Tampa Bay Lightning

According to an online report from a Swiss source, the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Swiss league player Reto Suri to a two-year contract, a contract that will not go into effect until the 2014-15 season. The report from Blick.ch seems to indicate the deal is a two-way contract that would pay him $775,000 per year, according to the report. The Swiss took the 2013 World Championships by storm this year, going undefeated until the gold medal game against Sweden. The 5'11" forward was one of the top scorers for Team Switzerland during the WC's, notching 5 goals and 3 assists in 10 games. Suri is currently 24, and will be 25 when this contract is supposed to take effect. He played last season for EV Zug in the Swiss-A league. In 46 games played, Suri scored 14 goals and 11 assists. No official word has come out from the lightning organization at this time.

Late last night, Adrian Dater of the Denver Post posted an article in which Joe Sakic, executive vice-president of the Colorado Avalanche, said the Avs would NOT, in fact be taking Seth Jones with their first overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Lots of observers have wondered if this is some kind of bluff or posturing on Sakic's part to try to galvanize other teams into action, but Dater believes not. He believes that the Avalanche will take Nathan MacKinnon instead. This is, naturally, a big deal for Lightning fans in particular. The Florida Panthers are believed by many to be keyed in on offense and willing to pass up the opportunity to get Jones in favor of Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin. Donny Rivette made a compelling argument for this approach both at Litter Box Cats and more expansively in a response to a comment made by John Fontana here at Raw Charge. If Jones does fall to number three, will the Lightning take him? In a strange twist, this is pretty much what happened in the SBNation Mock Draft earlier this month. When it happened, Raw Charge editor John Fontana jumped at the chance to acquire a right handed defenseman with elite potential who can contribute immediately for a defense-starved club. Almost everyone responding to that mock draft believed that this was a fluke and that there was no realistic possibility that Colorado would pass on Jones. I believe the term "brain cramp" covered most of our sentiments on that point. When John informed us of the results of the that draft, I remarked that I could see no justification for the Lightning passing on Jones if he were available. Look at it this way: The Lightning have one of the most powerful offenses in the league. They have more forwards in Syracuse ready to make the jump to the NHL than there are spots for them (Brett Connolly, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Richard Panik). But there are only two defensemen--Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas --who fit that bill. And the Lightning have one of the worst defenses in the league and that's an area that must be worked on for both short- and long-term. There's no telling, of course, whether an 18-year-old rookie defenseman will make much of a difference in the immediate future. Defensemen take longer to reach their potential than forwards, and the Lightning's blueline is already getting younger with the addition of Radko Gudas and possible addition of Mark Barberio. Add to that the fact that high-drafted forwards tend to be "less risky" than high drafted defensemen, and you do have some reasonable objections to taking Jones at number 3. [Note that none of these have anything to do with how he looks shirtless or any character implications that one might be oddly inclined to draw from that.] And I'll just throw one more log on that fire. James Nelson, who writes about prospects for ThePredatorial.com feels that it is possible that Jones makes it all the way to number 4, and ends up in Nashville. @goverjkg I don't know, asking around, it sounds like Yzerman has hinted at being set on a F, though @CAustinRC disagrees. — James Nelson (@PredatorialJN) June 19, 2013 My personal take is that Jones has been a consensus number one draft prospect up until about twelve hours ago. Absent any confirmation that there's some kind of problem with his game or a question about his character based on more than pudgy=lazy, I have to think he's still as highly regarded as he was yesterday afternoon. I feel like as far as risks go, this one is no greater than some of the others that Steve Yzerman has taken in previous drafts (goalie at #19, anyone?) My guess is that the Lightning take him if they get the chance.

It was a whirlwind of a season for defenseman Andrej Sustr -- going from college to a two-game gig with the Lightning to a prominent role with AHL Syracuse -- and by all accounts he handled it with flying colors.

