Game Notes from the Intern
So, I’m not sure how well this will work as my time during games will be stretched thin, but for now, I plan to type up my game notes during each game.
On September 21, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the St. Louis Blues in Orlando, Florida at the beautiful home of the Orlando Magic, the Amway Center. While it was one of the nicest arena’s I have ever been to, I could not say the same about the ice. As I walked in and looked closely at the ice, you could tell it would be a sloppy game. The ice had bumps all over the place, and it didn’t help that it was so humid outside. The staff did the best they could, and while the ice would be rough, it was rough for both teams.
Here are the notes I wrote during the game…if you don’t want the recap, Scroll to the ——- line to read some reaction:
Blues @ Lightning (Orlando) 7PM
Period 1
Starting Goalies: Dwayne Roloson (TB), Ben Bishop (STL)
Starting for the Lightning
Teddy Purcell – Vincent Lecavalier – Brett Connolly
Eric Brewer - Mattias Ohlund
0:22 – TB Penalty to Mattias Ohlund, 2-Min for High Sticking
PK: Good Kill. Rollie made good stop but not really tested. Blair Jones, Tom Pyatt, and Bruno Gervais had two shifts on the PK. Tyler Johnson, Richard Panik, Vladislav Namestnikov, Michel Ouellet were other forwards with PK time. Matt Gilroy, Marc-Andre Bergeron, and Mike Vernace other D men with time. Erik Brewer was out for 3 shifts on the PK
Stamkos and St. Louis come out as time expired.
Brett Connolly with a great tip in chance around the 16:40 mark.
Ohlund has gone for a few hits that haven’t connected.
6:41 – STL Penalty to Stefan Della Rovere, 2-Min for Roughing
Purcell – Lecavalier – St. Louis
Brewer – Stamkos
Lecavalier had a great chance but the puck bounced around over his stick (bad ice).
Connolly with another great tip opportunity from Blair Jones after the penalty expired.
Rollie with a GREAT side to side save. He looked quick and comfortable to make that one look easy.
9:25 – STL Penalty to Patrik Berglund, 2-Min for Cross Checking
Purcell switched with Stamkos and is now playing the point. Good STL Penalty Kill.
Ouellet nearly had a breakaway, good backcheck by St. Louis.
Uh oh….another high hit by Ohlund on Ryan Reaves….it drew blood.
12:36 TB Penalty to Mattias Ohlund, 5-Min for Elbowing and a Game Misconduct (Served by Teddy Purcell)
Bolts down to 5 on the Blue Line….Brewer, Gervais, Gilroy, Bergeron, Vernace
Every single Bolt had at least 1 PK shift. Brewer and Gervais with 4 each. Pyatt, Jones, Panik, Vernace, and Gilroy with 3. Gonnolly, Johnson, Namestnikov, and Ouellet with 2. Only defenseman without 2 PK shifts is Bergeron.
15:22 STL Goal on the Power Play Nikita Nikitin from Chris Stewart and Alex Pietrangelo. Went off Blair Jones’s skate….Rollie had no chance…big change of direction
Brewer is playing the PK extremely well.
19:09 TB Penalty to Richard Panik, 2-Min for High Sticking
Rollie made a KEY shoulder save.
End of Period 1. STL on the PP for 1:10 in the Second.
STL 1 TB 0 | Shots: STL 6 TB 7
Period 2
Berglund shot from the point hit the post! Wow, what a shot!
STL with a couple of chances on the PP, Rollie stands strong!
Berglund has been very good early this period. STL with a ton of pressure on the Bolts.
First Lightning shot of Period 2 happened at the 5:15 mark.
5:45 STL Penalty to B.J. Crombeen, 2-Min for Roughing
Martin St. Louis at the point now with Marc-Andre Bergeron. First unit got stuffed…great kill.
Phil Esposito (who I’m sitting next to during the broadcast) is way right. St. Louis is dominating the faceoff dots.
WOW….St. Louis should be up by 2….Vladimir Sobotka missed a wide….and I mean WIDE open net. Wasn’t Rollie’s fault…took a weird bounce.
10:24 Jaroslav Janus replaces Dwayne Roloson in Net. Rollie stops 8 of 9.
Janus makes a nice save near immediately. Looking more confident tonight than he looked in the scrimmage at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum.
12:46 STL Penalty to Barret Jackman, 2-Min for Tripping
Reaves (STL) with a shot off the post. Good PP movement by the Bolts once they settle in, but again, bad ice prevents good passing.
14:54 STL Penalty to Barret Jackman, 2-Min for Slashing
Let he who come out of the box immediately, go right back in!!!
15:30 TB Goal on the Power Play by Marc-Andre Bergeron from Bruno Gervais and Blair Jones. Bergeron and Gervais played pitch and catch a few times before the blast from the point beat Bishop. Connolly in front of Bishop applying a great screen (he’s 6’2″) and Gervais dodged a great poke check too! Got the crowd back in the game.
Chris Stewart is kicking himself because he missed a wide open net with Janus way out of the crease.
16:42 TB Penalty to Michel Ouellet, 2-Min for Slashing
17:55 STL Goal on the Power Play by Ian Cole from Chris Stewart and Evgeny Grachev. Cole blasted a shot from the point that beat Janus. In his defense, it looked like Marc-Andre Bergeron may have screened the young goalie.
Lecavalier may have gotten away with a hook. Bishop in net throws up his hands for the no call.
End of Period 2.
