The Bolts
Big congratulations goes out to Tampa Bay Lightning backup goalie Peter Budaj for being awarded Goalie of the Year in Slovakia. After LA Kings starting goalie Jonathan Quick got injured early in the season, Budaj did an amazing job stepping into the starter’s net, posting a 0.917 sv% in 53 games.
Inspired by “Blog Mom” Achariya’s Puck Daddy post, JustinG. writes his own “What if” story. “What if Vincent Lecavalier had been healthy?” “His best two seasons were his age 26 and 27 years. Most aging curves start to show a decline at that point. The drop-off wouldn’t have been as dramatic, though. He should have had a couple of 40-goals seasons left in him.” [Raw Charge]
Reddit loves Saima1226 and so do we! With all of her inclusiveness, passion, and insight, Saima embodies everything that comes with being a Lightning fan. She brought me to this family and I can’t thank her enough. Hopefully, the rest of us can provide the same quality of #PointPuns while she’s off saving lives. [Reddit]
The Prospects
Tampa Bay Lightning development camp invitee Bobby Dow has joined the Peterborough Petes for the upcoming season. Best of luck to Bobby! (Shoutout to @BoltsProspects for the head’s up on this news)
Petes Sign Bobby Dow (@4BobbyDow) to Standard Player Agreement
READ>> https://t.co/UCg8Sz4WzX pic.twitter.com/2VGnNYQC2b
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) August 9, 2017
The Game
One of our favourite readers and commenters t.cann112 has been doing a series over at Pensburgh. S/he has been profiling all of the teams in the Metro division. It is very in-depth and thorough, I learned a lot reading them:
Philadelphia Flyers: “The Flyers greatest strength in the prospect pool is their depth at defense, which is a great way to start. The only problem is having too many of the same thing.” [Pensburgh]
Carolina Hurricanes: “The Canes always seem to play their best once they no longer have a chance for the playoffs. Carolina went on a pretty impressive streak of 13 games in a row with a point to sniff the Wild Card picture, but seemingly each time, the Canes stumble at the end and make you think next year will be the year they put it together make the playoffs.” [Pensburgh]
New Jersey Devils: “(Michael) McLeod is the 12th overall pick in last years (2016) Draft, and was tearing it up last year in the OHL (it was an honour to be able to watch every minute of it – Hardev). Quenneville and Speers made their way to the Devils roster last season, and with how young this team is going to be next year, there’s plenty of ice time available.” [Pensburgh]
I still haven’t figure out what Nate Thompson of the Ottawa Senators is doing. Any ideas?
