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.

The Lightning Foundation, charitable arm of the Tampa Bay Lightning, announced today that it will continue its ‘Lightning Community Heroes’ program, an initiative designed to distribute more than $2 million of the $10 million pledge by owner Jeff ...

The Lightning announced it is taking nominations for its Community Hero program which has donated a combined $4.1 million the past two seasons to non-profit organizations in the Tampa Bay area that are representative to a "hero's cause."

Nov 30, 2011; Detroit, MI, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman before the game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports With the Stanley Cup Finals well underway and the NHL Entry Draft less than two weeks from now, that beautiful time for all non-playoff teams is almost upon us: the off-season. Bryan Burke, the ill-fated former G.M. of the Toronto Maple Leafs famously said (and still says) that the NHL Trade Deadline is where teams make their biggest mistakes. The off-season, on the other hand, gives G.M.s to consider their options long and hard. It’s where the tinkering is done, where G.M.s prep their rosters for the upcoming season like a mechanic might get a prized vehicle race-ready. The big decisions are made during the off-season, decisions that not only impact the upcoming season, but the identity of the franchise itself. Obviously, not all teams have the same goals. The Philadelphia Flyers, for instance, likely have a much different vision of a “perfect team” than the Pittsburgh Penguins. G.M. Steve Yzerman is too early in his general managing career for us to know exactly what his idea of the ideal team is, but if we look at the man he apprenticed under, Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings, and look at the general shape of the Syracuse Crunch, we can make some assumptions about the team he’s trying to build. There are also hints in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s lineup, where it’s becoming increasingly easy to distinguish between short- and long-term pieces to Yzerman’s puzzle. Here’s something you’ll notice about the Syracuse Crunch: everyone plays, or at least tries to play, a solid two-way game. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Yzerman himself, as a player, put up some staggering offensive numbers (155 points in 88/89, the most by any player not to wear 99 or 66), but later he set gaudy statistics aside to round out his game. He became responsible in all three zones and ultimately wound up winning three Stanley Cups and went down as arguably the greatest leader in the history of the game. As captain of the Red Wings, Yzerman demanded defensive reliability out of even the most reputed offensive stars. Brett Hull blocked shots in Detroit. Which is why I think we can cross “Premiere Two-Way Forward” off our off-season wish list. Because the fact of the matter is, everyone in Tampa Bay will, at some point very soon, be expected to play a solid two-way game. Everyone. That means Steven Stamkos, who we saw playing increasing time on the penalty kill last season, that means Martin St. Louis, who’s never been a defensive liability but there’s something wrong when the league’s scoring leader can’t find the plus-column, and that means Vincent Lecavalier, who played a ferocious two-way game at the beginning of the 2013 season (when the team was winning). So take a deeper look at the Syracuse Crunch. Tyler Johnson, the team’s leading scorer this year and by all accounts its best player, has a complete game. Alex Killorn, once yanked up to the Bolts, was immediately killing penalties under Guy Boucher. If you look at the Syracuse Crunch roster, you’ll find a long list of talented scorers that have learned, or are learning, to defend. So assuming T.B. will ultimately expect defensive reliability out of everyone, exactly what types of players should Yzerman be targeting this off-season? From where I’m standing, the Lightning have three very clear holes in their roster (assuming the goaltending woes have finally been put to rest by the acquisition of Ben Bishop). Or at least, the Lightning lack three things that they might, if we’re lucky, be able to address in a single off-season, with either trades, free agency, minor league call-ups, or simple improvement by players on the current roster. For my money, the Ligh

Now granted, this series is far from over. There's still two to go. But there was a lesson learned this weekend by the Grand Rapids Griffins: Never count the 2012-13 Syracuse Crunch out. They may be down. They may appear to be on the ropes. Things may look hopeless. But, no matter how it looks you should never, ever count them out. The Crunch have almost rallied completely from a 3-0 series deficit with two wins on the road in Grand Rapids this weekend, cutting their series deficit to only one game. They now have the chance to tie the series up at home on Tuesday, which would then force a game 7. That game is scheduled for Thursday at the Onondaga County War Memorial. The Crunch is now the first team in AHL history to win two road elimination games in the same Calder Cup finals. Only three teams have ever rallied from an 0-3 series deficit in the finals. Obviously, with the series coming home on Tuesday, the Crunch's post season road record for the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs will remain a near-perfect 7-1. This closely mirrors what happened during the regular season, when the Crunch was the second-best road team in the league. Now, the Crunch needs to turn their attention to home and conclude this season's roa drecord on a high note. Syracuse started this series on a sour note in their old Barn, losing the first two games at home and eliminating their home ice advantage. During these games, our boys were clearly missing the presence of physical defenseman Radko Gudas, a guy who can make the War Memorial's cramped corners downright hostile for opposing players. Although the team eventually found ways to make it work without Radko in the lineup, I think everyone would feel better with Gudas back. Not only that, but he certainly deserves to get the chance to play after all he's done this year. The good news is that Gudas has been described as "probable" for game 6. However, Gudas' famous beard wasn't the only thing the team seemed to be missing. Whether it was rust from their week off prior to the start of the finals or something else, the magic just wasn't there. It wasn't that they were playing bad, not exactly, but they also weren't playing like themselves. After getting the chance to watch them live twice this past weekend, I can truly say that our boys are back. They're ready. They're focused. And I know, without a doubt, that they can do this! Best of all, they do, too. COME ON, BOYS! TWO!

