Tampa Bay Lightning Rumors & News

NHL.com "Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning have been named the finalists for the 2013 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly..." May 16

Tampa Tribune "The Tampa region can expect to see a lot more of Lightning owner Jeff Vinik in the coming years. Vinik may be shutting down his namesake hedge fund, but rather than go into seclusion, he plans a host of new projects around town, from developing the neighborhood around the Forum where his hockey..." May 11

Tampa Tribune "Tampa Bay Lightning forward Marty St. Louis is a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually to the National Hockey League's most outstanding player as voted upon by members of the NHL Players' Association. Other finalists for the 2012-13 award announced Thursday by the NHLPA were center..." May 11

NHL.com "The National Hockey League moved closer to an agreement to send its players to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia during a meeting in Stockholm on Friday. The meeting included representatives from the NHL, National Hockey League Players' Association, International Olympic Committee,..." May 10

NHL.com "Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning were announced Thursday as the finalists for the 2013 Ted Lindsay Award. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL, as voted by fellow..." May 09

Tampa Tribune "Though the NHL entry draft is more than a month away, the Tampa Bay Lightning scouting staff will begin the process of finalizing its list of the top available players. This week, Lightning director of scouting Al Murray and director of amateur scouting Darryl Plandowski will meet with the..." May 07

NHL.com "The Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to terms with center Cedric Paquette on a three-year, entry-level contract today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced. Paquette also signed an AHL ATO for the remainder of the season. Paquette, 6-foot, 187 pounds, played in 63 games with..." May 05

Tampa Tribune "Lightning hockey team owner Jeff Vinik is shutting down the hedge fund that he manages from Tampa, and is returning remaining money to his outside investors. Lightning officials confirmed the closure, and said the move should have no impact on the team or operations at the Forum where they..." May 04

Tampa Bay Times "Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman understands their is impatience with the team's lack of success. But that does not mean abandoning his long-term plan. "I'm not going to be held to timelines," he said this week. "These things take time and we’re going to be patient and we’re going to try..." May 02

NHL.com "By finishing with the fewest points in the regular season, the Florida Panthers had the best chance to land the No. 1 pick at the 2013 NHL Draft in June. But, on Monday, the Colorado Avalanche were the ones smiling. Colorado (16-25-7) was the winner of the 2013 Scotiabank NHL Draft Lottery..." April 29

NHL.com "The 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs will open Tuesday in Chicago with a matchup between the Presidents' Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild, who were the last team to clinch a playoff berth. The NHL released the playoff schedule Sunday night and it includes three Game 1s on..." April 29

CBSSports.com "Martin St. Louis made history. The 37-year old Lightning center became the oldest player to win the league scoring title, finishing with a goal and an assist in Tampa Bay's 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers in the season finale for two non-playoff teams on Saturday night. St. Louis won the..." April 28

Boston Globe "In each of the last two postseasons, Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg have skated together as the Bruins’ shutdown duo. Based on their coupling in Thursday’s 2-0 blanking of the Lightning before 17,565 at TD Garden, it’s a good bet the strongmen will be back together again when the playoffs..." April 26

Tampa Tribune "The playoff race for the Lightning ended long ago, but the scoring race is heating up. Marty St. Louis notched his seventh career hat trick to gain the league scoring lead in Tampa Bay’s 5-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday in front of an announced crowd of 18,826 at The..." April 25

Tampa Tribune "When the Lightning acquired Keith Aulie from Toronto at the trade deadline last season, Tampa Bay hoped the 6-foot-6 defenseman would bring some size to the its backline and develop into a shutdown defender. Aulie has the tools to do that and more. Though he continues to be a work in..." April 24

Tampa Bay Times "The first period of the Lightning's 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday was so embarrassing, coach Jon Cooper delivered a strong message between periods in the locker room. How players perform this week as the team wraps up the season will not be forgotten as he formulates his plan for next..." April 24

NHL.com "The team holding the top pick in the 2013 NHL Draft will need to consider one important question prior to stepping to the podium to announce its selection on June 30 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. What do we need right now? Is it a poised and polished minute-munching, two-way..." April 24