The Syracuse Crunch’s season came to an end with a 5-2 loss in Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals tonight at the War Memorial Arena. The 2012-13 season was the most successful in Syracuse Crunch history, this was the Crunch’s first Calder Cup Fin...

By Jeremy Houghtaling As Syracuse Crunch captain Mike Angelidis paused, cheers could still be heard from the ice. After beating the Syracuse Crunch 5-2 in Game 6 of the American Hockey League finals at the Onondaga County War Memorial Tuesday, each member of the Grand Rapids Griffins took their turn hoisting the Calder Cup. "It's tough, it's really tough," Angelidis said. "You compete that long in the season. It kills you." Despite becoming the first team in league history to win back-to-back road elimination games after going down 3-0 in the series, the end result was hard to take. "You're just disappointed, you're upset," said Angelidis, one of almost a dozen players who won the cup last year with the Norfolk Admirals. "When we don't win the Calder Cup, it's a failure for us. We lost. There's nothing good about this. We have to learn from this, I guess. We know what it takes to win every night, we just fell a little short." Crunch defenseman Jean-Philippe Cote described the feeling as "devastating." "This is what we play for…It's hard," he said. "Yes, you have to keep your head up, you made it that far, but it's a disappointment." read more

Well, ladies and gentlemen…the buzzer has sounded on the third and final period of play between the Syracuse Crunch and the Grand Rapids Griffins at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse. Here are some of my knee jerk reactions to the third period. The game surely did not turn out as we had hoped. The Crunch started the period with a little under 4 minutes in power play time that was carried over from the previous period when Griffins defenseman Nathan Paetsch was assessed a double minor for High Sticking Ondrej Palat. However, the power play would be largely negated when Crunch RW Brett Connolly got called to the box for 2 minutes for Tripping. The Crunch fought back early in the third period with a goal by rookie defenseman Andrej Sustr. The assists on that goal went to center Vladislav Namestnikov and center Philip-Michael Devos. Unfortunately, from that point on the Griffins would control the pace of this game. At 9:54 in the period, defenseman Brennan Evans would find the back of the net with the assists of from Callahan and Griffins center Riley Sheahan. At 17:47 in the period, Richard Panik was called to the penalty box for 2 minutes for Slashing. This put the Crunch back on the penalty kill for the 4th time of the night. I think the proverbial nail in the coffin came when Griffins LW Tomas Tatar was able to convert the power play into an empty net goal, making the score 4-2 Griffins. If that was not bad enough, just 43 seconds later, the Griffins would find themselves with another empty net goal at the hands of Griffins center Joakim Andersson off of a pass from center Luke Glendening. Don’t get me wrong. The Crunch did not lose this game due to a lack of effort. The team skated with passion, making every attempt to set up viable scoring opportunities and taking the puck to the net. Unfortunately, Griffins goaltender Petr Mrazek was just able to keep the pucks from going in between the pipes. Could the Crunch’s losses early in the season had anything to do with the absence of defenseman Radko Gudas, who was injured late in the series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins? We may never know. Even though the game did not turn out as those of us in the Bolts Nation would have liked, I still believe that this was a well fought series, and the Crunch deserve a lot of respect for the way that they were able to battle back and bring the series home to Syracuse. The Syracuse Crunch is the first team in AHL history to have won two road elimination games in the same Calder Cup Finals. That says something about the team’s determination and tenacity. Well, Bolts Nation…the buzzer has sounded for the final time this season for the Syracuse Crunch. Despite a well fought game, the Crunch have fallen to the Grand Rapids Griffins by a score of 5-2. Never fear, Bolts Nation. The Syracuse Crunch will be back next season, and ready to take us all on another wild journey through the American Hockey League. I know I’ll be there to cheer for the boys in blue, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, next season. Be sure to stay up-to-date with all the latest Lightning news and updates with Bolts By the Bay. LIKE us on Facebook at Bolts By The Bay, and you can follow us on Twitter at @BoltsByTheBay.

