This Is a Golden Age: Game #4 Recap, Florida Panthers 4 at Tampa Bay Lightning 1

 This is a Golden Age for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Beyond the obvious years of regular season dominance
and the glory of two straight Stanley Cup championships,

The Lightning have a true foil in their geographic rivals,
The Florida Panthers.

When hockey fans think of the glory years of the Edmonton Oilers 
(Five 'ships in seven years)
They also remember the hell and carnage of 
The Battle of Alberta,
Demarcated not only by the violence on the ice
But also the incredible level of competition
Between two absolutely excellent hockey teams.

The Lightning and Panthers and their fans have never truly
been able to enjoy that same level of rivalry
until at last, the Panthers become a top team.

The six-game battle in the first round of the 2021 playoffs was a taste,
And things are only going to get better.

The Panthers brought the battle to Tampa Bay last night,
Squeezing out a 4-1 win in a game that felt so incredibly close,
it felt from first puck drop that whoever scored first was going to win,

and that turned out to be the case.

This was not a great game for the Lightning.
Squandered power plays, 
including a loooong five-on-three,
and fumbled breakouts and breakaways
gave them little to work with against
Joel Quinneville's hardworking crew.

The Cats scored first.
They won the game. 
Brayden Point tied it up, and the Panthers
got it back even before the goal was announced.

The Bolts can take nothing for granted.
They won those championships through discipline and work.
They need to bring that again.

And remember: through four games
THEY STILL HAVE NOT HELD A LEAD IN A SINGLE GAME.

They are two-and-two on the year,
but oh, it feels like they have a long way to go.

Game #3 Recap: Tampa Bay Lightning 2 at Washington Capitals 1 (OT)

 (Does a backflip onto a stack of crates
in a warehouse by the docks
wearing a green leotard covered in question marks)

"Riddle me this, Batman!"

(poof! Smoke-bomb,
disappears,
then reappears in the rafters)

"What team can go on a two game winning streak
While never once winning during either game?"

(Batman shoots the Riddler with a gun
and is then arrested by Gotham police)

The answer to the riddle, of course, is your Tampa Bay Lightning.

Through three games, the Bolts haven't yet held a lead,
losing the first game ugly,
giving up huge leads in the second game but catching up
before winning in overtime,
and finally

FINALLY

showing a bit of competence and structure in Game Three,
holding the Caps to a single goal
(Ovechkin's second was called back)
and winning again on a goal from Captain Stamkos, yes,
in overtime.

The good news, of course, is "a win is a win,"
and this game represents progress
and the boys are starting to get it together
and things are starting to click

and all the other clichés,
such as how you've gotta bank these wins early in the season 
if you wanna make the playoffs.

But I'm not worried about making the playoffs.
This team has won two straight championships
(as I will point out again and again and again)
so making the playoffs is a low bar beneath consideration
unless multiple significant injuries hobble key players for long stretches
(knocking wood until my knuckles bleed).

What matters is escaping the lethargic form of the first game
or the discombobulation of the second
and finally putting together a sixty minute game 
against a quality opponent.

And speaking of injuries,
Nikita Kucherov left in the second period after an apparent knee-bump
with Washington's Garnet Hathaway
and Lightning d-man Jan Rutta left the bench in the second.

Significant players, yes.
Can the Lightning manage without them? 
Also yes--
even with offseason losses, the team has depth.

But you hate to see it.

A hard-fought win with the Bolts shutting down their opponent?

THAT.
That
you love to see. 

Predictions for the 2021-2022 Tampa Bay Lightning Season

The first time I made predictions for a Lightning season was in the fall of 1993. The Bolts had just completed their inaugural season, and my group of high school friends, none of whom really cared about sports, got heavily into hockey by playing EA's NHLPA '93 on Mike's SEGA Genesis. That was the last edition of the game to feature fighting, and there were very few players in the game that had a 100 rating for the fighting statistic: Bob Probert in Detroit, Tie Domi in New York, and Basil McRae in Tampa Bay being the only three I can recall us finding. Brent claimed Detroit, Mike took New York, and I took Tampa Bay. It didn't matter that Detroit and New York were both stacked and Tampa Bay was like, a 2/10 level team, because I sucked at video games and wasn't going to win anyway. I just wanted a team with a good fighter, so even if I lost every game, I could still win something.

