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Thompson’s Teddy Bear Toss Goal and the Mid-season Lull

Listen to “Thompson's Teddy Bear Toss Goal and the Mid-season Lull” on Spreaker.

Taylor Thompson joins the show after his Teddy Bear Toss goal! We’ll ask him about his quick stint in Europe earlier this season and what it was like to re-join the Solar Bears locker room after the tough start to the season.

Eugene Helfrick from TheHockeyWriters.com jumps on the line as we continue to try and dissect the Tampa Bay Lightning and their inconsistent season thus far. Is it all part of the plan? Are they waiting to flip the switch and get hot?

Bryan has a concern. He’s feeling the mid-season lull. Is that a normal thing? Luckily, Eric was part of pro-hockey locker rooms…and he shares some surprising information about the lull in the locker room.

Tyler Bird, Bolts in Sweden and Lazlo Holmes!

Listen to “Tyler Bird, Bolts in Sweden and Lazlo Holmes!” on Spreaker.

Hockey Now is BACK! The Solar Bears had their traditional School Day game, with the largest attendance in Solar Bears History, a game where Tyler Bird picked up his first goal as a Solar Bear. Tyler jumps on a call to talk about his time with the team so far, his NHL Development experience and the Everblades/Solar Bears Rivalry.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are in Sweden for the Global Series, a pair of games with the Buffalo Sabres at the Globe! Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin and other Swedish-born NHL stars return to their homeland to play, but are these games more important than the other Global Series games? Plus – a trip away doesn’t hide the Bolts early season woes. What is the problem? Bryan knows.

Lazlo Holmes. Chance the Rapper. An SNL skit that is taking the Hockey World by viral storm. Do you like it? Are you a crotchety traditionalist? Someone on the show is…to no surprise! Also, the next chapter of the Evander Kane story is a can of worms for the NHL, at a time when the league is embracing gambling. Dangerous? Maybe! Eric, though, isn’t surprised the guys would hit the tables, but with conditions.

Thunderstruck…In A Bad Way

Isn’t it kind of appropriate, for an area that’s used to the weather patterns we are, that we get a really intense and potentially dangerous storm that attacks with fierce precision, multiple threats, and no sign of slowing down…

…and before long…

…it just…fizzles out.

That’s pretty much exactly what happened to the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.

Record setting point and win totals. Personal accolades. Team dominance. Not only did they clinch a playoff spot in incredible time, but they clinched the PRESIDENT’S TROPHY, the award that goes to the top point getting team in the league for the Regular Season, before ANY OTHER TEAM in the Eastern Conference clinched a playoff spot.

Now, if you’re new to Hockey, understand, it’s widely known that the Presidents Trophy is the kiss-of-death of all kisses-of-death in the sport. You don’t win the Season and then cake walk to the Cup. There is no cake walk to the Cup. There is a reason it’s said that the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy in sports to win, and it keeps being proven right.

When the Lightning sprinted out to a 3-0 lead after the first period in Game 1, it couldn’t have felt more obvious that the Bolts would simply handle the Columbus Blue Jackets. But what came was the proverbial egg on the face of the Lightning. Underwhelming efforts from their stars, which included most importantly, the offensive crown jewel of the team, Nikita Kucherov, who’s Art Ross effort (Most Points in a season) is just not that impressive anymore, clearly showing his emotions at the end of Game 2, with frustrated actions that led to his suspension for Game 3. This is not the Kuch we watched all season.

And then…Steven Stamkos. The #1 Overall Pick the Bolts inherited in the 2008 Entry Draft. Stamkos, the Captain of the team, started the season off slow but rebounded to collect 98 points for his team this year. He’s been productive in past Playoff campaigns, namely the 18 points (7g, 11a) in the Cup Final run in 2015, and the 16 points (7g, 9a) in last years Playoffs. But there is a disturbing stat that can only be exposed when things go wrong:

Of course, to be fair, Stammer scored a goal on Tuesday Night, but…you see where I’m going with this?

However, the problem, for me, wasn’t the offensive production, the defensive meltdowns, the special teams failures…all of which WERE problems. The problem is the reaction to these events. Post-game press conferences tell EVERYTHING you need to know, and in this day and age, we can all watch them. This team was not angry. Intense. Pissed. Motivated. Annoyed.

We got the “we know we can do better, so we need to do better next game and do better” comments. The kind of comments that New York Ranger fans (like myself, at a time) came to be annoyed by from the likes of Ryan Callahan and Ryan McDonagh. Where’s the vinegar. Where’s the Salt. Where’s the emotion it takes to win the Stanley Cup. The Grit. The Heart.

Looking forward to next season, we can be sure the Lightning still have the framework to have a season like they had this year. Stars to score and produce at will. A strong defense centered around Victor Hedman, and yes, even Ryan McDonagh. Andrei Vasilevskiy isn’t expected to get worse with age, so things can hold steady there. Jon Cooper is getting up there in years with one team, statistically speaking, but signed an extension.

But you’ll have time this summer, Lightning fans…to figure out where the grit and heart come from next season.

You’ll just have more time to think about it than ANY of us planned.

The Tampa Bay Lightning – the thunder…still…rolls

What’s there to say about the Tampa Bay Lightning? They’re big and strong, have won 7 in a row…and oh…they’re getting their All-Star Goaltender back. Bryan and Bacon discuss what’s next for the team and what the effect of Andrei Vasilevskiy returning has. Louie Domingue was the NHL’s 2nd star of the week and there is NO discussion about the New York Rangers visit to Tampa recently.