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Quick Strikes: Lightning owner Jeff Vinik strengthens ties to USF

Vinik's business will manage the USF Sun Dome, a review of Yzerman's trade history, and Give Day Tampa Bay.

The Bolts

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik continues to expand his brand and invest in the local community, this time entering a partnership with the University of South Florida. "Five years after getting a new look, the USF Sun Dome is getting new management. In a Monday afternoon press conference inside a Dome lounge area, the school announced it has signed a five-year agreement with a group controlled by Lightning owner Jeff Vinik to manage and operate the facility." [Tampa Bay Times]

The best trades of Tampa Bay Lightning's Steve Yzerman era, and two bad ones. "Nobody’s perfect, and Steve Yzerman is no exception. But, let’s take a look at some of his best trades and some that I’m sure he’d like to re-do if he had the chance." [Raw Charge]

Scouting the 2017 NHL draft: Timothy Liljegren. "A right-shot, puck-moving defenseman, the Tampa Bay Lightning would be lucky to snag this guy." [Raw Charge]

Looking for something to do with the family tonight? Take kids age 9-14 to a free ball hockey tournament at Amalie Arena (just make sure to register online before you go).

Today is Give Day Tampa Bay. "The cancer charity Beat Nb is partnering with the Tampa Bay Lightning's Ryan Callahan at Lykes Gaslight Square, where a 6-by-8-foot 'secret photo' is covered up by 500 magnets. For every donation of $25 or more, one magnet will be removed, revealing a little more of the photo underneath. 'You'll take home the magnet,' the charity's event site on Facebook says, 'and a facsimile signed thank you photo of Tampa Bay Lightning star Ryan Callahan. (Hint: He's involved in the secret photo too).'" [Tampa Bay Times]

The Prospects

Syracuse Crunch head coach Benoit Groulx considers his team to be the underdogs in their upcoming series against the Toronto Marlies. "They have  a good team. It's no secret. They can do a lot of things out there,"  Groulx said after practice Monday. "They're a fast team. They have a lot of skills on their team. I think they have depth. I think Toronto is probably the favorite team to win this round because they're just a solid team." [Syracuse.com]

Tanner Richard has signed with Genève-Servette HC, a professional ice hockey club based in Geneva, Switzerland that competes in National League A, the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. [Swiss Hockey News]

Bolts in the pipeline: Erie Otters advance to the OHL Championship. "Taylor Raddysh, Anthony Cirelli, and Erik Cernak are one step closer to the Memorial Cup!"

Cirelli is the only player to earn "Player of the Week" honors twice in this year's playoffs. He is as clutch as they come.

ICYMI, here's how he performed in a series-clinching victory on Friday night.

The Worlds

With nine members of the Tampa Bay Lightning participating across three teams at the IIHF World Championship, we'll be keeping a close eye on Canada (Jon Cooper, Alex Killorn, and Brayden Point), Russia (Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and prospect Nikita Gusev) and Sweden (Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman).

Sweden has a very entertaining blog called Inside Tre Konor which runs as a feature in the daily newspaper Aftonbladet. They recently did some comparative analysis of player equipment. Hedman and Stralman's Lightning gear earned rave reviews. Enjoy the translated sections, courtesy of reddit user /u/elgrandeslimbo.

"The cool thing about Inside Tre Kronor is that I get to call the shots. I can do pretty much whatever I want without the bosses getting involved. Like this for example. Rating the design of team blade protectors, the bosses probably wouldn't think that's a good idea." [Inside Tre Konor]

Tampa Bay Lightning ++++

"Wow. If it wasn't for Colorado this would be the hands down winner. In the long run, this will probably hold up the best."

"After Inside Tre Kronor's big success with blade protector ratings, here is the sequel. The most extensive toiletry bag review in the history of Swedish hockey." [Inside Tre Konor]

Tampa Bay Lightning +++++

"Just like the blade protectors. A clean-cut classic design that will only improve with time. A winner."

The Game

"Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers are your finalists for the 2017 Hart Trophy, which is given to the 'player judged most valuable to his team' in the NHL... What will be interesting to see when vote totals are released is how much late-season love Brad Marchand and Nikita Kucherov received for what they did in the second half." [Puck Daddy]

"There’s been significant goalie movement already this offseason, so no surprise suitors are now jockeying for Ben Bishop’s services. Per TSN's Pierre LeBrun, a 'couple of teams' spoke to Los Angeles about acquiring the rights to Bishop, who becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Obtaining Bishop’s rights would open up a two-month negotiating window ahead of him hitting the market." [NBC Sports]

If defense wins championships, the Nashville Predators are off to a good start. "Among teams still in the playoffs, the Preds allow the least amount of shot attempts per sixty minutes than anyone. They’ve been stifling the opponent in the neutral zone, usually forcing a dump-in. Then, once the puck is in the defensive zone, they’ve been working hard to force skilled players off the puck and get the puck clear. No puck, no shots." [On The Forecheck]

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