The fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins arrived at Mellon Arena on Thursday night in hopes that their team, owners of a three-games-to-one series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers, could end their first round series with a win and become the second team in the conference to advance to the next round.
The crowd came dressed right for sure, as the locals, in a nod to the disenfranchised fans of Manitoba, came dressed for a "Winnipeg White Out" -- Pittsburgh style.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, the Flyers were having none of it. After surviving a first period where they were outshot by the Penguins, 15-5, the Flyers shifted into a workmanlike style of playoff hockey that stifled Pittsburgh offensively and erased their power play once again. Toss in a solid, if unspectacular performance from Philadelphia goalie Martin Biron (28 saves), and it all added up to a neat 3-0 victory for the Flyers that extended the series, forcing the Penguins to travel back to Philadelphia for a Game 6.
Thanks to the lottery on Tuesday night, we now know the order of selection for the draft. The Islanders will lead off from the pole position and, as I discussed earlier in the week, they've got an awful lot on their plate. But what about the other teams that sent representatives to TSN studios on Tuesday night?
Well, today we have an inside look at the war room of the Tampa Bay Lightning*. Since Oren Koules and Len Barrie took over the franchise last year, the Lightning have made some interesting personnel decisions. They hired and fired Barry Melrose as coach, shipped out Dan Boyle and Matt Carle, leaving the team almost devoid of defense, and had Lecavalier trade rumors swirl around them faster than a tornado. After the jump, I'll give you a little more insight into what is going on behind the scenes.
* - May not actually be the what the Lightning are planning.
Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Steve Downie is certainly no stranger to controversy, as the 21-year-old forward has been suspended multiple times in his young career for various acts of idiocy.
On Saturday, Downie, currently playing for the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL, decided it had been too long since he did something ridiculous and was given a game misconduct during a game against the Hershey Bears for "physical abuse of an official." He's facing a 20-game suspension as a result.
It's been a rough couple of months for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as they're already on their second head coach of the season, the stud rookie is looking like somewhat of a dud, and the team is currently sitting with the fourth-worst record in the league. About the only way things could possibly get worse for the Lightning is if management did something completely crazy, off-the-wall and relatively insane, such as, oh, I don't know, trading team captain and franchise player Vincent Lecavalier.
Sounds crazy, sure, but earlier this week rumors began to surface that the Lightning may be shopping their captain before his new contract -- and no-trade clause -- kicks in this offseason.
Good news, however, as Bob McKenzie of TSN reports the Lightning have told Lecavalier the rumors are just that, and they have no intentions of trading him.
What a dreadful month of December for the Penguins. After their 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, the Penguins find themselves with a 4-6-1 record this month, and have dropped back-to-back home games to Toronto and Tampa Bay by a combined score of 9-3, while getting outshot 69-38 in the process. There's no way to sugarcoat it -- that sucks. Even worse, the Penguins haven't won two straight games since November 13-15. Ouch.
Tampa Bay picked up goals from Matt Pettinger and Paul Szczechura, while Mike Smith turned aside all 15 shots he faced. Though, he received a little help from the Penguins, when Petr Sykora honked a pair of shots wide of the goal when he had Smith beat, and then Evgeni Malkin inexplicably attempted to make a pass when he had a breakaway. Perhaps he's serious about that century mark with the assists, I don't know.
Though, the save of the night was when Malkin, shorthanded, had another breakaway in the third period -- in what was still a one-goal game -- and was stoned by Smith. Tampa Bay turned it around the other way and Szczechura redirected a pass from Jussi Jokinen passed Marc-Andre Fleury to ice the game.
It's important to realize it's only December and that the Penguins had a similar record a year ago today -- and, hey, that season turned out okay -- but that doesn't change the fact this is some really bad hockey right now.
The revolving door that is the Tampa Bay Lightning organization took a few more turns on Monday, as they placed forwards Radim Vrbata and Chris Gratton on waivers, as reported by TSN. Once Vrbata clears waivers, he's going back to the Czech Republic for the remainder of this season, supposedly, because he's lost confidence playing in the NHL this season.
From Bob McKenzie:
"Radim is a great guy and he came into our office on Sunday morning and just told us his confidence is low and he would like to head home to the Czech Republic to finish the season," Lightning owner Oren Koules told TSN. "He just wants to take the rest of the year off (from the NHL) and try to get his game back over there. If he wants to come back next season, great. That's his call. This is all very amicable. He's a great guy who's really struggling right now."
