Tampa Bay Lightning

A couple of years ago, our former colleague on SB Nation highlighted the rapid decline of the Tampa Bay Lightning at the box office. James Mirtle, formerly of From The Rink and now at the Globe and Mail, showed the freefall (month to month) of the Bolts under the leadership of former owners OK (Not Really) Hockey. The 2007-08 season was a low point for the Lightning on the ice, but attendance was still quite strong in spite of that - the Lightning drew an average attendance of 18,692 for the season. That's 94.6 percent of the arena's then-capacity of 19,758. I make the comparison to 2007-08 because of the mire of this past season's team performance as well as the fact the Lightning were near-capacity at the Tampa Bay Times Forum for the duration of the 2013 season. Arena capacity is now 19,205 (having been reduced during the building renovation in 2011) and the season average attendance was 19,055, or 99.2 percent of building capacity. That was good enough to rank the Bolts 8th in the league in average home attendance. Since owner Jeff Vinik purchased the Lightning, attendance has rebounded as such: Season Attendance Average % of Capacity League rank 2010-2011* 17,268* 87.4* 18th 2011-2012 18,468 96.2 13th 2013 19,055 99.2 8th Average totals 18,264 94.2 13th *denotes arena capacity was 19758 at the time Of course, these numbers are the dubious "inflated" numbers of tickets sold - not turnstile, butts-in-seats attendance data. Another point to mention is that the franchise stopped reporting on the Forum going beyond sellout capacity. While the official capacity for the Forum is 19,205, the building's max capacity hovers likely somewhere above 21,000. What you can take from the chart leading into this story is a direct contrast to what James Mirtle was reporting in December 2009. The data, starting where Mirtle left off, shows the obvious growth trend and stabilization that's taken place after Vinik took control of the team on March 3rd, 2010. Is this a testament about solid ownership? Perhaps; perhaps it's an endorsement of how Leiweke, Steve Griggs and the rest of the executive staff under Vinik run the business and inspire fan investment through attending games. Perhaps it's a vote of confidence in the stewardship of the hockey team under GM Steve Yzerman? I'd like to think it's more likely a positive reflection on Tampa Bay as a hockey market. The OK Hockey era of mismanagement and other bad memories tied to it was an anomaly, an aberration, for the overall welfare of the sport of hockey and the NHL in Tampa Bay.

It's been almost two months. The AHL regular season waned and ended for the Syracuse Crunch and seven playoff games are now in the can. Over that time span, Cedrick Desjardins has become not just the starter for the Syracuse Crunch but the workhorse and last resort. While he has Pat Nagle backing him up in net, Nagle has not seen much playing time at all - 97 minutes during the regular season, posting a 3.70 GAA and a .875 save percentage. Indeed, it's been almost two months... But news started spreading Monday and then continued Tuesday that goalie Riku Helenius should be making his North American return in the immediate future. Helenius, 25, has been playing his first season in North America since 2009-10. His stats have mirrored the sub-par efforts by goalies in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization in general this season (a 2.52 GAA and .900 save percentage), but Riku has been distracted (to say the least) by personal matters back in his native Finland. Before his departure from Syracuse on April 6th, Helenius had previously left the Crunch in mid December, likely to spend the holidays with his ailing mother. What kind of difference will Helenius' presence make for the Crunch in the playoffs? That's unknown. Perhaps it will just be a morale boost for the Crunch to have their teammate back with them? That's a powerful motivator. It really depends on Helenius' shape on his return and how he performs in practice. I expect Cedrick Desjardins to remain between the pipes for the Crunch regardless of Helenius' status... But Riku could end up serving as Desjardins backup again if he's in shape and shows that he is ready to return to playing. The Crunch finds out Wednesday night who they will face in the AHL's Eastern Conference Finals; the Providence Bruins face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the decisive game 7.