All good things... GR-5 SYR-2 Grand Rapids Wins the Series 4-2 Grand Rapids Wins the Calder Cup Cedrick Desjardins allowed 3 goals on 23 shots in a game that encapsulated the Finals for Desjardins. Brilliant at times, he allowed a goal through him on the eventual game winner by Evans that he surely wishes he had back. It will be interesting to see how Julien BriseBois retools between the pipes for next season, because you can make the argument the difference between Desjardins and Mrazek was, in large part, the difference between champion and runner-up. First Period SYR Panik, (9) (Taormina, Palat), 17:15 Second Period GR Callahan, (6) (Ferraro, Grant), 2:23 GR Tatar, (15) (Nyquist, Ferraro), 12:41 (PP) Third Period SYR Sustr, (2) (Namestnikov, Devos), 5:14 GR Evans, (2) (Callahan, Sheahan), 9:54 GR Tatar, (16) (Andersson, Nyquist), 19:11 (EN/PP) GR Andersson, (3) (Glendening), 19:54 (EN) I think Lightning fans everywhere, even with the bitterness of this defeat, need to start by saying, "thank you" to this group of players. The team we've referred to as "SyraNo" on this site, which won a championship in Norfolk last year and almost did again this year with Syracuse has been one of the best groups of players ever to take the ice together in the AHL. A lot of these guys, like Radko Gudas who returned tonight from injury, are ticketed for the NHL next year. Others, some of the really veteran guys, may move on in the offseason. So, this group of guys will never be together again, but we should tip our hat to them for two years of sustained brilliance the likes of which we're unlikely to see again anytime soon. As for the young prospects who will likely return to Syracuse next season, I found myself highly impressed with Vladislav Namestnikov and Andrej Sustr, both of whom got stronger as the playoffs wore on. Namestnikov is a legit threat to be an AHL All-Star next season, if not more, with his wizardry with the puck and Sustr is something rare and interesting in pro hockey. You have to put aside the fact Andrej is 6'8", because he refuses to play to type. He's not a bone crunching stay-at-homer, and there's a lot of times he looks like a forward with his ability to read the play offensively and jump into the action. His feed to Tyler Johnson in the slot in the Third Period tonight was an incredible bit of vision that I think stunned TJ a bit, and darned near got Syracuse the key goal they needed in the final frame. That's after he tied the game once in the final period with an absolute bullet from the point. These two guys will be fun to watch develop next season. Ondrej Palat finishes the playoffs as the AHL leader in postseason scoring. Well done, Mr. Palat. Box score from TheAHL.com. read more

We have now been through 40 minutes of play at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse. Here are some of my reactions to this second period of play between the Syracuse Crunch and the Grand Rapids Griffins. Well, the period started much the same way that the first period had gone; however, it didn’t last as long as we would have hoped. At 2:23 in the first period, Mitch Callahan found his way past Crunch goaltender Cedrick Desjardins tying the score at 1. It would seem that the penalties just keep rolling in for both sides of the ice. The first of the second period was Griffins LW Jeff Hoggan who was sent to the box for 2 minutes for Hooking. Shortly after that was Griffins defenseman Brennan Evans who was sent off for two minutes for Tripping. The Crunch power play has been 0-4 tonight. What hurt us the most this period was the next penalty of the night. At 12:30 in the period, defenseman Radko Gudas was sent to the penalty box for 2 minutes for Holding. On this penalty, Griffins LW Tomas Tatar was able to convert the play and find the back of the net giving Grand Rapids the lead. Now, the Crunch will have another shot at the Power Play. With 27 minutes left in the period, Griffins defenseman Nathan Paetsch brought his stick up high nailing Ondrej Palat in the face. Paetsch was assessed a double minor for High Sticking. This penalty will carry over into the third period. Through two periods of play, the Shots on Goal have been 15-12 in favor of the Crunch. While Desjardins has indeed let in two goals tonight, he is still putting up a solid performance. He has made some key saves that could have allowed the game to spiral out of control if not properly handled. As we sit here during the second intermission, the score is now 2-1 Grand Rapids. As I said before, the Crunch will be on the Power Play when we return for the 3rd period. Do you think the Crunch will be able to capitalize on the carryover power play and even the score back up? I know I believe. Do you? Be sure to stay up-to-date with all the latest Lightning news and updates with Bolts By the Bay. LIKE us on Facebook at Bolts By The Bay, and you can follow us on Twitter at @BoltsByTheBay.

