We’re still catching up from our little excursion into the woods (Congaree National Park is an excellent getaway if you’re ever in the South Carolina area) and haven’t been keeping abreast of the news outside of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the greatest hockey team in all the land. So, we figure we’ll do a little catch-up here and get some things posted.
First off, it looks like an old friend is ready to hang the skates up for good. Over the weekend, it appears Pat Maroon announced his retirement as he told Darren Pang,
“I just know it’s time for me and it’s time for my family to go start a new chapter in our lives.
“I’m just going to finish this year like every game is my last game. I’m going to play as hard as I can. … This is all I know, Panger, so it’s tough. It’s hard to go through things like this. You can’t really process it. But it’s best for me and my family to go start a new chapter.”
The 37-year-old has 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) for the Chicago Blackhawks, the eighth team he’s played for over his 14-year NHL career. In 841 regular season games, Maroon has 322 points (126 goals, 196 assists), 1076 penalty minutes, 1584 hits, and countless chirps on the ice. He’s added another 53 points (23 goals, 30 assists) in 163 playoff games. Oh yeah, and he’s raised the Stanley Cup three times, while making it to the Cup Final four years in a row.
He will always be a favorite for Lightning fans as he came to Tampa and helped sparked their back-to-back Cup runs. Not only did he give them a “been-there-done-that” mentality in the locker room, he provided some important depth on the bottom-six. In 280 games with the Lightning he had 29 goals and 53 assists while averaging 11:39 a night, with the 2021-22 season his best one when he put up 11 goals and 16 assists as the driver of the School Bus Line comprised of Maroon, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Corey Perry.
It’s wildly unlikely that Pat Maroon will see his name enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see him earn a spot in some rings of honor around the league. Best of luck to your future endeavors, Florida Man.
Lightning News
Brandon Halverson assigned to Syracuse [Tampa Bay Lightning]
Halverson is on his way back to Syracuse to help the Crunch with their playoff chase as it appears Jonas Johansson is good to go as Andrei Vasilevskiy’s back-up. The Crunch will be more than happy to see him back, as things got a little adventurous in his absence over the weekend.
Syracuse started their Friday morning with Halverson and Matt Tomkins as their tandem during the early practice. Halverson then became “unavailable” for their game against the LeHigh Valley Phantoms. It wasn’t known to the public at the time, but he was on his way to join the Lightning out west. So, the Crunch recalled Ryan Fanti from Orlando. It took Mr. Fanti a little while to get there so Syracuse had an eBug goalie on the ice for warm-ups.
Fanti arrived in time to join the team during the game, which was great because Tomkins, who got the start, was shaken up while making a save in the third period of the 3-0 shutout. Fanti finished the game out on Friday, and then had to make the start on Saturday in the 4-1 loss to Rochester. His back-up was Jon Gillies, who had signed a PTO earlier in the weekend. The trickle-down effect continued. With Fanti and Gillies in the AHL, Orlando had to find a couple of goalies so they signed old friend Ty Taylor and Luke Pavicich to mind their nets. Fun times.
Oh, and Cameron Atkinson was recalled as well.
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It’s rare to see Nikita Kucherov smile during the middle of the game, but his grin was a little more gap-toothed than normal following his goal against the Penguins.
Prospects to watch at the 2025 NCAA men’s hockey tournament [Daily FaceOff]
Ike Howard gets a mention, which makes sense since he led the nation in scoring this year.
Hockey News
NHL History’s greatest record-breaking goals [The Athletic]
Yeah, the Finnish Flash’s celebration is pretty, pretty good.
How much suffering can a fan base handle? [The Athletic]
I know we get down on the Lightning from time to time when they disappoint us, but could you imagine the torture of being a Sabres fan? Based on the article, it’s bad, really, really bad times up there.
Leafs sign prospect Luke Haymes [Pension Plan Puppets]
There were rumors that the Lightning were chasing after the coveted college free agent, but the ties to Toronto were just too strong as the Dartmouth product signed with the Leafs. They assigned him to the Marlies (where he could potentially face his college teammate, Cooper Flinton, in the playoffs).
