x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

Quick Strikes: The prospects invade Tampa!

Posted on by Alexandra Ackerman

The Lightning

-The Tampa Bay Lightning’s rookie camp opened yesterday! Hurrah!

The showcase provides an ideal environment for evaluating the off-season progress of prospects while also testing their competitiveness.

”It’s our only chance to get them all together at one time and see where they’re at,” Lightning assistant general manager, director of player development Stacy Roest said.

-Helllooooo Mikhail Shalagin! May I interest you in some salt potatoes? Syracuse is famous for them!

-The Foote brothers will not be rooming with each other. For any of you with siblings, you probably agree that this was a smart decision.

-The prospects weren’t all that was being talked about yesterday. It seemed like Andrei Vasilevski was everywhere!

-We recapped our Top 25 Under 25 yesterday. Check in to see how it all went down in one convenient place!

The voting and research was a lot of fun this year and I can’t wait to see how the players on and off our list perform this season. We had some big movers last summer (which we’ll talk about) and some disagreements between the writers and with the readers.

-The World Cup of Hockey isn’t being played this fall, but Geo took an educated guess at which guys from the Lightning might have participated if it was.

-Registration for the fall sessions of Learn To Play sponsored by Lightning Made Hockey closes soon!

The Crunch

-Syracuse Crunch fans who are gearing up for the season got some info on the start to their own pre-season yesterday.

New Crunch general manager Stacy Roest said the first group of players will be assigned to Syracuse on Sept. 22. Because of a professional bull riders event that is swinging through the War Memorial, ice making in that building will be delayed until Sept. 24.

The first few Crunch practices will be held at the Tennity Ice Pavilion at Syracuse University and at Cicero’s Twin Rinks. Syracuse’s first skate at the War Memorial is scheduled for Oct. 2.

The Solar Bears

-Forward Trevor Olson ended last season with the Orlando Solar Bears injured, so he’s greatly looking forward to this fall.

JL: You mentioned earlier the lower-body injury that ended your season in mid-March – as you went through the rehabilitation process, how were you able to stay positive as you tried to get back to feeling 100%?

TO: Yeah, it was pretty devastating. Originally it was about a 12-week recovery that the doctors had me at. It took 12 weeks exactly before I skated for the first time. After that, it was still pretty sore, not a setback, but a bump in the road, so I continued my rehab with strengthening the area. Now when I hop on the ice it’s back to normal. To be honest, it was tough staying positive in the locker room because I wanted to help my team win, and it was tough seeing the season end in the second round the way it did. The only thing I could do to be a good teammate was to show up and be a part of the whole thing even though I wasn’t on the ice. I still wanted to be that same presence in the locker room. They even had me read some of the starting lineups during the playoffs, and I thought that was cool of them to keep me involved. My teammates and coaches made it pretty easy for me.

The Game

-Those who are New York Rangers fans, or who want to find out how they’re looking as the season crawls closer, need to check out Bantering the Blueshirts! Episode 155 was posted yesterday.

In this week’s show we discussed the Rangers’ front office changes, made some predictions for the Traverse City Prospect Tournament, examined why Tony DeAngelo is a player the Rangers really need to sign, found out how Joe did at cutting his second umbilical chord, and came to the realization that Mike can’t remember specific goals and games. We also answer some of your questions! There’s a lot of meat on this bone.

(Side note: I’m sorry, they need to sign who now? Huh…)

–Here’s another podcast for you: Broad Street Hockey’s bonus show! A must-listen for Philadelphia Flyers fans.

The Director of Fun and Games goes one-on-one with Donato Fanelle from KPEX Consulting to talk about mental skills training and developing mental toughness.

Is there such a thing as “clutch”? How can an athlete develop higher levels of confidence and focus? What the hell does Carter Hart actually talk to his sports psychologist about?

Fanelle answers questions about re-gaining confidence and coaching techniques, focusing on local athletes like Hart, whose sports psychologist John Stevenson has been at the forefront of the young netminder’s success for years, as well as Rhys Hoskins and Gabe Kapler.

-Jesperi Kotkaniemi brought more than just his talent to the Montreal Canadiens last season.

We all know it was a bit of a surprise that young-pup rookie Kotkaniemi not only made the cut last year, but also suited up for 79 games and finished eighth in points with 34 (11G, 23A) and was the youngest player in the NHL. The best part of it all was he clearly enjoyed every moment of it. He was having the time of his life, and he took us along for the ride.

His charm also got to GM Trevor Timmins during the 2018 Draft. Looking for the obvious — confidence, drive, playmaking ability — as the draft approached, there was one other aspect of Kotkaniemi that got him picked third overall. “We really fell in love with his personality.” Timmins said in a conversation with Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette. “He’s outgoing, but he’s humble yet confident.”

-The NWHL has signed a broadcast deal with Twitch. The deal is for three years.

The deal will bring all of the NWHL’s games and programming to the platform, which will be available for free globally on any device that can access Twitch.

It’s also the NWHL’s first-ever broadcast deal in which it will receive a rights fee.

-The San Jose Sharks and Kendall Coyne-Schofield are teaming up this fall.

-The NHLPA is in a rather delicate spot. The union has until Sept. 15 to notify the NHL if they intend to exercise its option to opt out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) after this season.

If the NHLPA declines, the current CBA will remain in effect for three more seasons, through 2021-22.

The key to remember is that if the NHLPA does indeed opt out this month, nothing would preclude both sides from continuing negotiations over the next months in an effort to agree on a new CBA before it expires on Sept. 15, 2020.

-NHL games are now going to be available to stream in Russia.

Yandex, one of Europe’s largest internet companies and the leading search provider in Russia, has entered into an agreement with the National Hockey League to broadcast all NHL® games in Russia, via its streaming platform. The multiyear deal begins with the 2019-20 season, which opens on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

-Sean McIndoe of The Athletic posted an article about the coaches and general managers he thinks will be safe this season. Who made the list? Damned if I know, but maybe you have a subscription and can actually find out.

-Speaking of TA, Joe Smith discussed what the NHL can do to help it grow, and in doing so, referenced the NBA and the way it markets its personalities. I think, anyway. Again, can’t read it.

-An adaptive hockey team from Colorado Springs had their gear stolen. Please help them get it back!

The director says that while they want the trailer back, the sleds are the real loss. Without the sleds, these kids won’t be able to play the sport they love.

-Océanic de Rimouski is retiring Sidney Crosby’s jersey this month.

-Here’s your fun for the day:

-Okay, here’s another fun:

If you enjoyed this article please consider supporting RawCharge by subscribing here, or purchasing our merchandise here.

Support RawCharge by using our Affiliate Link when Shopping Hockey Apparel !

Talking Points