Vrbata was part of Tampa Bay's summer of spending, inking a three-year, $9 million deal after a career year with the Coyotes a season ago. He scored 27 goals for Phoenix, but hit a wall in the final two months, not scoring over the final 22 games of the season. He had three goals for the Lightning in 18 games this season.
Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.
It didn't take Steve Downie long to leave his mark on his new team, as the feisty forward earned his first suspension as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. It probably won't be his last suspension, either.
Downie, a former first-round pick of the Flyers, was sent to Tampa Bay a couple of weeks ago, along with Steve Eminger, in exchange for Matt Carle. After playing in just six games in Norfolk, Downie was suspended for three games this past week by the American Hockey League for checking Kyle McLaren from behind.
New team. Same player.
Downie could be a useful asset to some team if he would simply use his head a little more often, and avoid taking dirty runs at players. As long as he's good for two suspensions a year (especially if they happen to be 20-game suspensions) and is a 5-minute major waiting to happen every time he steps on the ice, he's not going to be of any real use to any team, regardless of how talented he may be.
Since I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, I'd say the Flyers made themselves a fantastic trade, regardless of whether or not Carle fulfills expectations.
I'm pretty sure there are a few fantasy hockey team owners that make fewer roster moves than Tampa Bay's front office. On Friday, the Lightning continued to shuffle their roster as they sent defenseman Matt Carle to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Steve Eminger, and forward Steve Downie. The teams also exchanged draft picks, with the Flyers picking up a third-round selection and the Lightning gaining a fourth-rounder.
Carle, if you'll recall, was supposed to be the centerpiece of the Dan Boyle-to-San Jose trade over the summer. After just 12 games and two points, the Lightning have already given up on the speedy defenseman, making the Boyle trade, at this point, nothing more than a straight-up salary dump. From Damian Cristodero of theLightning Strikes blog at the St. Petersburg Times:
Asked if the trade of Dan Boyle, which in great part was done to shed his six-year, $40-million contract, now should be viewed as a failure, Lawton said, "I think it's a continuation of the process in evaluating what we have and being comfortable we have the right chemistry and the right balance and enough youth in the organization. It's one younger player for two younger players. ... When we went through it, we felt t was something that made sense."
Denver recruit David Carle has retired from competitive hockey after doctors discovered a heart abnormality. The condition, known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - or thickening of the heart - can cause sudden cardiac death if there is too much exertion.
Carle also informed Denver coach George Gwozdecky that he would not be able to play. Gwozdecky told Carle that he would honor his scholarship, and make him part of the team.
"Not only are we morally and ethically obliged (to fulfill the scholarship), but we have established, and we try to establish, strong relationships with our student-athletes,'' Gwozdecky told the paper. "And we have had that relationship with the Carles for a long time because of Matt.
It's nice to see that the university will continue to sponsor David's education, and it's certainly good that they discovered this condition early. We certainly do not want another Jiri Fischer near-death incident. Hockey is an intense sport, and requires any athlete in the league to be in top condition.
The interesting aspect to this story is that the abnormality was discovered at the NHL's testing combine, and not during a routine checkup. We never figure the combine would be used to catch something serious like this, but it's good to know that there is a screening process. Hopefully, any future abnormalities can be detected in the same manner.
The fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins arrived at Mellon Arena on Thursday night in hopes that their team, owners of a three-games-to-one series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers, could end their first round series with a win and become the second team in the conference to advance to the next round. 
Tampa Bay Lightning prospect 
It's been a rough couple of months for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as they're already on their second head coach of the season, the stud rookie is looking like somewhat of a dud, and the team is currently sitting with the fourth-worst record in the league. About the only way things could possibly get worse for the Lightning is if management did something completely crazy, off-the-wall and relatively insane, such as, oh, I don't know, trading team captain and franchise player 
What a dreadful month of December for the Penguins. After their 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, the Penguins find themselves with a 4-6-1 record this month, and have dropped back-to-back home games to Toronto and Tampa Bay by a combined score of 9-3, while getting outshot 69-38 in the process. There's no way to sugarcoat it -- that sucks. Even worse, the Penguins haven't won two straight games since November 13-15. Ouch. 
The revolving door that is the Tampa Bay Lightning organization took a few more turns on Monday, as they placed forwards 
Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.
I'm pretty sure there are a few fantasy hockey team owners that make fewer roster moves than Tampa Bay's front office. On Friday, the Lightning continued to shuffle their roster as they sent defenseman 
