Goalies Get Practice and Get Psyched: Goalie Chris Mason, who was traded to the Blues during the off-season, seems like a pretty cool guy. Mason is back in goaltending school, trying to sharpen his skills. I know guys work with trainers and coaches during the off-season,...... , posted on July 10, 2008 more

The Great Wrong Buffalo: As I mentioned yesterday, it can be tough for certain teams to draw free agents. Add Buffalo to the list of teams that players avoid, as Bucky Gleason pointed out yesterday. Buffalo is close to Canada, which should make it...... , posted on July 08, 2008 more

Boyle: 'Even Though I'm Not a Stay-at-Home Defenseman, I Kind of Want to Stay at Home. In Tampa...': More and more, it sounds like the Lightning really are about to trade Dan Boyle. Erik Eriendsson is the latest to say he thinks the Lightning will try to move Boyle, assuming Boyle waives his no-trade clause. Eriendsson reminds us...... , posted on July 03, 2008 more

No Agent is Truly Free: OK. So I'm so overwhelmed with free-agent signings and trades that I really can't even process anything. I just don't know where to begin, so I'm going to start with the signings that seems downright crazy to me. Let's start...... , posted on July 02, 2008 more

Lightning Strikes Twice in the Same Place: It was just about two years ago that the Lightning signed Brad Richards to a five-year, $39 million contract, on the strength of his performance in Tampa's 2004 Stanley Cup run. Richards, while talented and versatile, doesn't have great offensive...... , posted on July 01, 2008 more

Bouwmeester: 'Can Someone Describe the Post-Season to Me?': Steve Zipay has an interesting item: "With the trade of Olli Jokinen, a person close to Jay Bouwmeester told Newsday that the defenseman wants out of Florida. Unsure whether — or when — the Rangers can get him here, but...... , posted on June 26, 2008 more

NHL Keeps on Waiving and Trading: The Flyers continue to revamp their defense, trading for Janne Niskala from Nashville. Unlike previous seasons, Philadelphia doesn't seem to be going after the big free-agent names (although we'll see what happens with that next week). Instead, the Flyers, who...... , posted on June 25, 2008 more

What's So Free About Free Agency?: There are some very interesting players in this year's free-agent crop. New York Ranger Sean Avery is expected to hit the open market, with Avery supposedly asking for between $3 and $4 million per year. Now I don't know what...... , posted on June 24, 2008 more

Tampa: 'Hey Flyers! Do You Want Insurance on that Rental?': I don't know if anyone in the NHL head office is actively looking for a new project, but if anyone is, he should look into boomerang trades (where an NHL team trades a player away, only for the player to...... , posted on June 19, 2008 more

Game Seven Tonight — Game Eight Friday?: I'm thinking of calling Monday/Tuesday's game five 'game five/six', since it pretty much went six periods. I'm not sure if it will confuse people, though. Chuck Finder had a great piece looking at what the Penguins did between all of...... , posted on June 04, 2008 more

Detroit Obstructionists?: So Detroit is one game away from winning the Cup, it seems. Saturday's win over the Penguins was pretty convincing. Detroit was faster, smarter, calmer, and more disciplined. It's really as simple as that. I watched the game at a...... , posted on June 02, 2008 more

Longer Season, More Golf?: The NHL is crazy if it's really considering a longer schedule. Is the 82-game season somehow not grueling enough? The only way this makes sense is as a cap workaround. Like it's two more games for "retired" players to re-sign...... , posted on March 17, 2008 more

Huet Who?: OK. I think this is it for trade deadline stuff. I've just been slow going through all of it. Much like the rest of the hockey world, Caps goalie Olie Kolzig's agent is a little confused as to why the...... , posted on February 29, 2008 more

Trading Places: Is it me or is trade deadline day exhausting? And I didn't have to pack, unlike a lot of NHLers. Apparently my 2001-Avs-Reunion-Is-Not-Happening theory was a bit off. In addition to Peter Forsberg, Colorado also re-acquired defenseman Adam Foote. I...... , posted on February 27, 2008 more

KC Blues: When I first read former Panthers coach Doug MacLean was part of the group buying the Tampa Lightning, my first thought was that the Bolts were out of Florida. George Richards says they're staying put, though. I was kind of...... , posted on August 08, 2007 more

