Tampa Bay Lightning Coach Rick Bowness ends skate after just 15 minutes

Tampa Bay Lightning Associate Coach Rick Bowness ended the Lightning’s optional skate this morning after just 15 minutes.

There are a lot of superstitions in the game of hockey. Some players always wear the same socks or put on their gear in the same manner, tape their sticks a certain way, listen to the same playlist, etc. At the same time, fans have their favorite jersey, the way they paint their faces, and much more.

So, it should come as no surprise the players and fans alike have their fair share of belief in signs, omens, and things of the like. Unfortunately, the bad juju seems to be making its way around the Bolts Nation this morning.

According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay Lightning Associate Coach Rick Bowness sent everyone back to the locker room and ended the Lightning’s optional skate after just 15 minutes. As one could easily imagine, this has sparked many questions among Lightning fans.

The Lightning definitely had momentum on their side up to this point after the way the team played on Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks. Could the two days off in between games been enough of a gap for this momentum to come to a halt? Have the players become complacent in their recent success?

There are so many questions which arise from this unexpected turn of events. Here are just a couple of examples of the comments making their way around the internet right now.

As most Lightning fans will recall, things didn’t exactly go well the first time the Tampa Bay Lightning met the New York Islanders this season. The Lightning got off to an incredibly slow start, and despite a strong comeback effort in the third period, it would become a classic case of “Too Little, Too Late.”

On Saturday night, Lightning fans were understandably confused as Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper made some unexpected changes to the lineup prior to game time. Surprising enough, these changes paid some pretty incredibly dividends and helped propel the Bolts to a much-needed victory over the Sharks.

One would hope the Lightning would want to capitalize on their momentum and even the score with the Islanders later tonight; however, the news of an early ending to the optional skate doesn’t exactly exude positivity as the clock ticks down to game time.

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Hopefully, Coach Bowness’ decision to end the optional skate early is to allow the Lightning to reset their minds and properly prepare for tonight’s game. There is no sense in moving forward when things are not progressing properly. Sometimes, pushing the envelope only ends in it being ripped to shreds.