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Quick Strikes: Can we call this Game One number three?

And houston, we have a Captain.

The Crunch

The Syracuse Crunch filled the void of having no NHL hockey to watch by announcing that Gabriel Dumont will captain the 2018-19 prospect-filled squad. We will have more on Dumont and the Crunch in the coming days, especially since the Crunch’s 25th home opener is tonight! I’m sure Alex will have something to say :D [Raw Charge]

In a press release, Crunch head coach Ben Groulx said of Dumont: “We chose Dumont as captain because when we talk about identity, culture and habits, he represents all of those. He’s a great person and a good leader. He’s served as a captain before and is the example we look for in a player. Dumont is the best guy to show this young team the right way to be a professional on and off the ice.”

Along with the good news on the player side, the Crunch have announced that they have signed a 12-year lease with War Memorial Arena! Woohoo! [Syracuse Crunch]

Prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Syracuse Crunch announced a five-year affiliation extension, with an option for two additional years, to ensure Tampa Bay’s top prospects will develop their talents in Syracuse through the 2022-23 season, with a mutual option for 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Partners for life Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk joined Lukas for the first Crunch Weekly podcast this season. A must-listen!

We miss you, Vladdy!

The Bolts

Onto the Bolts. There was a lot of reflection going on yesterday in response to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Bryan Burns speaks about the team needing to regroup and keeping this season in context. [NHL dot com]

The Lightning were extremely inconsistent in their first two games of the 2017-18 season, splitting a home-and-home back-to-back with the Florida Panthers and allowing a combined eight goals in the process. There were a number of defensive breakdowns in those opening two games, and Lightning head coach Jon Cooper stated his team was lucky to come out of the back-to-back with two points.

FOX Sports looks ahead to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets as the best way to move forward. [FOX Sports]

“We need to finish. We’re not finishing,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We are shooting some pucks at the net, but we’re not going there with a desire to score. That’s what you have to do in this league, especially with the goaltending and the way it is.

Where are the Lightning, and it’s fans relative to the panic buttons that hover over the heads of us all. [Tampa Bay Times]

It’s a marathon and the Lightning have barely crossed the start line. Two games. I’m not any more willing to say this Lightning start is ominous than I was willing to say the Bucs were back after they began 2-0 — and two games is one-eighth of the NFL season.

Lightning goaltender Louis Domingue did an AMA on Twitter. Follow the hashtag for some great interactions!

The number 28 has had a fun history with the Tampa Bay Lightning. JustinG. takes a look the past wearers of the number. [Raw Charge]

Sheldon Keefe only played parts of three seasons for the Tampa Bay Lightning yet he somehow managed to wear four different jersey numbers (46, 27, 42 and 28). Drafted in the second round by the Lightning in the 1999 draft, Keefe was a top prospect for the organization after putting up 121 points in 66 games for the Barrie Colts in his final year in juniors.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will help those affected by Hurricane Michael with a 50/50 raffle to be played on Saturday night vs. CBJ. [NHL dot com]

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that their 50/50 Raffle, presented by Moffitt Cancer Center, this weekend will benefit those impacted by Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle. Bolts 50/50 Raffle tickets can be purchased all day Friday and Saturday online at www.Bolts5050.com or at Saturday’s Lightning game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at AMALIE Arena.

Ruslan Fedotenko is having fun with some Tampa Bay real estate. Seriously. [Creative Loafing]

The former Tampa Bay Lightning player whose goals essentially scored the Bolts their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, Ruslan Fedotenko, owns Blue Line alongside custom home builder Paul Wiezorek. The duo’s project on the beach is a speculative luxury waterfront townhome property with two three-story units (each of which has an anticipated listing price of $1.75 million), and it’s scheduled to break ground this month.

The Game

Womens college hockey isn’t on TV (it should), so it’s hard for the casual fan to be able to watch games. The Ice Garden is here to help. [The Ice Garden]

Hockey East:

This is the one major conference that does not have centralized streaming; it’s scattered all over the place, some teams paywall, others don’t. So we’ll try and group teams by similarities.

Boston College and New Hampshire are both free through the WatchESPN app, but UNH will sometimes stream on their YouTube channel.

Vermont, Northeastern, and Maine are all free through their athletic department websites.

UConn, Merrimack, and Providence are all paywalled through their athletic department websites.

Holy Cross and Boston University are both free through WatchStadium’s Patriot League Network.

The NHL gave Austin Watson a 27-game suspension for his illegal domestic violence. Independent Arbitrator (who was fired by the MLB following the Ryan Braun trial) Shyam Das reduced his sentence to 18 games. The NHL has since sent out a statement stating their disappointment in the decision. Could he be fired again? Personally, I hope so.

You all know Seldo. He’s an interesting fellow. He wrote a thing in response to fans all over the league hating that Toronto gets all the attention. [Pension Plan Puppets]

To everyone out there, we’re sorry you’re not Leafs fans. We believe in second chances and have a spare Jersey on hand for anyone who sees the light and needs help to the one true path to hockey salvation.

On a personal note, none of you had to hear about us for years and years because we’ve sucked since 1967. Don’t act like we’re special. *Glares at Chicago, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, DETROIT menacingly*

By the way, did you know Auston Matthews has nine goals in five games? [ESPN]

Matthews joined Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Marleau, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy as the only players in the league’s modern era to score nine times in their teams’ first five games, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. He is one of just 16 players to pull off the feat in NHL history overall.

Highlight of the Night: Gritty.

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