Tampa Tribune "With the Lightning playing out the final week of the season, there are three races to keep an eye on involving Tampa Bay. Will Marty St. Louis take the lead in the scoring race? Can Steven Stamkos storm back for the goal-scoring lead? Exactly how far down the standings will the..." April 22

NHL.com "In celebration of Earth Day, NHL Green has teamed up with Sterling Planet, the United States' leading retail provider of environmental assets for corporate, utility and government clients, to attempt to mitigate the environmental impact of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the second..." April 22

Tampa Bay Times "Safe to say that if Marty St. Louis wanted to play for Canada in next month's world championship, the right wing, whose 42 assists lead the league and whose 55 points are second, would have a spot. But St. Louis said he will pass on the tournament in Sweden and Finland because it is time to..." April 22

Tampa Tribune "To see signs of confidence from an NHL rookie, look no further than Richard Panik’s spin move at the top of the crease Thursday in his first game in Montreal. The 22-year-old, in his 22nd game of the season with the Lightning, took a pass from Victor Hedman and pulled the puck from his backhand..." April 20

Tampa Bay Times "Being an NHL goaltenders coach is not a high-profile job. Work is done before team practices, when goalies refine technique and positioning. Perhaps a teammate helps out by taking a few shots. But when it comes to Lightning goaltenders coach Frantz Jean, the spotlight is about to shine..." April 20

Montreal Gazette "The skinny: Brian Gionta scored his second goal of the night on a power play with 46.6 seconds remaining in regulation time to give the Canadiens a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night at the Bell Centre. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Canadiens. Vinnie..." April 19

Tampa Tribune "The Lightning can't hit with runners on. The Rays need better goaltending. Wait, that's wrong. I'm getting our lousy local teams confused. Back to the Bolts, and something I just can't get out of my head: Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos and Marty St. Louis - or Marty St. Louis and Steven..." April 18

Tampa Tribune "As another disappointing NHL season winds down, the Lightning are looking for encouraging signs. Alex Killorn comes quickly to mind. When new Lightning coach Jon Cooper talks about his 23-year-old rookie forward, he can't help but smile. The playoff chase appears to be a lost cause..." April 18

Tampa Bay Times "The best thing about rookie right wing Pierre-Cedric Labrie, his Lightning teammates say, is he can laugh at himself. Take his shock of thick, curly red hair he sometimes tames with an elastic band. "If I don't take care of my head, it will just be a big Afro and everybody is laughing at..." April 18

Tampa Tribune "Three days after a puck shattered his visor, C Nate Thompson returned to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup Tuesday looking no worse for wear. Thompson was hit by a Mike Green slap shot near his right eye during the first period of Saturday's overtime loss to the Capitals in Washington. The..." April 17

Winnipeg Free Press "If you were scratching your head with Claude Noel's shootout picks on Tuesday night, you weren't for long. The Winnipeg Jets coach chose centre Mike Santorelli, snatched from waivers from Florida just two weeks ago, in the second slot and the 27-year-old centre..." April 17

ESPN.com "The NHL is in the final planning stages of its much-anticipated series of outdoor stadium games next season with six outdoor contests set to take place in football and baseball stadiums across North America, sources familiar with the plan confirmed to ESPN.com Tuesday. The series will start..." April 17

Winnipeg Free Press "It was a night of euphoria and desperation, of angst and, ultimately for the Winnipeg Jets, relief and pure joy. Chasing a coveted spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Jets served up a little bit of everything to their loyal faithful Tuesday night -- heart rates were spiking and sinking all..." April 17

Hockey Fights "The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed goaltender Ben Bishop to a two-year contract extension today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced. Bishop, 6-foot-7, 214 pounds, has played in six games with the Lightning after being acquired from the Ottawa Senators at the April 3..." April 15

Washington Post "Twenty-six minutes into Saturday night’s game at Verizon Center the Washington Capitals appeared unstoppable. In possession of a four-goal lead against a wayward Tampa Bay Lightning squad, the Caps were cruising toward their seventh consecutive victory. Then the Capitals lost sight of their..." April 14