Anyway, we all got hooked, bought sticks for road hockey, bought hats and sweaters of our teams (although Mike switched to the Leafs), and I started looking forward to the NHL's 1993-1994 season. I picked up a magazine with the previous season's stats, opened a notebook, and recorded my predictions for each player. Brian Bradley had 42 goals last year, so he should be good for 50 this year. John Tucker had 17, so let's say 25. I went through the roster, and predicted that each player would increase his offensive output by 20-50%, which was a disaster, since 1992-1993 was an offensive high water mark for the NHL, before the drudgery of the oncoming trap era. Only one player achieved the goal total I set out, that being Danton Cole, who jumped from 12 goals in '92-'93 to 20 in '93-'94.

Needless to say, I was a poor prognosticator.

But making guesses about other people's achievements is fun, so I'm going to do it again right here. These are my predictions for the 2021-2022 Lightning season.

Nikita Kucherov: Kuch will return to his humorless, taciturn ways, eschewing the shirtless, beer-fueled and profanity-laden press conferences, while scoring at a league leading level. After his performances in the last few post-seasons, it's fair to assume he'll be able to return to his regular season form of 2018-2019, when he led the NHL in scoring. He'll finish in the top three for points, and only gets shirtless and silly again if the Bolts win the Cup again.

Steven Stamkos: He's only 31 years old today, but it feels like he's played for the Lightning forever. He's not the scoring threat he once was, and he'll likely spend a good deal of time on the third line, but he'll still easily hit the mid-thirties in goals with all his power play goals. Much respect, captain.

Anthony Cirelli: Gonna give Tony the ol' Danton Cole treatment and predict he'll get his first 20 goal season in the NHL. He hit 19 back in 2018-2019, and with a full season to play, a 20 dollar bill should be easy. Sixty points, too. Get out there and be great, bro.

Brayden Point: He'll be dashing this season-- both fast on the ice and a handsome devil too. A point-a-game should be the minimum for Big BP; he's a big-time machine. Will he one day have a hundred point NHL season? Yes. This year.

Victor Hedman: I think Heddy will also get his first 20 goal season. Why not? There's nothing this man can't do.  

Mikhail Sergachev: He wants to be the best defenseman in the League, and I respect that confidence. He'll hit 40 points this year.

Andrei Vasilevskiy: He'll get 40 wins or more.

Brian Elliott: He'll get maybe 10 wins? 

Jon Cooper: Can you believe this guy has never won coach of the year? I guess it's because his team is always so stacked with talent, and the award usually goes to some geek that wrings a great total out of a team that was expected to be a disaster, but sooner or later Coop will get the "career achievement" Jack Adams Award. Will it be this year? Yes, This year. 

As for everyone else, just take their points per game average from last season, average it over 82 games, and add 20%. I'm in a good mood tonight. I saw a rainbow after walking in the rain. I'm optimistic.

Game #2 Recap: Tampa Bay Lightning 7 at Detroit Red Wings 6 (OT)

 I admit it; I'm getting old.

In my forties, I don't function well on less than eight hours of sleep,
and my current work schedule has me up at six-thirty.
I'm usually in bed shortly after ten,
even if it means missing the end of the game.

After putting the kids to bed, I checked the score.
It was 4-2 Wings, which was a slight improvement on the 3-0
I saw when I started the put-to-bed process.

I made a joke about how many empty net goals the Wings would score
and I went to sleep.

I missed a lot.

Unable to watch the game, I missed out on Detroit's resident anti-vaxxer
Tyler Bertuzzi
putting four goals through Andrei Vasilevskiy
including a sick display where he split Sergachev and Hedman
with a between-the-feet pass to himself
and another where he flew out of the penalty box
and pounced on a deep puck--

--imagine scoring four freaking goals
and having your team still lose the game--

--and I missed Steven Stamkos score two quickies on the power play
the second coming while they were still announcing the first.