Adios, Captain Dave: Remember last week? A rumor (or rumour, since it was from Canada) went around that Tampa had placed captain Dave Andreychuk on waivers. GM Jay Feaster seemed upset: "He was not [placed on waivers]...I can clearly tell you that," he...... , posted on January 11, 2006 more

PuckUpdate: The Lightning and Penguins Are Two Different Teams: Ooops. I bit on an ESPN pump fake. Or I'm not a careful reader. Either way, I posted something about goalie Sean Burke signing with Pittsburgh. Burke went to Tampa, telling the Penguins 'no thank you.'. But if he had...... , posted on August 10, 2005 more

Carnival of the NHL #3: Welcome Carnival of the NHL #3. I'm Steve Ovadia. You might remember me from blogs like PuckUpdate and PopUpdate Daily. Today, I'll be your host as I take you around the hockey blogosphere, from its beautiful hair, to its seamy...... , posted on July 29, 2005 more

Tampa Gets Rings. No One Notices: Nice! The Tampa Bay Lightning get their Stanley Cup rings (in an NHL office, of course) and this is the Tampa Tribune's Lightning page (although it's a bit grainy): Not a word about it. Nothing says love like when the...... , posted on November 16, 2004 more

CHL Grabs NHLers: Wow. So as the NHL extends the lockout into December, players are getting a little antsy. Some are even signing on to play in the CHL. Good guys, too. Guys like Brenden Morrow from the Stars and Brad Lukowich from...... , posted on October 20, 2004 more

Prospal Strikes Lightning Twice: So last summer the Tampa Bay Lightning saw Vaclav Prospal abruptly split for the Mighty Ducks. He left so quickly, no one was even sure where he went. Now, about a year or so later, he's just as suddenly back...... , posted on August 17, 2004 more

Cup Sleepy: The Stanley Cup finals were dull. There. I said it. Except for the last 10 minutes of game seven, when Calgary was trying to tie it, and the Vinny Lecavalier-Jarome Iginla fight, it wasn't one of my favorite finals. Both...... , posted on June 11, 2004 more

Tampa Remembers Their Past: Brad Richards is a pretty class guy. He's been talking to the media about how Phil Esposito and Rick Dudley, both former Tampa GMs, were instrumental in Tampa's winning the Stanley Cup this season. Esposito and Dudley both created a...... , posted on June 09, 2004 more

Andreychuck Cautiously Happy: Do I even need to say that Tampa won the Stanley Cup? Well just in case, I will. Tampa won the Stanley Cup. Or, conversely, if your Cup is half empty, Calgary lost the Cup. It was a pretty dull...... , posted on June 08, 2004 more

Fraser's Back: Referee Kerry Fraser, bounced from calling game six of the Stanley Cup finals by the NHL, will work game seven. Fraser caused some controversy in game four when he gave Tampa a two-man powerplay early in the first. While conventional...... , posted on June 07, 2004 more

Flame Pressure: How much of this year's Stanley Cup finals has been played off the ice? Calgary coach Darryl Sutter talking about anti-Canadian conspiracies. And Tampa coach John Tortorella talking about how tough it would be for Calgary to win on home...... , posted on June 07, 2004 more

Fraser Layoff?: Wow. The NHL is actually thinking about not letting Kerry Fraser work Saturday's game six. Fraser was last seen reffing game four, where he enforced the rules rather aggressively. In fact, the whole series has been called kind of intensely....... , posted on June 03, 2004 more

Got Tongue?: So you're going to a Stanley Cup finals game. You're excited. You're pumped. You're psyched. What are you going to bring with you? Snacks. Of course. Who can afford to eat in any kind of arena. A flask. Sure. You...... , posted on June 02, 2004 more

Flames Need to Keep Tampa Cool: Wow. If we could somehow get the Calgary Flames from Tuesday night playing the Tampa Lightning from last night, we'd have quite a game. The Lightning beat the Flames 4-1 in game two. The game was a lot closer than...... , posted on May 28, 2004 more

Flames Have Fun: There are a few reasons you can say Calgary toppled Tampa Bay 4-1 in game one of the Finals, last night. Calgary had a slightly hotter goalie. Tampa didn't get the bounces. Tampa's defense was sloppy, as it's been so...... , posted on May 26, 2004 more

Flames Rest and Rock: It's the eternal playoff question across most sports: is rest helpful or harmful? The Calgary Flames, off since last Thursday, are hoping it's helpful while realizing they've gotten a little a rusty in the past few days. I would think...... , posted on May 24, 2004 more

