They say Lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice and so far Tampa Bay has been abiding by that well-known tall tale. The Lightning won the cup back in 2004, but since then they have yet to make it even close to achieving that dream again. They saw a first round exit in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 playoffs and failed to make the playoffs in the past 3 seasons. Well Tampa decided to make quite a few changes to their struggling team for this upcoming season; changes which started from the top. Steve Yzerman, who needs no need for introduction, took over the General Manager position this off-season and quickly got to work, making some key acquisitions to try and get this club headed in the right direction. Since the team is a young one, why not hire a youthful coach? Yzerman hired Guy Boucher, who at 39 years old is now the youngest coach in the NHL. Boucher made his debut in the AHL last year with Montreal’s affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. He led the team to a 52-17-11 record and won the coach of the year award for the AHL. He received an offer from both the Blue Jackets and the Lightning, but ultimately decided to take the job in Tampa. One of the biggest off-season moves that was made should help bolster Tampa’s offense. The Lightning acquired veteran forward Simon Gagne in a deal with the Flyers and the 30 year old will try and pick up 30+ goals again, which he has done 3 times since the lock-out season. Although Gagne is injury prone, he could still prove to be a valuable asset to the team especially if he can stay healthy for the majority of the season. Gagne will most likely be seeing a lot of time on Lecavalier’s wing and if the two have chemistry then maybe Vinny can go back to being the 40+ goal scorer he was just a few seasons ago. Ryan Malone will most likely be returning on Vinny’s wing again for the 2010-2011 season. Malone is a very consistent top 6 forward and the Lightning can expect 40+ points out of him again this year. The Lightning also have Steve Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Steve Downie to make up their top line. Stamkos tied the league with goals last season with Sidney Crosby, with both players netting 51. Stamkos is only 20 years old, about to enter his 3rd season, and has tremendous upside. Perhaps Boucher’s new system, which is more offensive oriented than the former, could boost or at least replicate Stamkos’ stunning performance last season. St. Louis and Stamkos complemented each other very well last year, with Stamkos totaling 95 points and St. Louis getting 94 for himself. This dynamic duo scored 36 percent of Tampa’s total goals in the 09-10 season, which really says a lot about both their production, which was outstanding, and the teams contributions which was pretty dismal. Steve Downie is the other winger projected to start on Stamkos’ line. The young pest of a forward had some solid numbers last year and has shown the league that he can contribute when given a full season to perform. With a new coach, an improvement in the top-6, and some new hope, Tampa Bay will most definitely be lighting the lamp much more this season than they have in prior years. After the top 6, the talent level drops off a little bit, and much of the bottom 6 is composed of players under 25 years old. They may not have the experience or the depth, but they do have much room for improvement. The Lightning defense, although very solid on paper, was pretty disappointing last season. The team allowed 260 goals, which was 27th in the league. Tampa traded away Meszaros for cap reasons and were unable to sign Foster; however, they brought back former Lightning player Pavel Kubina and also acquired another veteran for the blueline, Brett Clark. Veteran Pavel Kubina will probably be pairing up with Hedman, which will be good for the 19 year old defenseman. Hopefully his mentoring can turn Hedman into the dominant defenseman that everyone is expecting of him. With Ohlund coming off an awful season he will be looking to step it up big time. He definitely needs to provide this team with much more offensive production than he did in the previous season. Lundin, Clark, Lashoff will most likely start the season dressed with Matt Smaby being the 7th for now. The Lightning also made a move to acquire another goalie that is capable of being the number one guy. They picked up Dan Ellis, who played with Nashville last year, to replace Niittymaki. Mike Smith will be returning in a Lightning uniform again and will battle it out with Ellis to get the majority of the playing time. The two goalies were both in a similar boat last season, being given the starting job, only to lose it part way through the year. Expect these two to split time relatively equally. Tampa Bay has a very promising team; however they have a new, very inexperienced coach. But if Boucher’s system proves to be successful then I can see this Lightning team slowly turning into a dynasty. Stamkos proved to be one of the top young forwards in the league last season, and with a little mentoring Hedman could perhaps be one of the better defenseman in the league. If the defense holds up and doesn’t crumble like they did last season, you can expect to see Tampa Bay sneak a lower seed spot in the playoffs. If the defense doesn’t step it up, I can’t really see Smith or Ellis to be the type of goalie who can carry this team on their back. Regardless, the future looks brighter in Tampa, and maybe Lightning can strike the same place twice. -Written by CJ. CJ is a member of the Blueline Crew over at http://bluelinecrew.com . Check us out if you'd like to read more Team Previews and keep up on the latest hockey buzz.