But most of all what I missed was the Tampa Bay Lightning
using their ludicrous wealth of offensive talent
to overcome their sloppy defensive play.

This game is only a marginal improvement over the home opener
against the Penguins, but a win is a win,
and goals are always fun to watch.

But tell me--

--did you possibly expect the defending champs to allow
TWELVE GOALS in their first two games?

Game #1 Recap: Penguins 6 at Lightning 2

 Phil Esposito, the fiery hero on the ice,
was never one to play his cards close to his vest.

Now, generations removed from playing the game himself,
he sits in the media box at Amelie Arena,
providing color commentary on Tampa Bay Lightning games,
watching the players of the franchise he founded
as they bumble and stumble,
botch passes,
lose face-offs,
and ice the puck again and again.

And just like during his days as a center for the Blackhawks, Bruins, or Rangers,
Espo can't hide his emotions.

His commentary on the game,
as the Bolts,
after watching the banner of their 2021 Stanley Cup Championship
being raised to the ceiling in a pregame ceremony,
clatter their way around the ice en route to a 6-2 loss,
is decidedly that of a sad old uncle,
shaking his head and repeating
"what a shame, what a shame,"
unable and uninterested in hiding the disappointment in his voice.

Lightning Coach Jon Cooper,
his freshly-inked and well-earned three-year contract extension in his pocket,
watches his charges chase the Penguins around the ice, 
unable to find their legs or form,

while the Pens, missing core players like
Sidney Crosby, Gino Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and more,
beat them with hustle and structure.

Six minutes remaining,
Lightning down three-zip
(coulda been a lot worse if not for Andrei Vasilevskiy in the home net),
and Coop says let's go for it:
he yanks the Big Cat for the extra attacker,

and the Bolts get one from Anthony Cirelli!

followed by a Pens empty netter

then the Bolts get one from Killorn! They're clawing their way back

followed by a Pens empty netter,

followed by a third Pens empty netter.

6-2 Pens is your final,
the last five goals of the game coming with Vasy on the bench.
A clumsy, uninspired performance to open their championship defense,
accurately summed up by Captain Stamkos:

"A dud."

The Lightning return to action on Thursday in Detroit.

Back from the dead, again

 Hey gang,

Frozen Sheets Hockey was a blog I ran for a few years starting around 2009, covering the Tampa Bay Lighting. I ran it as a creative writing project, introducing goofy characters in fictional settings to provide wacky opinions on the team's ups and downs. The unconventional writing style drew the eye of Raw Charge, SB Nation's Lightning blog, and I started writing there as well for a while. Frozen Sheets had some success and was an active part of the Lightning's blog-o-sphere for a few years until fatigue, shifting interests, and time constraints reduced the frequency of my posts. I eventually gave the whole thing up.

Until now?

I'm bringing it back this season, with a focus on writing game recaps in free verse poetry, which is something I enjoyed in the last stretch of the blog's existence. Whether I do more than that, or even if I can keep up with that... well, just like the Lightning's fortunes this season, we'll see how it all plays out.

The Lightning have won two consecutive Stanley Cups. They've changed some pieces, but they are still stacked and have a good shot at winning a third. Does that serve as a season preview? That will be enough. The season starts tomorrow with the banner raising ceremony at Amalie Arena in Tampa before the Lightning host the Pittsburg Penguins. The Pens will be without Sidney Crosby and Gino Malkin. Will they be any good? Will the Lightning? We'll see.

Steven Stamkos will take part in the whole banner ceremony. He's the old man on the team now, the captain. When I was doing this the first time around, he was the rookie, the kid being held out of the lineup by Coach Rick Tocchet so he could watch and learn, and get in some reps in the weight room. I don't miss those days. The team under OK Hockey's ownership was a fiasco. Things are better now. But the chaos made for some funny blog posts, I guess. Will it be funny this time? I don't know. We'll see.

I'll be back with a recap of the Lightning-Pens game soon. We'll see how the Bolts do, and how I do. Peace.