By Jeremy Houghtaling For a 30-goal scorer, Brett Connolly is essentially flying below the radar. Overshadowed by the success of the Syracuse Crunch's top line, Connolly has quietly continued his nearly one point per game pace in the Calder Cup Playoffs. He has five points in seven postseason games, having already notched 31 goals and 32 assists in 71 games in the regular season. read more

It's a common story, maybe an annual story at that - the Tampa Bay Times talking about the Super Bowl and the local group placing a bid to host the big game each year. In this instance, Tuesday morning, the Times highlighted the fact Tampa Bay wasn't even invited to submit a bid for Super Bowl L and LI. The Super Bowl brings with it a large amount of attention nationally and internationally; a day wasted by broadcasters who seek to rival the game and a day where citizenry uninterested in the game can't escape it. Tampa Bay making a pitch to host the grand finale of the NFL season is a pitch for tourist dollars more than for the glory of the teams playing in the game. The focus is on football, though. How about the other sports in town? You don't hear about deliberate, focused pitches by power brokers here in the area/region (big shots in government and private industry) trying to secure baseball's mid-summer night classic, the All-Star Game. Of course, there are local politics and Major League Baseball politics that are preventing that. Bud Selig and MLB despise Tropicana Field (and the lack of fan support) and want a publicly financed replacement stadium constructed before such a grand event will be awarded to the Tampa/St. Petersburg market. You know that (a new stadium) is a non-starter; the Rays have a lease at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster has no intention of allowing the Rays to break it in any way, shape or form. So the MLB All-Star Game and the events tied to it are not a possibility any time soon. Then there's the NCAA men's and women's basketball Final Four. Tampa Bay has hosted early rounds of action before with mixed results, it's also hosted the women's Final Four event at Times Palace in 2008. In 1998, fresh on the heels of renovating Tropicana Field for the Rays first season (...and on the tail end of the meteorological event known as El Niño), Tampa Bay hosted what was largely regarded as a disastrous men's Final Four at the Trop, where floors flooded in the building and visiting fans were made aware just how spread out the Tampa Bay region is. Tampa Bay will likely continue to make bids for college basketball events like these in the future. College pride is part of what's behind it, tourism dollars as well, and the politics of the locals... And then there's hockey... You don't hear about these grand proposals so often, nor do they make the newspaper outside the sports section. Sometimes you read little asides in team beat reporting that the Lightning franchise has placed a bid to host All-Star Game, or the NHL Draft; two marquee events that draw in an International audience and tourists to boot. You don't hear about a specific committee devoted to landing those events. You don't hear about local hoteliers embracing the idea of hosting such grand events (and the visitors they bring). It's hockey. It's an afterthought in the good-ole-boy network. I'm not saying it doesn't happen; it's easier for me to suggest that than to shed light on the movers and shakers (after the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise itself) behind pitches for the NHL's league-wide events. It just feels like there isn't a coordinated push locally to land either event. There had been a larger push to land the NCAA men's Frozen Four event held at Times Palace in 2012. I haven't seen talk of a pitch for a future Frozen Four yet, but with the last event having just happened, that's not unexpected. Back to the NHL all-star game and / or draft: Last week, Michael Yormark (President of the Florida Panthers) went to the Broward County Commission to plead for a handout for a new scoreboard at BB&T Center arena in Sunrise. The Panthers had been promised an All-Star Game or a Draft if they upgraded their obsolete scoreboard at center ice. After the county commission shamed Yormark, they voted in favor of the handout. The promise of future events weren't on docket, but the influence of the promise likely was

Lightning center Nate Thompson called winning a bronze medal with the United States at the world championship "a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget."

The Tampa Bay Times Forum removed its ice today, which is always a disappointing sight to see, especially at this time of the year. It means that the Lightning didn't make the playoffs and there won't be hockey back in Tampa Bay until September when NHL training camps begin. Always a sad day when the ice comes out @tbtimesforum. #TBLightning twitter.com/BBreseman/stat… — Brian Breseman (@BBreseman) May 20, 2013 It is starting to get hot and humid outside and while the NHL playoffs are in full swing, the end of the playoff season still draws near. The stifling, dog days of summer are just upon us and that means the hockey-less months that all fans despise are closer as well. Enjoy hockey while it is still on, even though you might not be a fan of the teams still alive in the playoffs. Hockey is hockey and we all know how it feels when there isn't any to watch. We might be able catch up on our shows and our days at the beach, but there is always something missing from summer...