Versus AHL Calder Cup FinalsGame SixListen Live on The Fan 1260Live Stream on AHL Live Where: Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, New YorkWhen: 7:00 PM EDTMedia: Time Warner Cable systems in Central NY (cable), AHL Live (online), 1260 AM (radio)

I don't know Syracuse sports history that well. I know about the Orangemen and Syracuse University - nice run to the Final Four this year, by the way. I don't know about the first AHL winners who hailed from Syracuse, nor do I know much about the teams that Alex Ackerman has boasted about from the past (2007-08), though I do know of the reputation of at least one player from that team (Zeon "Zeke" Koneke). I do know the Crunch franchise has not been here before, though; game six of the AHL Calder Cup Finals. The team sits on the brink of elimination while also on the verge of a last chance, a last gasp, at the glory. What I also know is that this is more of an emotional investment than the 2011-2012 Norfolk Admirals team, at least from afar. That's not judging teams, or comparing teams... But an actual fight, a struggle to get past an opponent didn't exist in the 2012 AHL playoffs. The Ads rolled over all challengers from early February until the last horn sounded in Ricoh Arena in Toronto when they bested the Marlies in a series sweep. That team captured people's attention and showed the world what they could do. Were they infallible? No, but the chips fell in such a way that their mortality wasn't on display as much as their drive for success. That's what I know about this team - that some of them know the taste of that sweet success. I know this game - game six of the Calder Cup finals - is the biggest Crunch game in the history of modern Syracuse hockey. It's not a finite point, though. It's simply looking for a last chance. A last dance. It's up to the efforts of the efforts of the Syracuse Crunch for this to be the penultimate game of the 2013 Calder Cup Finals. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Richard Panik, Brett Connolly, Vladislav Namestnikov, Radko Gudas, Mark Barberio, Cedrick Desjardins and others - you're charged with getting this team to the next game. Petr Mrazek, Danny DeKeyser and all the rest of the Grand Rapids Griffins are charged with ending this mother once and for all. They've already played a long haul of playoff games, they've already shown their capable of silencing the onslaught of Tampacuse offense. This all should be over, done with, moot by this point. But it's not. And it ain't gonna' be if the bounces go a certain way and the hockey Gods will it. The Norfolk Admirals won the Calder Cup in 2012, the biggest accomplishment by a Tampa Bay Lightning AHL/IHL affiliate, yet tonight's game is bigger. It's a chance to overcome, one of the key driving forces in sports... It's what we emotionally invest in as fans - winning in against-the-odds moments and overcomign adversity. This series could be done and over tonight, that's a fact Crunch fans need to accept; home ice hasn't been an advantage and the Crunch left Syracuse in a 2-0 hole after starting the series at home. It's not an insurmountable challenge to overcome, but it has seemed like one for this team at various times during the season. Tonight's game can also serve as a transitory device to a final confrontation between two conference champions: the winner-take-all game seven, where all bets are off and nothing is left for tomorrow - because it no longer exists. I don't know Syracuse sports history, what's happened in town in the past that outweighs the value of the events tonight at Onondaga County War Memorial. SU may have gone elsewhere and won bowl games and other titles in other towns ... But tangibly, in the city limits? This, even a minor league title, is an event of huge weight in the context of sports history for the city... And if all goes well, the next game - scheduled (if necessary) for Thursday - will wipe its relevance away in a flash