[Cross-Posted at Bolts Blog by RJ]What’s going on? The new look Lightning look eerily similar to last season’s worst team in the NHL. With one week in the books, the Bolts are languishing in last place in the Southeast with a record of 0-2-3. Is it a matter of personnel, system, player familiarity or what?First we should look at personnel. The Lightning went into the offseason...

Season Series: 0-0-0Previous MeetingsPlayer to WatchNathan Horton-- Will Nathan finally begin to play up to his immense talent level? Also to watch for: Peter Deboer's head coaching debut. --Beinfest4PrezWhy They Will WinThe Panthers are onto their 10th coach in 15 years. It's time for the Cats to start showing some consistency and winning ways again. No more of the 5 points...

X-Posted at Panthers Daily PuckThe Florida Panthers enter tonight's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, coming off a resounding 6-0 win to finish off the preseason versus the New York Islanders. The Panthers finished the preseason 3-2-2 and with some surprises making the roster. Both Anthony Stewart and Michael Frolik had strong preseasons and have made the team. Shawn Matthias...

X-Posted at Panthers Daily PuckAfter a long sabbatical, I have returned to the realm of the Panthers. I was finishing up school, in Europe, and starting a new school in a new city. Now that I am settled in, I will be able to write more frequently again for the blog.Well, this summer has been quite the doozy. No more Jokinen, a new coach, Panthers sign Cory Stillman, Rusty Olesz and...

The guys over at Icethetics do an excellent job. They're the site formerly known as the NHL Tournament of Logos. They'll be running a new tournament starting Monday about who has the best center ice logo. That's not the good stuff, though.They've reported today that they've got an inside track on all 18 alternate sweaters. Before anyone gets excited, their ...

[Cross-Posted at Bolts Blog by RJ]I have come down from my rage over the Boyle trade, and have decided it best to make an honest attempt to decipher just what the "new" Lightning are up to. What appears to be on the outside, isn't always representative of what's on the inside...case in point, those boxes of mixed chocolates, I hate gettting something that looks...

(with apologies to Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim)I feel gritty,And so pretty,Cuz my Bolts will be back for the fight!And I pityAny team that wasn't mine last night.See the first-round pick on my telly there.And Oren Koules with spikey hair.Got the pretty goals,Got new gritty guys.Look at Steven's smile,What a gritty team!Look out SeSo!Got ArtyukhinComing back to...

Season Series: AtlantaPrevious Meetings:October 6, 2007: Thrashers 2 at Lightning 5October 20, 2007: Thrashers 2 at Lightning 6November 3, 2007: Thrashers 6 at Lightning 4November 19, 2007: Lightning 3 at Thrashers 4 (OT)December 18, 2007: Lightning 2 at Thrashers 6February 9, 2008: Lightning 1 at Th...

Season Series: Carolina 4-2-1Previous MeetingsOctober 6, 2007: Capitals 2 at Hurricanes 0November 5, 2007: Capitals 0 at Hurricanes 5November 24, 2007: Hurricanes 2 at Capitals 5November 30, 2007: Capitals 3 at Hurricanes 4February 8, 2008: Hurricanes 2 at Capitals 1February 23, 2008: Capitals 3 at H...

I've set up a March Madness bracket pool thingy over at CBSsportsline.com. Registration is free and easy for both CBS and the pool I've formed. Please hop on in! The tournament selection show will take place this coming Sunday at 6:30. After the seeds have been determined, you can make your picks...

Our ownership situation is still up in the air. Our star D-man (aka my fave player) was out most of the season. We had to trade one of our beloved Trinity to live within our current owner's cut-rate budget. Our franchise player has some serious shoulder surgery coming up, and will likely have to delay the wrist surgery he needed. We can only hope that Vincent Lecavalier will...

So the curtain falls on the regular season for four of the five Southeast teams and the Caps emerge victorious from the fray, moving on to battle the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs.To the rest of the league, the Southeast Division was the weakest link - the division not of almost-rans but bottom-dwellers, teams to be mocked and ignored, overlooked and underestimated...

