Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Stammer Update
Tampa Bay Lightning star center Steven Stamkos is still out indefinitely this season for the Bolts, but that’s not stopping him from doing all he can do during the rehabilitation period, to get back to the ice stronger and faster than ever.
Stamkos broke his right tibia during a Nov. 11 game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
Stammer will reportedly be wearing a removable cast that enables him to start rehab more “aggressively”, according to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos.
Hopefully, the 23-year old NHL star will be able to keep fit while rehabbing and healing. The 2013-14 season may be off the table, but there is still hope for Stammer to get healthy in time for the 2014 Sochi Olympic games where he had previously made the Canadian team.
An aggressive rehab could very well assist in that process.
And of course, whatever gets Stammer ready for Sochi, if he were in fact able to play, would get him just as ready for the 2014-15 season with the Lightning.
Marty plays 1,000th game against Kings
Tonight, when the Lightning take the ice against the Los Angeles Kings, Martin St. Louis will be playing in a game that many people early in his NHL career may have doubted being possible for the 5’8″, 180 pound undrafted right wing.
St. Louis is playing in his 1,000th NHL game.
There are only two other players taking the ice tonight at the Staples Center (10:30 PM eastern time) that even come close to Marty’s number: LA’s Robyn Regehr and Tampa Bay’s Eric Brewer who both have over 900 games.
Yzerman looking for trade to fill Stamkos void?
At the moment, it appears that general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning Steve Yzerman is being patient with the current lineup, but how long will that last?
Will Yzerman make a trade?
So far, Yzerman and head coach Jon Cooper have only called up forward J.T. Brown and defenseman Dmitry Korobov from the Lightning AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, to make up for the loss of Stamkos. As well as filling in for the injured Keith Aulie and Sami Salo.
Salo has subsequently returned to the Tampa Bay lineup, while Aulie is still out with a lower-body injury.
Brown recorded his first NHL goal on Nov. 16 against the Phoenix Coyotes, while Korobov has been off the bench with an injury, but Cooper has stated he hopes to see him back on the ice before the current road trip ends.
Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon listed Calgary’s Mike Cammalleri, Columbus’ Marian Gaborik and Montreal’s David Desharnais as possible trade options for the Lightning if Yzerman is in fact looking to make any.
At this moment in time though, the Lightning have yet to comment on the idea of a trade, but I wouldn’t be surprised to start hearing some stirrings on the matter soon, depending on how the current Pacific Division road trip goes.
All eyes on Tampa Bay
Through the first month and a half of the 2013-14 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning has probably had the quietest of hot starts around the league. The Bolts are at the top of the Atlantic Division, along with topping the Eastern Conference; but nobody seemed to really notice, not at first.
Not until number 91 went down.
Now all eyes are on Tampa Bay to see if the hot start was a fluke, the fruits of one player, or the result of a legitimate playoff team in the making.
Head coach Jon Cooper weighs in on the matter.
"People were just, maybe, beginning to say, ‘Wow, these guys are for real. And then 91 goes down, all of a sudden everybody is watching us. Everybody is waiting for the slipper to fall off the foot. That was our big message to the guys. We can be looked at as a one-man team or looked at as a team. I think the guys took a little bit of ownership with that. We’re a far better team with 91 in the lineup. Can’t stress that enough. But we’re a pretty good hockey team with or without him. The guys truly believe that."
Excluding last Saturday’s game against the Coyotes, the Lightning have been showing real gusto as a team scrambling to form new vision on the ice without number 91. The hope is that this new vision solidifies into something hard to beat.
The mission continues tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, a team the Bolts have already beat this year once (5-1 on Oct. 15 at home).