The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-2 tonight to force the 2013 Calder Cup Finals to a Game Six. The Griffins hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, but tonight’s win forces the series back to Syracuse for a Game 6 on...

Last night in Grand Rapids, the Syracuse Crunch struck first and struck hard, defeating the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-2 forcing a Game 6 on Tuesday in Syracuse. As I said, the Crunch struck first blood tonight with an unassisted goal by Ondrej Palat, the AHL’s lead goal scorer this post season. The opportunity came at the expense of an intercepted pass from Griffins defenseman Danny DeKeyser. The second goal would came at 16:09, while the Crunch were on the power play from the DeKeyser penalty. Brett Connolly found the back of the net with the assists from Tyler Johnson and Mark Barberio. The Crunch were outshot 42-22 by the Griffins; however, as I have always said, quantity does not always equal quality, as Crunch netminder Cedrick Desjardins was able to stop all but two of the 42 shots against him. The first of the two Griffins goals would come at the hands of left wing Triston Grant in the last 2 minutes of play in the first period. The second would come at 5:36, on a Griffins power play as Palat was serving his two minutes in the box for roughing, at the hands of left wing Tomas Tatar. This was his 14th goal of the post season. Thankfully for the Crunch, this would be the last time that the Griffins would find the back of the net during this encounter. The third goal by the Crunch, and ultimately the game winner, came off the stick of Crunch RW Richard Panik. This was Panik’s 8th goal of the post season. The goal was scored during a Crunch power play while Griffins center Landon Ferraro was in the penalty box for 2 minutes for Tripping. The first of the final two goals would come at the hands of Tyler Johnson at 00:36 in the third with the assists to Palat and Taormina; the second at 17:16 in the third by Dan Sexton into an empty net with the assist from Namestnikov. Once again, the penalties were plentiful on both sides of the ice; not quite as many as there were in Friday’s encounter, but all the same. There were 12 infractions in Saturday’s on ice showdown; 7 against Grand Rapids and 5 for Syracuse. In what seems like a recurring trend, in the last 2 minutes of the game chaos ensues. Griffins RW Mitch Callahan tried to get in a cheap shot on Richard Panik (which probably didn’t work out the way he planned as Panik got to his feet all smiles), and then a flurry of penalties ensued. Both Panik and Callahan, along with Griffins defenseman Brennan Evans and Crunch RW J.T. Brown were all served with 10 minute misconduct penalties, and essentially sent to their respective locker rooms. Griffins LW Triston Grant was also assessed a 5 minute major for Cross Checking. It seems to me as if the Griffins have adopted a “If you can’t beat them, beat on them” attitude in the final minutes of the last 2 games in this series. While this may sound like fun on paper, it’s probably not the best decision when you are about to head on the road for the next game in the series. Fans remember things like this, and are not likely to be very forgiving of this Griffins team when they roll into the War Memorial Arena on Tuesday. In any case, the Crunch have put up two solid performances in a row while in Grand Rapids. In the last two encounters, 5 different Crunch players have been able to find the back of the net; Brett Connolly (2), Ondrej Palat (2), Richard Panik (2), Tyler Johnson (1), and Dan Sexton (1). There have also been 7 individual Crunch players to register an assist in the same timeframe; Panik, Mark Barberio (3), Jean-Phillippe Cote, Johnson, Palat (2), Matt Taormina, and Vladislav Namestnikov. All in all, this means that 9 different Crunch players have found their name on the score sheet in one way or another over the last two encounters. This series is now heading back to Syracuse. The Crunch will take on the Griffins in Game 6 of the 2013 Calder Cup Finals on Tuesday, June 18th at 7:00 p.m. at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse. If you can’t make the trip to Syracuse and would still like to watch your team play, you watch the 2013 C

