Quick Strikes: Almost back to sports season (sorry baseball)

The Bolts

The NFL pre-season is already bringing out the trash-talk between Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Tyler Johnson and J.T. Brown.

Ayyyyye @JTBrown23 what do you think? @Seahawks 🙃 pic.twitter.com/daCpeMABsD

— Tyler Johnson (@tjohnny09) August 19, 2017

A match made in (Amalie Arena).

Loud & proud. Blue Thunder sporting a @TBLightning flag. @MonsterJam @AmalieArena #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/CFqdAEaBi6

— Eric Blankenship (@eblankenship) August 20, 2017

The Crunch

Our very own Syracuse correspondant, Alex (@Allovimo) travelled to Quebec City, Quebec, Canada for “Le Boot Camp.” Here’s the story of her amazing weekend. “Overall, 11 players (if you count Boko, which I am) with ties to the Lightning/Crunch skated in the tournament this year.” [Raw Charge]

There are still too many days until hockey is back. Cool jersey, though.

48. #AHLOpeningNight pic.twitter.com/N7hODKOyvd

— AHL (@TheAHL) August 19, 2017

Goalie training with Nick Riopel is always fun.

Little overtime session after my workout today! Working on my short game with quick reaction with elbow & shoulder save! #TheStandard pic.twitter.com/5CfeBZLdRM

— Nick Riopel (@Riopel_N) August 18, 2017

The Game

Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop continuing his glow-in-the-dark #brand in his new Stars themed mask

It is an honor to present Ben Bishop’s first Dallas Stars mask…⭐️ This glowing piece is a true Storyteller mask, and the closer you come the more details you will discover…⭐️💡🔦 #benbishop @dallasstars #nhl #DaveArt @nhl #DaveArtGLOW #DaveArtTheCradleOfCreativity #DaveArtTheMaskNerd 🤓

A post shared by David Gunnarsson (@davidofdaveart) on Aug 18, 2017 at 2:06pm PDT

After losing the San Antonio Rampage affiliation to the St. Louis Blues, the Colorado Avalanche will be moving Colorado Eagles of the ECHL up to the AHL, becoming the 31st franchise in the league. [FanRag Sports]

Reilly Walsh split time between the USHL and the high school hockey program this season, and now he’s a 3rd round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils and a soon-to-be freshman at Harvard. “It wasn’t even close. He was by far one of the best skaters on the ice among all the squirts. His skating and skills were far superior to a lot of the squirt kids. It’s hard for me to say that but it’s true. … You could just tell he loved the game.” [Concord Monitor]

NHL Alternate History: What if … The Predators had let Shea Weber walk? “In a world where Poile thought to himself, ‘That’s just too much money’, the Predators would’ve walked away with four extra first-round draft picks (in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively) and a nice chunk of cap space.” [Yahoo Sports]