STL 2 TB 1 | Shots: STL 5 (11) TB 9 (16)
Impressive Blues thus far have been Ryan Reaves (who was on the receiving end of the Ohlund hit that got him kicked out) and Patrik Berglund. Norfolk Admiral’s Head Coach John Cooper has commented a few times how impressive Berglund looks. It’s completely true. He’s been a force.
Impressive Bolts thus far have been Bruno Gervais and Brett Connolly. Gervais is playing a ton because the Bolts are down a D-Man. He’s in that competition to be one of the 8 NHL Ready Defenseman to start the season in the Starting Lineup. He’s convincing me right now. He’s been solid defensively and looked good on the PP. Connolly, the 2010 First Rounder who’s trying to crack the lineup, is looking great. He’s been all over the place, making great passes, and his play down by the boards has been great. The screen on the PP Goal was some of his best of the night so far!
Period 3
Chris Stewart with another chance, this time a wrap around…Janus stood strong. Stewart looks good too tonight.
Bishop bobbles a puck at the other end. Connolly and Stamkos in on the play. Nearly a goal, got the fans on their feet.
6:54 STL Penalty to B.J. Crombeen, 2-Min for Hooking
Lecavalier nearly tipped in a Martin St. Louis pass in…Bishop may have made a really nice save…hard to tell if he got a piece of it or if it floated wide.
Janus made a couple great saves to stop any Shorthanded Opportunity. Made a really nice acrobatic glove save.
Connolly pass to the center is tipped in but the net comes off its moorings as the Bolt Forward went colliding into Bishop…was it after the puck went in…no word yet from the officials….
TB Goal on the Power Play by Cory Conacher from Brett Connolly and Marc-Andre Bergeron. Missed the time. Beautiful Pass by Connolly.
Gotta walk across the stadium. Only doing a Post Game Interview if we win. We’re tied right now…Lets just hope the Bolts get another…
STL Goal by Chris Stewart….don’t know the Assists.
Connolly comes off the ice with a skate problem. They need to rush him back because he’s been great tonight.
14:04 STL Penalty to Patrik Berglund, 2-Min for Hooking
Connolly gets back out right before the PP starts…he should see some time here.
14:41 TB Goal on the Power Play by Eric Brewer from Steven Stamkos and Vinny Lecavalier. Connolly would have had PP time but great job by Brewer to tie it up! He’s been really good.
With a few minutes left, the Defenseman look noticeably gassed. Remember there were only 5 guys on the Blue Line since around the midway mark of the First Period.
17:40 STL Goal by Adam Cracknell unassisted. Cracknell roofed one past Janus. Brewer was there but looked out of gas.
There it is…the Final, Blues win by a final of 4-3.
Three Stars:
1. Chris Stewart (STL)
2. Marc-Andre Bergeron (TB)
3. Ben Bishop (STL)
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What I took from the game:
The Coaching Staff and Front Office have a lot of work to do. They have 8 NHL Ready Defenseman (Bergeron, Brewer, Clark, Gervais, Gilroy, Hedman, Kubina, Ohlund) and have to figure out the Third and Fourth Lines. I’ve been really impressed by Brett Connolly, but 2009 1st Rounder Carter Ashton has impressed too. Have those guys earned a spot? Then you have Blair Jones, Michel Ouellet, Alex Picard, Tom Pyatt, Mattias Ritola, and Dana Tyrell all competing for a few spots.
Lines for September 23 against the Panthers
Roloson
Garon
Conacher – Lecavalier – Purcell
St. Louis – Stamkos – Connolly
Tyrell – Pyatt – Ashton
Ritola – Jones – Shannon
Hedman – Brewer
Clark – Gilroy
Bergeron – Kubina
I think this gives the staff a good opportunity to see what they have and if Connolly and Ashton can stick with the team. I expect a great effort.
5 Stories that Have me Buzzing this Offseason (Part 1)
The 2011-2012 NHL Offseason has been, interesting to say the least. Experts have said that this year’s UFA class was a little down, which is true, but don’t mistake that for a lack of talent in this UFA class. There may be only a handful of top talent, but there is a lot of dept available for the 30 teams.
July 1st is one of my favorite days of the calendar year. While it’s so exciting to follow things on Free Agent Frenzy, the offseason isn’t made in one day. Teams have to address their needs, target players, and crunch numbers.
This isn’t a video game. It isn’t fantasy. Fans get disillusioned with what is and isn’t possible. Teams have the cap to worry about, and some teams have budgets.
With all that taken into consideration, some teams perform well. They’ve prepared well, they’ve target players that fit needs, and they’ve gotten orders from their owners to spend freely, or spend frugally.
1. Washington Steals the Show
Literally, steals the show. The Caps are pretty good. The 10-11 Southeast Division Winners are still in a very winnable division, however, that isn’t their ultimate goal.
Even with one of the best players in hockey, the Capitals have been hardpressed to make it out of the first and second rounds in recent years. Call them, the San Jose Sharks of the East.
You needn’t take them seriously because they’ll crumble in the playoffs.
That may change beginning this season. The Capitals were spending freely, bringing in Joel Ward, Jeff Halpern, and Roman Hamrlik to shore up depth up front and back.
But the move of the century is Tomas Vokoun at 1 year/$1.5 mill. What a steal for a guy who should be making bank on a long term deal!
Preface that by trading Semyon Varlamov to Colorado for a first and second rounder (which in itself was solid).
Vokoun is one of the best in the league who put up great numbers on a terrible Panthers team.
This could just be what the Capitals ordered to make a deep playoff run, while giving Neuvirth and Holtby a chance to grow behind a great tender.
I say the Capitals have had the best offseason, but what say you? Any other steals?
This five part series will continue tomorrow, so check back for Part 2!