Like Ken Holland with the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman decided to just take yesterday off. Maybe he slept in late, or did some touristy things in NYC perhaps, with his extra free time. In the end, the Lightning stayed quiet at trade deadline day while the rest of Southeast Division made some deals.
But since Yzerman already addressed our goaltending situation with Dwayne Roloson earlier this year, and defence with the trade for Eric Brewer, maybe standing pat was the best decision. And don’t forget we still have Ryan Malone coming back just before playoffs. We’ll have more thoughts on this on Thursday in this week’s Question of the Week.
Your links for this week after the jump…
Lightning links:
- Yesterday the Ottawa Senators picked up Curtis McElhinney off of waivers (Ottawa Citizen)
- Guy Boucher and Steve Yzerman talk to The St. Petersburg Times about their goals for this season and giving the team an opportunity for a win now without mortgaging the future
- Nolan writes on Frozen Sheets Hockey about Dan Ellis’ time with the Lightning. “Unfortunately he seemed to have gotten confused with all the tweets, because he ended up playing goal with about as much skill as a brain surgeon would have, if that brain surgeon was trying to play goal at the NHL level”
- TBO.com has a Q&A with Guy Boucher. His favorite music? Classical music because it calms him down
- The blog Tampa Bay Sports History catches up with radio guy in the 90’s Larry Hirsch
Links from around the NHL:
- Brent Seabrook signed a five year $29 million contract extension with the Blackhawks (TSN)
- After a fire sale yesterday, the Panthers finally looks like they are trying to re-build. After trading away Bryan Allen and Dennis Wideman from their blue line, are they stuck with Mike Weaver as their best defenceman? Which is awesome because we play them two more times this season (National Post)
- Great read in Puck Daddy: Why the trade deadline hoaxes where actually great news
- From the NHL Network via Puck Daddy: Video of how an NHL trade goes down
- Yesterday Florida Panthers president Michael Yormack took to Twitter to lash out at beat writer George Richards of blog On the Frozen Pond (ProHockeyTalk)
- Last week, Joffrey Lupul lost his phone and after reaching out through Twitter, got it back (Globe and Mail)
- Nick Kypreos hates the staff at TSN as per a Twitter message that obviously wasn’t meant to be public (PPP)
- Even though the trade deadline is now over, Eric Duhatschek had an article on the art of selling in the NHL
- Chris at The Royal Half has a hysterical look at Dustin Penner as a new LA King
- The Wall Street Journal with a good piece on the AHL, also known as a place that a GM can stash his mistakes
- Did you know that Donald Brashear is still playing hockey? He does in the semi-professional league called L.N.A.H. which averages 3.2 fights a game
- Kent Wilson on Houses of Hockey talks about the idea of ‘chemistry’ on a team
- Copper and Blue builds on Wilson’s post talking about the illusion of intangibles (like the leadership of a captain) in the NHL. They say that sports media has fed fans storylines about the intangibles to “attempt to elevate the importance of sports in the average fan’s life and appealing to fans on an emotional level is a way to connect with them and sell more papers or television ads”
- One group of investors in Las Vegas wants to build a three stadium development that could accommodate a baseball, basketball and hockey team. Cost? 1.575 billion dollars
- Sorta hockey: The Seattle Times says the Seahawks are eyeing Danny Watkins, a 26 year old who played hockey growing up, who got an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine.
- Also along the lines of sorta hockey: a stage production that is about a young Belarussian playing in the NHL. The NY Times chats with the creator Victor Lesniewki about the play and find out he was a Hartford Whalers fan
- Hudson Fasching is still three years away from being eligible to be drafted. But at 15, he’s 6’3″ and weighs 200 lbs and is being courted by clubs in the CHL. But this story by Scott Burnside in ESPN is why you’ll remember his name when he get’s drafted
Video of the week: CBC’s HNIC segment Inside Hockey looks at the Canucks and the science of sleep
