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It worked the last time we did it, Tampa Bay, now it’s time to do it again. Whether or not you’re going to the game, you can still take part in the We Believe rally. Bring a sign, a flag, a rally drum, or just yourself in Bolts colors to the East side of the building where the gate is by the players parking lot. Let’s show the guys support as they drive in for tomorrow night’s game. They will see it, and they do appreciate it. In the words of Coach Boucher,  “I am not one of those people that [...]

Every NHL season brings with it discussions from a variety of sources, inside and outside the league, about rules and regulations. If any one were to mention the “trapezoid” or “shoot outs” to me, the result would be the addition of the word “heated” to any such discussion. One topic arises often in today’s NHL that confounds enough people often enough to prompt this post today. Many of the hockey loving variety are vocal in their discontentment with the notion that both a “diving” (or embellishment) penalty and a “tripping” (or similar, check out “slew footing” and others listed here just for [...]

Coming off a hard-earned overtime win against the Southeast Division-leading Washington Capitals, the Tampa Bay Lightning look to extend their season-high five game winning streak to six games as they host one of the teams they are trailing in the division–the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg comes into Tampa flying high also after recording a shootout win, 2-1, in Philadelphia Tuesday night. For the Lightning, Mathieu Garon will be back in net following his nice performance in the Bolts overtime win over the Caps Tuesday night. It’s expected that the Jets will start Ondrej Pavelec. The last time these two teams met [...]

Daughter of Lightning founder and NHL Hall Of Famer Phil Esposito, Carrie Esposito Selivanov, passed away on Monday, January 30, 2012 from an unknown illness. She passed away in Germany where she was residing with her family. She leaves behind her husband, former NHLer and  Tampa Bay Lightning player Alex Selivanov, and  three children, Dylan (18), Nikko (13) and Rocco (10). Phil Esposito released a statement this evening regarding his daughter’s passing: “On behalf of Alex Selivanov, Carrie’s sisters Laurie and Cherise, and my wife Bridget, I’d like to thank everyone in the Tampa Bay community and in the hockey fraternity [...]

Are you one of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s most enthusiastic fans? I will be doing a series where I feature some of Tampa’s best Lightning fans. If you would like to be interviewed, please send an email explaining why you think you should be featured to: Dolly Dolce FanSidedBoltsByTheBay@gmail.com

Steven Stamkos seems to be feeling a lot more relaxed now after the All-Star break than before it. Before all of the festivities, he seemed somewhat nervous about the game, especially the skills. After doing pretty badly in the accuracy shooting (3 hits in 40+ secs) Stamkos stole the show and beat Price twice (no poetic scheme intended) and Tim Thomas once to go a perfect 3 for 3, eliminating Buffalo’s Pomminville to win the elimination shootout event. Stammer said he didn’t really have a set strategy in the shootout. He skated in and reacted “on instinct”. Obviously, that worked [...]

Now that the NHL All Star weekend has shown us that Zedeno Chara might have to register his shot as a deadly weapon and that the Lightning’s own Steven “Elimination Shout Out King” Stamkos “just went with it” by giving fans and players alike a good reason for wearing a backwards baseball hat, we can enjoy one more night away from the 82-game regular season grind. Tomorrow, however, will be another day and the Bolts collective will gather together again getting back to work with a late afternoon practice in Brandon, FL. The next scheduled regular season game on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at [...]

The NHL All Star Weekend is upon us and already there have been events surrounding the games and skills competition trending mercilessly in the circles that build the picture of professional hockey. Surely, this news of an Ovechkin-less weekend and this news of “Couture Comes Last” have already been pile-driven into the fleeting zeitgeist of we who bow to the whims of the Hockey Gods more quickly than one NHLer can skate or send a puck to the net via stick. The All Star activities are, for the likes of me anyway, a chance to take a miniscule break from the [...]