Tampa Tribune "Brett Connolly drifted back ever so slightly, found a small seam above the crease and, as the puck came to his stick, picked the top far corner and drilled a shot into that exact location. A goal-scorer’s goal, from a natural goal scorer. “He put that in a short area, put it top shelf where..." April 13

NHL.com "The National Hockey League Players' Association and the National Hockey League today announced a historic partnership with the You Can Play Project that formalizes and advances their long-standing commitment to make the NHL the most inclusive professional sports league in the world. "The NHL..." April 12

TSN.ca "The National Hockey League's meeting with officials from the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation wrapped up in New York City Friday with more work needed to be done. "We had a good working session and were able to discuss all of the issues involved in the..." April 12

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "It was just over a week ago that Carolina, which has become little more than an afterthought in the Eastern Conference playoff race, decided it didn't have a use for Jussi Jokinen. His greatest value, management concluded, would be by departing in a trade to open some future salary-cap space,..." April 12

Tampa Tribune "At age 17, when most future NHL players in Canada are gearing up for their draft year, Pierre-Cedric Labrie worked overnight shifts at a convenience store after being cut by the Quebec Remparts, a major junior team. On Tuesday, almost nine years later, Labrie celebrated his first NHL goal in..." April 11

Tampa Bay Times "The Lightning is not going to make the playoffs, and, in the long run, that's a good thing. No one, of course, over at the Tampa Bay Times Forum is going to admit that. They aren't going to admit that the playoffs are out of reach, and they certainly aren't going to admit that it's a good..." April 10

Tampa Tribune "Out since suffering a left shoulder injury March 18, Ryan Malone was back in the lineup for the Lightning on Tuesday after missing nine games. It was somewhat surprising that Malone was able to return quickly from the injury suffered on a hit from Philadelphia's Zac Rinaldo. As of last week,..." April 10

Tampa Tribune "Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop ran through quite the spectrum of emotions the past seven days. Heading into the seventh day, he admitted those emotions were at a peak as he prepared to face off against his former team, less than a week after being traded to Tampa Bay from Ottawa. “I..." April 10

Tampa Tribune "The math says Tampa Bay still has a chance at the playoffs. Logic dictates otherwise. But as long as there is a fighting chance, the Lightning say there is plenty of fight in them. “We are not thinking we are out of it, so we are not going to quit,’’ goaltender Ben Bishop said. “There are..." April 09

Tampa Tribune "The official end of Mattias Ohlund's career appears near. After two knee operations in the past 18 months and hundreds of hours spent doing rehab and workouts, the 36-year-old said he is no closer to being able to get back on skates to resume his career. The most logical step would be to..." April 08

Tampa Bay Times "It didn't take Ben Bishop long to get thrown into the fire. One day after being acquired from the Senators for Cory Conacher and a fourth-round draft pick, Bishop gets the start in net tonight against the Hurricanes at PNC Arena. "I think so," coach Jon Cooper said. "He's rested. He's a good..." April 04

Tampa Tribune "It was the height of irony, and we mean height. Wednesday afternoon, former Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher spoke publicly for the first time since he was fired by Bolts GM Steve Yzerman. Oh, and about 15 minutes before that, the Lightning announced that they'd traded for … a..." April 04

Tampa Tribune "In the first public appearance since his dismissal 10 days ago, former Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher lavished praise on the organization and denied any friction with general manager Steve Yzerman on the direction of the struggling franchise. “I wanted to let my emotions settle down and..." April 04

Buffalo News "Cory Conacher, the former Canisius star who was named MVP of the AHL last season, is on his way to Ottawa. Tampa has dealt the forward to the Senators, along with a fourth-round pick, in exchange for goaltender Ben Bishop. The Sabres host Ottawa on Friday. The 23-year-old Conacher has nine..." April 03

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel "Perhaps Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon should stop taking phone calls from his scavenger-like brethren with the trade deadline looming at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Because Tallon's long-stated philosophy that he has no intention of breaking up his young, injury-riddled, last-place team in this..." April 03

TSN.ca "The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Adam Hall and a seventh round draft pick. The 32-year-old Bergeron has played in 12 games this season, posting one goal and four assists. In 477 career regular season games, Bergeron has..." April 02