Season Series: Panthers 4-3-0Previous MeetingsNovember 15, 2007 Panthers 2 Capitals 1November 19, 2007 Panthers 4 Capitals 3November 28, 2007 Panthers 2 Capitals 1 (SO)December 1, 2007 Captials 2 Panthers 1January 19, 2008 Panthers 3 Captials 5February 15, 2008 Panthers 4 Capitals 2March 29, 2008 Capitals 3 Panthers 0Player to WatchAlex Ovechkin picks up his game when the pressure...

Season Series: Hurricanes 5-2-0Previous MeetingsOctober 31, 2007 Hurricanes 2 at Panthers 4November 3, 2007 Panthers 2 at Hurricanes 4November 12, 2007 Hurricanes 4 at Panthers 3November 17, 2007 Panthers 1 at Hurricanes 2December 20, 2007 Hurricanes 4 at Panthers 5February 16, 2008 Panthers 4 at Hurricanes 5March 20, 2008 Hurricanes 2 at Panthers 1 (SO)Player to WatchChad LaRose...

Season Series: Carolina 2-1-1Previous MeetingsNovember 10, 2007 Hurricanes 5, Thrashers 3November 16, 2007 Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 0January 2, 2008 Thrashers 5, Hurricanes 4 (OT)February 21, 2008 Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 5Player to WatchWatch the line with Colby Armstrong and Eric Perrin. I'd vote thi...

Season Series: Atlanta 4-2-0Previous Meetings:October 6, 2007: Thrashers 2 at Lightning 5October 20, 2007: Thrashers 2 at Lightning 6November 3, 2007: Thrashers 6 at Lightning 4November 19, 2007: Lightning 3 at Thrashers 4 (OT)December 18, 2007: Lightning 2 at Thrashers 6February 9, 2008: Lightning 1 at Thrashers 2 (OT)Player to WatchAs impossible as it may seem in a game that features...

Season Series: Atlanta 4-3-0Previous MeetingsOctober 5, 2007 Capitals 3 at Thrashers 1November 6, 2007 Capitals 1 at Thrashers 2 (OT) November 21, 2007 Thrashers 5 at Capitals 1 December 8, 2007 Thrashers 3 at Capitals 6February 2, 2008 Thrashers 2 at Capitals 0 February 13, 2008 Capitals 2 at Thrashers 3 (SO)March 14, 2008 Thrashers 1 at Capitals 4Player to WatchHe's perched...

A few weeks ago, there were plenty of articles all around the hockey media world complaining about the possibility that the Southeast Division wouldn't have any teams finishing with enough points to be within the top 8 teams in the Eastern Conference. It was even mentioned that perhaps the division winner shouldn't even qualify for the playoffs, since they certainly wouldn...

Hope my plank owner status still allows me to still post at SESO... Yes!Carolina: Sergei Samsonov for next to nothing via the waiver wire has been the steal of the season. The little water bug is flourishing in the Canes up-tempo system. Jim Rutherford got his puck-moving defenseman. Tattooed Love Bo...

Several Southeast Division teams are going to have high picks in the upcoming 2008 draft this summer in Ottawa. Here are the lists put out by two public scouting agencies in case you want to get a jump start on researching who you team might take.Red Line Report recent update in USA Today. Red Line Report has been around for a long time but they are known for having strong opinions...

Thrasher Fan #1 loves hockey and bought two season tickets this season. He would rather not buy the 3 pre-season games but is required to do so and he will miss 4 games a year because of work or other travel out of town. He can't find a buyer for those 4 games he misses so he usually just gives them ...

Lots of trade predictions...hardly any of them right. After looking like they were going to sit idly by, the Caps acquire goaltender Cristobal Huet, veteran center Sergei Fedorov, and gritty winger Matt Cooke in a flurry of activity that shocked fans and pundits alike.McPhee said the Caps were standi...

Ok, so another season ticket holder failing to renew isn't really news. Defections are an epidemic here based on what I read. One enterprising fan decided writing a letter wasn't enough:

I'd like to follow up Bubba's post in response to Mirtle by taking a slightly different tack.The Division has taken a fair amount of flack lately on message boards and blogs for being quite weak this season. A quick look at the standings shows that based simply on points none of the Southeast teams r...

[Cross-Posted at Bolts Blog by RJ]Dan Boyle has re-signed a 6 year $40 million extension. Vinny Prospal has been traded to Philly for defenseman Alexadre Picard and a conditional draft pick in 2009. Picard has only appeared in 4 games with Philly this year. He is regarded as a possible top 6 defe...