Lecavalier Succeeds in Failure: Going this deep into the playoffs might be the best thing that ever happened to Tampa's Vinny Lecavalier. Prior to this series, he was best known as a talented-if-lazy player who tended to disappear when it counted. About the only...... , posted on May 21, 2004 more

Flyers Win the Cup! Or They Did. 30 Years Ago.: Tonight the Flyers are simply trying to extend their series with Tampa one more game. Then it becomes a best of one series. Who knows if Flyers GM Bobby Clarke, never the most balanced fellow, talked to the team about...... , posted on May 20, 2004 more

Sloppy Play Finally Shocks Bolts: It's not really shocking the Flyers beat Tampa Saturday. It's shocking it took so long. As good as Tampa's been, they've had long, long periods of sloppy play. In the first round series against the Islanders, goalie Nikolai Khabibulin kept...... , posted on May 17, 2004 more

The Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day: I've never been the biggest Vinny Lecavalier fan. I've always thought he's lazy and one-dimensional. And he is. But geez. How amazing was his third period goal? He was typically out of position, chilling near the red line when Martin...... , posted on May 14, 2004 more

Here Comes Your 2nd Nervous Breakdown: Phil Sheridan credits Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock with the Flyers huge 6-2 win last night. Specifically, he credits Hitchcock's insulating John LeClair from the media's criticism and putting Sami Kapanen, my favorite Flyer, back on the blue line, where he's...... , posted on May 11, 2004 more

Lecavalier Thriving: Tampa's up two games to none over the Canadiens. They beat them 3-1 yesterday. Vinny Lecavalier, who looked pretty useless against the Islanders in the first round, is on fire against Montreal. He's got four goals in two games. At...... , posted on April 26, 2004 more

Khabi Sharp Again: Just for fun, check out this preview of Islanders-Lightning: Tampa's current goaltending situation has its roots in last year's playoff loss to the Devils. As Tampa went down to New Jersey three games to one, Lightning coach John Tortorella decided...... , posted on April 09, 2004 more

Tortorella In Trouble?; Flyers Still Not Ready to Say Uncle on Goalie: Hot on the heels of my post that Lightning coach John Tortorella is safe and sound in Tampa comes a New York Post report that Tortorella has fallen out of favor with management. The Post claims Tortorella's in-your-face style has...... , posted on January 05, 2004 more

Lecavalier and Tortorella: The Odd Couple: Is it me or have Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier and coach John Tortorella been fighting for ages? Their most recent dust-up was over Tortorella benching the very sensitive Lecavalier for not doing his part in the defensive zone. Lecavalier complained...... , posted on December 31, 2003 more

Lecavalier Unhappy. Again.: I guess everyone kind of knew deep down that it was only a matter of time before Tampa's Vinnie Lecavalier was fighting with team management. That time is now. Coach John Tortorella benched him Saturday against Atlanta when he wasn't...... , posted on December 05, 2003 more

Penguins Destroyed in Tampa: Are the Penguins that bad or are the Lighning that good? The truth is somewhere in between. Tampa Bay took down the Penguins 9-0 Saturday night. That's a score so lopsided, you can't believe the Lightning are really that good....... , posted on November 10, 2003 more

The Morning After: Tampa Bay is in mourning. How come? They finally lost, after going lossless in their first eight games. Coach John Tortorella is trying to keep the team on an even keel. The only bad thing about a huge winning streak...... , posted on November 07, 2003 more

Checking Out Dingman: Do you remember Chris Dingman? He's not exactly a household name, but the Tampa Lightning Bolt was downright treacherous in the playoffs against New Jersey. Every time he played a shift, you had no idea what would happen. He checked,...... , posted on October 16, 2003 more

Khabibulin: 'I'm a Goalie, Not a Debater': This is weird. I hadn't heard it. Apparently, when Tampa coach John Tortorella benched goalie Nikolai Khabibulin for their fifth and final playoff game against the Devils, he was just trying to provoke Khabibulin into getting mad and demanding the...... , posted on October 13, 2003 more

Stillman Working Out for Bolts...So Far: Good news for the Lightning. New acquisition Cory Stillman seems to be working out on Vincent Lecavalier's left side. I'm assuming coach John Tortorella kept Martin St. Louis on the right. Now if only the Lightning could get some offense...... , posted on September 15, 2003 more

