There was a lot of talk around New York before the ’08-’09 season began about how the Rangers would handle opening their season with a pair of games in Prague. Many around here questioned how the travel and the possibility of starting the year in a 0-2 hole without playing a game anywhere near North America would affect the Blueshirts.
Well, a pair of one-goal wins in the Czech Republic followed by another three straight to open the season quelled any fears of a slow start. And despite back-to-back losses to Detroit and Dallas, the Rangers look like they are poised to be at or near the top of the Eastern Conference heap when the playoffs begin in April.
The same may not be said for the Rangers’ opponents in Prague, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts returned to Florida and promptly dropped their next three before finally grabbing their first win of the year against Atlanta on Tuesday in OT.
So why the slow start? All signs may point toward starting the season in Europe, but I think there’s more to it, as well as reason to believe that the Lightning will be just fine.
Tampa is a team in transition, a team that went through a myriad of changes during the offseason including:
-A new ownership group, headed by the enthusiastic duo of Len Barrie and Oren Koules;
-A new head coach in Barry Melrose, the NHL’s master of mullets;
-A complete player overhaul, including new defenseman Andrej Meszaros, wingers Ryan Malone and Radim Vrbata, old guys Gary Roberts and Mark Recci, and the much-hyped rookie forward Steven Stamkos
That’s a lot of changes, and a lot of questions. But some of the biggest questions on this team could also be the best answers.
Will Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis continue to put up big numbers and help set the tone in the locker room for the younger players? Will young goaltender Mike Smith live up to the hype surrounding him and become a top-tier starter in his first full season in Tampa? Will former broadcaster Melrose, who before Tuesday had gone 13 ½ years between coaching victories, turn the Bolts around and show he can run a team as well as he can run his mouth on ESPN?
This team isn’t that far removed from its 2004 Stanley Cup championship. The Lecavalier-St. Louis tandem were a huge part of that team and undoubtedly want to win another in Tampa, otherwise Vinny wouldn’t have signed that 11-year contract and Marty would probably be skating for the Leafs.
And the slow start is slightly deceiving. While it’s true the Lightning have only won one of their first six games, every game has been decided by one goal, and three of the losses have been in overtime.
There are questions on defense and goaltending, but the scoring is there. And as soon as the players get familiar with each other and Melrose gets comfortable with the players, the Lightning could be near the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference and near the top of the pretty weak Southeast division. If the team can’t gel, and soon, it could be a long season at the Ice Palace.
Note: After writing this, I see that Tampa signed former Ranger Marek Malik. Maybe he can help shore up the D.