Syracuse gives themselves a chance. SYR-5 GR-2 Grand Rapids Leads the Series 3-2 Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 42 shots for the win. 40 saves as Grand Rapids threw the kitchen sink at Syracuse to try to avoid having to head back to New York. First Period SYR Palat, (7) , 8:39 SYR Connolly, (6) (Johnson, Barberio), 16:09 (PP) GR Grant, (2) (Ferraro, Callahan), 17:38 Second Period GR Tatar, (14) (Nyquist, Billins), 5:36 (PP) SYR Panik, (8) (Barberio, Palat), 11:59 (PP) Third Period SYR Johnson, (10) (Palat, Taormina), 0:36 SYR Sexton, (6) (Namestnikov), 17:16 (EN) Desjardins and Tyler Johnson were the game's first and second stars. And, just like that, Syracuse has given itself an opportunity at something legendary. Headed west to Michigan their mission was to win 2 out of 3 to get things back to Syracuse with home ice. Things looked bleak as bleak can be down 3-0, but they ultimately accomplished their mission, and withstood an attempted haymaker from Grand Rapids tonight in Game Five to stay alive in the series. Now they have, potentially, 2 games at home to pull of what seemed fairly impossible 48 hours ago. However, Syracuse can't confuse momentum for destiny. They need to show the maturity to understand that all they've accomplished in the past 2 nights was to book their tickets to a Game Six that for many of them is going to be some of the toughest, most intense hockey of their career. Grand Rapids actually probably has less pressure on them in Game Six than they did in Game Five, because the chance to clinch at home is written off and they can fall back on the fact that they haven't lost a game yet in Syracuse's barn. The Crunch need to understand that. Game Six is going to be a war. Hopefully, it's a war where Syracuse's shorter path to the Finals starts to pay some dividends. Grand Rapids played a 7 game series in the Western Conference Finals after going 6 games with the Marlies and the full 5 against the Aeros. Syracuse has to hope that as the battle becomes more pitched in Game Six, they have a little more left in the tank than Grand Rapids does. But, they can't rely on that to just kick in automatically. They have to push that much harder now to make it happen. If they do, there's a good chance they'll get to Game Seven. Box score from TheAHL.com. read more

Versus AHL Calder Cup FinalsGame FiveListen Live on The Fan 1260Live Stream on AHL Live Where: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MichiganWhen: 7:00 PM EDTMedia: Time Warner Cable system in Central NY(cable), AHL Live (online), 1260 AM (radio)

The Calder Cup finals have been heated to say the least. Last night was no different. The Syracuse Crunch were able to keep hope alive as they defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-2 in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. It was Grand Rapids who would strike first blood, with a goal by center Joakim Andersson at 3:34 in the first period. However, just a minute and a half later at 5:04, the Crunch would strike back with a goal from Brett Connolly. The Crunch would not hold onto the lead for very long. Just after the halfway point in the first period, the Griffins would strike back with a goal from right wing Jan Mursak. The score would now be 2-1 Griffins. The second period was all about the Crunch, who scored two goals that period. The first of those goals came at 14:01 when left wing Ondrej Palat fired one past Mrazek, with the assist to Richard Panik. The second, and ultimately the game winner, was at 16:52 when Richard Panik found the net off of a redirect from Mark Barberio and Jean-Phillippe Cote. Unfortunately, penalties have been the name of the game for both sides during this series. Thankfully, the Crunch penalty kill was spot on. There were a total of 19 penalties called in last night’s encounter; 10 for Syracuse and 9 of Grand Rapids. The words ‘hooking’ and ‘roughing’ were tossed around a lot in this game, but that was not the worst of the night. The scariest moment in the game came at 19:38 in the second period, shortly after the goal by Richard Panik, Griffins right win Gustav Nyquist was called for a 5 minute major, and subsequently ejected from the game after spearing Panik. Panik was slow to get up, but did make it off the ice under his own power, and did return to the game. The Crunch have got to get the penalty situation under control if they want to stay alive in this series. Being a man down due to falling into a penalty trap has cost the Crunch plenty of opportunities during this series. Thankfully, between the speed of the defense and the 26 saves put up by goaltender Cedrick Desjardins, they were able to hold off an assault from the Griffins. This game was very close to going into overtime. With just 18 seconds left on the clock, the goal horn sounds as there is a huge pile up in front of the net. Everyone thought that this game would be heading into overtime at this point. Then things got ugly. There was a ton of pushing and shoving, and even some fists flying behind the play. This accounted for another 4 minutes in penalties; one to Luke Glendening of the Griffins, and the other to Desjardins for roughing. Upon review of the play, they deemed the goal to be no good. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the quick reaction time of Desjardins, this may have been a very different game. Things did not get any more civil as the final seconds ticked off of the clock. At 19:51 Griffins defenseman Chad Billens was called for 2 minutes for Hooking. Subsequently unable to control his emotion, Crunch center Mike Angelidis was assessed a 10 minute misconduct for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. However, as the final seconds did indeed tick off of the clock, the Crunch were able to maintain possession of the puck and send this series to a Game 5. The Crunch have a solid chance of taking this series all the way. They have fire power to spare, and plenty of speed on the defense. All they need to do is keep themselves out of the penalty box. Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals is set to take place tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. You can watch the game for free on AHL Live. If you have not registered already, details can be found here. Do you think the Crunch can hold off the Griffins and bring this series back to Syracuse? What do you think needs to happen to keep the Crunch on the right path? Sound off in the comments below and let us know. 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 Th