Need to Know - The Crunch are 7-0 to begin the Calder Cup Playoffs with sweeps of Portland (3-0) and Springfield (4-0). - Ondrej Palat is tied for the AHL's postseason lead with 15 points; Tyler Johnson is second with 14 points. - Syracuse face...

The Syracuse Crunch waits to find out who their opposition will be in the AHL's Eastern Conference Finals (game 6 of the semifinal series between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence is tonight, Providence leads 3-2). One thing they found out while idle is that defenseman Brian Lee is done for the season. Lindsay Kramer reported that Lee is done for the playoffs, with an injury suffered on Friday night. It hasn't been disclosed just what the injury is or how it was sustained, but Lee is done. The contest for who steps into the spot held by Lee begins immediately, and likely will be determined by how well the players perform in practice. Brendan Mikkelson, another defenseman that had been carried on the Lightning roster at the onset of the season, has been the guy stepping in lately when other defensemen can't go (Dimitry Korobov, for example, was out on Friday; Mikkelson replaced him in the lineup). The big complication with that is the fact Mikkelson is not a right-handed shot; Brian Lee is. If Syracuse coach Rob Zettler wants another right handed shot in the lineup to replace Lee, he may give Luke Witkowski a look-see, though there are other defensemen likely in front of Luke on the depth chart. Witkowski, who signed his entry level contract and joined the Crunch late in the season, has only played 3 games with Syracuse without registering a point. Likely it'll be Korobov and Mikkelson, though. Lee has played a total of 18 games with Syracuse since his demotion (including the playoffs). He was -3 in 11 regular season games with the club, recording one assist over that time. He had played in all 7 Crunch playoff games without recording a point. Lee has a year left on his contract with the Lightning.

The IIHF Men's World Championships ended yesterday as the Swedes trounced Switzerland 5-1 to take the gold medal. Until Sunday, it had been 27 years since the host country had taken the gold medal. Granted, that has as much to do with the fact that the World Championships are frequently held in places where the host team are less than hockey powerhouses, but nonetheless, it's a nice feeling to win in front of the home crowd. On the other hand, it had been 60 years since Switzerland had won a medal of any kind in the World Championships. They've never won a gold medal, and this loss gave them another silver. Still, the Swiss were unquestionably a dominant team in this tournament, and they certainly earned the opportunity to play for the gold medal. It will be interesting to see if the Swiss national hockey program has really grown into a perennial contender or if this was simply a case of the stars aligning for them. Even this tournament only moved them up two spots on the IIHF's world ranking. The United States squeaked by Finland in a shootout to capture the bronze medal. I will never understand allowing an elimination game to be decided by the shootout, much less a medal game, but there you are. It happened and we'll all just have to live with it. Lightning players Matt Carle and Nate Thompson went pointless in the match and each had two shots on goal. Ben Bishop did not play. Canada was eliminated from medal contention on Thursday, also after a shootout, which really makes you wonder what kind of alternate universes have opened up over there this week. Lightning Players Stats Team GP Pts +/- SOG SH% PIM Matt Carle USA 10 0-2-2 0 12 0.0 0 Steven Stamkos CAN 8 7-5-12 +6 31 22.58 6 Nate Thompson USA 10 1-2-3 +1 11 9.09 8 Team GP SV% GAA SOs W-L Ben Bishop USA 5 .876 2.83 0 3-2 Jaroslav Janus SVK 2 .875 3.00 0 0-2 Final Standings Final Power Ranking IIHF World Men's Hockey Rankings for 2013

Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier was off to one of his best starts in a while (four goals, 11 points in his first seven games) when his left foot was hit by a slap shot from teammate Sami Salo in the final second of a Feb. 2 game with the Rangers.