Tampa Bay Lightning Bolts Bits: Imama traded, Crunch in the Finals, more

The Tampa Bay Lightning are in full off-season mode, but the organization has been active off the ice and in the minors. The Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the Lightning, is back in the Calder Cup Finals for the second time in five seasons, and several prospects competed in the Memorial Cup this past weekend.

For some teams, the off-season has been underway for over a month, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are watching from the sidelines this year after missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. But despite the lack of on-ice action, there’s been plenty to keep track of within the organization.

In case you missed it, the Lightning’s AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch will play for the Calder Cup starting tomorrow at 7 p.m. The Crunch are set to face the Grand Rapids Griffins for a second time in the Finals and will look to avenge that loss from four years ago. It should be an exciting rematch for both sides. You can watch the entire series for free here.

The Tampa Bay Lightning made a “low key,” yet interesting move Wednesday, as the team traded unsigned forward Bokondji Imama to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional seventh round pick, which is technically the lowest a team can exchange. Imama was drafted 180th overall by the Lightning in the 2015 NHL Draft, and he enjoyed a breakout season with fellow teammate and prospect Mathieu Joseph and the QMJHL’s St. John Sea Dogs. He scored 41 goals and 55 points in 66 games, including 15 points in the playoffs.

On Monday, it was officially announced that the Lightning will host the 2018 NHL All-Star Game at Amalie Arena. The game and event festivities will take place on the weekend of Jan. 27-28, which also happens to be Gasparilla weekend, so we’ll see how that goes. Drunken pirates, beads, college students and hockey fans, all in one place! (If you’re not familiar with Gasparilla, check it out here). But, Tampa has hosted big events on the same weekend as Gasparilla, like Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.

Ticket information, special events, television broadcasting information and other details will be released at a later date. Lightning STMs will receive details on tickets and pricing and further details later in the summer.

Despite a very successful regular season, the Erie Otters, 2016-17 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) champions, fell short to the Windsor Spitfires (OHL) in the Memorial Cup this past weekend. Erie recorded a 50-15-2-1 season and finished with a plus-137 goal differential.

Tampa Bay Lightning prospects defenseman Erik Cernak, center Anthony Cirelli and winger Taylor Raddysh all played for the Otters this season. Cirelli and Raddysh both finished with awards, as the former was awarded the George Parsons Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player in the Memorial Cup, and the latter was awarded the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as one of the leading scorers in the Cup.

Toward the beginning of the 2017-18 regular season, the Lightning will participate in the annual rookie tournament, which will be held at Germain Arena in Estero, Florida this year. Tampa Bay hosted the tournament in Estero two years ago, and the tournament will feature prospects from the Lightning, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers. It will begin Saturday, September 9, and will be free and open to the public.

And if you’ve been following the Stanley Cup Final, which began earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins took a 2-0 series lead over the Nashville Predators following a 4-1 victory on home ice Wednesday night. The series now shifts to Nashville, and the Predators will look to get back into the series and avoid falling 0-3 to the defending Stanley Cup champions. Game 3 will be Saturday at 8 p.m.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch to play for Calder Cup

Stay tuned for more news and updates surrounding the Tampa Bay Lightning.