Mystery Team: So the Tampa Bay Lightning, who really rode one line into the playoffs, lost a third of that one line. Vinny Prospal signed with another team: either the Ducks or the Thrashers. No one is sure yet. Very mysterious. I...... , posted on July 14, 2003 more

A Good Night to be a Duck or a Devil: I don't know about you, but if I took a slapshot to the face, I'd want a few days off of work. Not New Jersey Devil Scott Stevens. He gets hit in the face with a slapshot, and he gets...... , posted on May 01, 2003 more

Burns Burns as Brodeur's World Turns: Jim Kelley weighs in on the Martin Brodeur drama. He astutely points out that maybe there's a reason Pat Burns is freaking out about that line change the refs wouldn't allow, that left the Devils a defenseman short long enough...... , posted on April 30, 2003 more

Safe is Death; Ducks Finally Lose: Safe is death. That's been Tampa's mantra during this series with New Jersey. It's even written on the wall of their locker room. The point it's supposed to make is that they have to move and shoot the puck. It's...... , posted on April 29, 2003 more

Lightning Strikes: Wow. Tampa Bay clinched. Washington just isn't very good at the playoffs, are they? This series was the fourth time they've blown a two-game lead since 1992. It couldn't help that the Caps were using Jaromir Jagr's line to shut-down...... , posted on April 21, 2003 more

Guest Blogger: PuckUpdate has never hid from controversy. From our controversial "Groin Kick" promotions to our pioneering use of invisible ink, PuckUpdate has always been at the forefront of controversy. Today, PuckUpdate continues that tradition by allowing Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed...... , posted on April 11, 2003 more

Tampa Smiles: Tampa Bay is still trying to get their lines together. Is it me, or did teams used to do that during the regular season? Of course since this is Tampa Bay's first trip to the playoffs in seven years, maybe...... , posted on April 09, 2003 more

Ducks Clinch, Bolts Clinch, Pinch Me: Hmmm. That's odd. I'm sober and drug-free, yet I'm about to write that both Tampa Bay and the Mighty Ducks clinched playoff spots. OK. I'm back. Sorry. I had to get up and see if the streets were opening up...... , posted on March 26, 2003 more

Too Hard to Explain: SportsLine.com's Wes Goldstein has some good scoop on the John Grahame to Tampa trade. One scenario has Grahame, left wing Fredrik Modin and/or Pavel Kubina going to the Isles for Roman Hamrlik. The Isles would move their goalie, Chris Osgood,...... , posted on January 15, 2003 more

Tampa Schools Detroit: I know I'm a little bit late on this one, but I can't believe Tampa Bay beat Detroit 1-0. I know it's only one game, but it really shows the potential in the Lightning. If they add some grit and...... , posted on January 09, 2003 more

Lightning Strikes Out: The NHL is all about the fast start. Tampa Bay had one and now they're entrenched atop the Eastern Conference, despite the fact that they seem to have stopped playing defense. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 44 shots against Toronto, as...... , posted on December 05, 2002 more

Bitter: Talk about an accurate headline. The Toronto Sun had "Bitter Ciger bolts NHL." And bitter is the right word. Zdeno Ciger, who played in the NHL for New Jersey, New York, Edmonton, and Tampa, is very vocal about his problems...... , posted on December 02, 2002 more

Player of the Week: Nikolai Khabibulin, my favorite goalie, is the NHL's Player of the Week. He's a real workhorse, too. He's seeing tons of shots and tons of ice time. In fact, Khabibulin's and Devil goalie Martin Brodeur are on the ice so...... , posted on November 19, 2002 more

PuckUpdate Jinx?: Uh oh. I hope there's no PuckUpdate Jinx like the Sports Illustrated jinx, where players who appear on the cover end up injured. Yesterday I wrote about how well Vincent Lecavalier is doing so far this season, and now it...... , posted on October 22, 2002 more

Lightning Strikes: How many seasons have started with the old "Will this be the season Vincent Lecavalier reaches his potential" stories? I don't know. Too many. But Tampa Bay is undefeated and looking good. Way back in March 2001, Lecavalier, the Lightning's...... , posted on October 21, 2002 more

Good at Something: The Tampa Bay Lightning are finally winning. Well not really the Lightning, but their mascot, ThunderBug. He's the first North American mascot to participate in the British Mascot Grand National Race. ThunderBug came in 9th out of 110 mascots. No...... , posted on October 08, 2002 more