Guesses on whose missing:
Hlavac doesn't make it out of camp and ends up back in Europe.
Taylor doesn't retire and 'gets' his spot regardless of whether or not he earns it.
Another subpar defenseman will be signed and only if it doesn't work out or injuries pile up will Smaby, Rogers, Egener, or Mihalik get any time up.
Denis traded/waived/demoted within a week one way or the other of the seasons beginning.
The thing about Taylor is that he will be rehabing from surgery and wouldn't join the Lightning til Feb. at earliest. And if things dont go right and he cant get his strength back, that could be it for him
Has there been a more definitive "Taylor will have surgery" statement released recently? Last one I saw did say it seemed likely, but the quotes from Taylor also seemed to reveal his reluctance to do it if at all possible to avoid. Just that if he does have to do it he'd be committed to trying to rehab and make it back as soon as possible.
Added up, I read it to mean he thinks he can still contribute at this level and has every intention of trying to do just that for the Lightning. More still, the Lightning intend on sticking by him, as Captain even, until it is settled.
Guesses on whose missing:
Hlavac doesn't make it out of camp and ends up back in Europe.
Taylor doesn't retire and 'gets' his spot regardless of whether or not he earns it.
Another subpar defenseman will be signed and only if it doesn't work out or injuries pile up will Smaby, Rogers, Egener, or Mihalik get any time up.
Denis traded/waived/demoted within a week one way or the other of the seasons beginning.
Whats going on in goal? Is it up in the air? I see some Denis speculation and some Ramo speculation.
Three goalies will compete in Lightning camp and preseason for the 2 goalie spots on the team. The three goalies will be Holmqvist, Denis & Karri Ramo.
With Boyle(who shoots right) and Kuba(who shoots left) playing right defense, any thoughts on who will play on right Defense. If my memory serves me correctly, we only have left shooting defensemen left.
General manager Jay Feaster said Wednesday that barring trades, the team will try filling the last of its top six defensive positions from within the organization.
We should replace Denis with like CuJO. Our goltending needs some work on.
First Feaster has to find someone willing to take on Denis' contract in a trade....good luck with that one. Cujo isn't the answer. He and Holmqvist had similar numbers with Holmqvist having a better GAA. I don't see how he's an upgrade over the current tandem.
Has there been a more definitive "Taylor will have surgery" statement released recently? Last one I saw did say it seemed likely, but the quotes from Taylor also seemed to reveal his reluctance to do it if at all possible to avoid. Just that if he does have to do it he'd be committed to trying to rehab and make it back as soon as possible.
Added up, I read it to mean he thinks he can still contribute at this level and has every intention of trying to do just that for the Lightning. More still, the Lightning intend on sticking by him, as Captain even, until it is settled.
Question 8: With Tim Taylor's future uncertain, what do you plan to do about the captain situation. I personally feel either Brad Richards or Marty deserve it the most?
JF: Again...three guys (Vinny, Brad and Marty) will wear an "A" this year. Tim's contract expires at the end of the season. We will address the Captaincy beyond this season during the summer of 2008.
Since 3 guys will wear the "A", then there won't be a "C", so no Taylor.
Nice read, even if some of the Q's got a bit redundant. Answered the Taylor question pretty definitively, even if it does have all the open armed lovefest ready for his return.
Not too surprised about the comments of being set until training camp, and really liked the answer to the "dump Torts/Boyle deserves better" comment.
