Sign in Subscribe
Front Page

Quick Strikes: The NHL asks Steven Stamkos, water you doing?

It’s late and I just saw Thor: Ragnarok, so you get water bottle puns.

The Bolts

Yesterday, the National Hockey League saw fit to thoroughly penalize Tampa Bay Lightning player Steven Stamkos and New York Rangers player Kevin Hayes with the maximum allowable fine for that most dangerous of practices, squirting water bottles at people. What? Yeah. [Raw Charge]

Greg Wyshynski wrote a pretty deep article about Stamkos and his injuries. “So the question lingers for Stamkos, but it doesn't fester. He's not waiting for the other shoe to drop. He's not bracing for the inevitable. He battles these thoughts as a self-professed optimist. He buries them, because if there's one thing he has learned through this series of freakish calamities, it's to value the gift of today rather than the bill your body settles up tomorrow.” [ESPN]

This was informative: 'The lightest [hockey club] is Tampa at an average of 195 pounds, which provides a very literal excuse for the Bolts’ worst loss of the season coming against a “heavy” Anaheim team.' [Sportsnet]

Joe Smith sat down with Vinny, Fedotenko, and Feaster to relive the 2004 Stanley Cup victory. "As they re-lived the greatest moment of their professional lives together, swapping stories about Monday, June 7, 2004, and poking fun along the way, Feaster sat at the head of the table." [TBO.com]

Tonight's matchup is going to be a battle for first in the league -- Tampa is tied with St. Louis for first place, and one of these teams is going to have to lose. "Tampa Bay and Columbus are playing for the 27th time, the Lightning owning a 15-10-0 record with one tie all-time vs. the Blue Jackets." [Tampa Bay Lightning]

Despite hot start, Lightning continue search for consistency. I mean, the stats make it seem very clear that winning doesn't always mean sharp playing. "I think defensively we're just not there," Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. "We played like we accomplished something, but we really haven't. We're off to a good start, but at the end, we're 10-15 games into the season. It's about consistency, and last night was not consistent at all." [Tampa Bay Lightning]

In case you missed it, here's our Bolt of the Month, and it's not Nikita Kucherov. "Despite their scoring prowess they did not achieve the greatest honor a Tampa Bay Lightning team member can hope for: the Raw Charge Bolt of the Month. That honor goes to rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev." [Raw Charge]

Have you taken this week’s Tampa Bay Lightning fan poll? We’re in it now...or are we? [Raw Charge]

The Prospects

Syracuse Crunch drops shootout decision to Laval. "After back-and-forth scoring, Mathieu Joseph netted the equalizer in the third period to force overtime, but the Syracuse Crunch was unable to secure victory and fell to the Laval Rocket, 6-5, in a four-round shootout Friday at Place Bell." [Syracuse.com]

Blues' Allen enjoying timely reunion with boyhood mentor, David Alexander. "Before joining the Blues, Alexander was with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch the past four seasons. His starting goalie a year ago was Mike KcKenna, a St. Louisan. This summer, McKenna described Alexander to The Post-Dispatch as a “meticulous, forward-thinking, progressive” goaltending coach." [STL Today]

The City

Thank you, as always, Mr. Vinik!

Read next

Comments ()