The Bolts
The Municipal government voted to take down Confederate statues in public spaces, after the events that occured in Charlottesville, Va., “where a white nationalist rally Saturday turned into a bloody clash that resulted in the death of a counterprotester.” Several major Tampa sports teams stepped up, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, to donate a large portion of the money needed to take these statues down. [NY Times]
Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown also donated $1,500 of his own money to help take down the Confederate statues. [Tampa Bay Times]
“I was just thinking to myself, how was I going to explain to my daughter if she was old enough, how would I explain why someone doesn’t like her? Or why is this going on in the world today? For me that kind of re-motivated me to make sure I’m doing everything I can to make sure the community is a better place for her and everyone.” – J.T. Brown
Steven Stamkos and some other stars, including Connor McDavid, Sean Monahan, and Mark Giordano, showed off their off-season training regimines in this cool video on the NHL Youtube channel.
Part 2 of our Mailbag is out! Today, we delve into potential breakout players, Dan Girardi, and Russians. “As long as Girardi isn’t the black hole he was in New York then it’s a win.” [Raw Charge]
Nice t-shirt Victor Hedman!
Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪 Victor Hedman is Billebeino 👊 @heds77 #billebeino #tblightning pic.twitter.com/Y2mUmeG2xy
— Billebeino (@billebeino) August 16, 2017
With Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos’ offense and leadership the Bolts should be one of the last teams competing for the 2018 Stanley Cup. “There are very few players (other than Nikita Kucherov, that is) that can keep pace with a player like Stamkos.” [Bolts By The Bay]
The Crunch
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed 27 year-old forward Tye McGinn to a one-year, two-way contract. “McGinn will be entering his third season with the Lightning organization, and Crunch fans are practically salivating for a full healthy season from the forward after watching him work his tail off during the playoffs.” [Raw Charge]
It’s official: the @TBLightning have re-signed forward Tye McGinn to a one-year, two-way deal.
📝 → https://t.co/zbSMDAXG74 pic.twitter.com/7gArEMaOes
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) August 17, 2017
Mathieu Joseph looks like a very proud big brother after seeing his little brother, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, head off to his first Arizona Coyotes training camp.
The Game
Long-time center for the New Jersey Devils, Travis Zajac is out for 4-6 months after undergoing successful surgery on his left pectoral muscle. The Devils have a slew of young centermen, namely first-overall pick Nico Hischier and Mississauga Steelheads star Michael McLeod, but losing that veteran presence at the top of their lineup will be a huge blow. [All About The Jersey]
The Buffalo Sabres have re-signed Latvian forward Zemgus Girgensons to a two-year extension with an AAV of $1.6 million. “After breaking out in 2014-15 under then-coach Ted Nolan, Girgensons has scored just seven goals in each of the past two seasons while playing in over 70 games each year. At this point, he appears to be a solid bottom-six player with limited upside, and this contract reflects just that.” [Die By The Blade]
Girgensons, in fact, shows up in the trade tree that sprouts from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s acquisition of Darcy Tucker back in 1998!
The Pittsburgh Penguins currently have a vacancy at their third center position. But they’re not worried. “[I’m] more comfortable with [starting the season without a replacement for Nick Bonino] than trading for somebody where I’m not sure whether they can help us or not.” – Jim Rutherford [Puck Daddy]
