify.
So if the refs and the players are sharing the enforcement duties, how does that affect the data? If calling too many penalties can lead to fights as much as not calling enough penalties, what does that say about the relationship between fighting majors and minor penalties drawn? I don’t think we really know that, and that means that this kind of analysis is necessarily preliminary.
