St. Pete Times
GM Moon’s assessment of the First Quarter of the season:
It has been an incredibly disappointing start to the season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. We have been extremely ineffective offensively and very porous defensively. Of course this has lead to some awful results and a poor position in the standings. Veterans have not provided the necessary results they were expected to provide and the younger players have, for the most part, not stepped out to push the older guys.
The few bright spots have been the offensive output of Boris Mironov and the recent good play of Bryan Smolinski. Also at times John Grahame has looked like he is ready to step up and take the reigns as the number one goalie but like the play of the rest of his team-mates inconsistency has been a real problem for him.
Now that I have had time to assess the players and the roles that they can and should be playing this year I expect to make some big changes. This will involve trades, line-up changes and guys being switched in and out of the line-up.
Forwards:
Pavel Bure: Bure has played much too erratically for the amount of skill he has and money that he makes. After missing all of last season with a bad knee injury Pavel has not come back to the level that he or the team wishes him to be at.
Grade: C-
Ron Francis: Francis started off the season slowly, but recently has been increasing his scoring. His leadership will be counted on for the rest of the season and the younger players will look to him to lead this team out of the first quarter slump and into the play-offs.
Grade: B-
Bryan Smolinski: Smolinski has been a pleasant surprise for us this year. He has been the most consistent player and earned his spot on the top line. Unfortunately, because of the poor play of his team-mates more will be needed from Bryan if the team hopes to improve.
Grade: A-
Mike Johnson: Johnson was a player I expected to take a big step forward this season. He has failed to do so but his play of late is encouraging. Perhaps a change of line mates will produce better results for Mike.
Grade: C
Craig Johnson: Craig has been asked to provide more of an offensive role than he normally would because of our weakness on the LW. Often playing on the 2nd line has had trouble fitting into an offensive role. Since being moved done to the 3rd and 4th lines he seems to have been more comfortable and I hope that will show in his play.
Grade: C-
Martin Straka: Martin was brought in to help provide the team with some offense. Unfortunately, he has only been marginally successful in this area. He has yet to find hi scoring touch and will need to do so in order to help the team and impress me and the fans.
Grade: D+
Tim Connolly: Young Tim Connolly has been mainly kept on the 4th line in order to allow him to gain confidence in his game. However, we may see him get a more prominent role in the next 25 games. He is not playing poorly in his limited time but needs to make sure he stays responsible defensively and improve on his -12 rating.
Grade: C
Mats Lindgren: One of the pleasant surprises on the team Lindgren was brought in for his defensive play but quickly moved up to the second line where he has managed to be somewhat successful so far. We hope he continues his fine play for the rest of the season.
Grade: B+
Scott Young: Scott has been asked to play on the 3rd line due to the depth on our right wing. He has done a great job of playing defense and is tied for the lead in +/-. Perhaps he will soon get a shot at top line duty if he continues his solid play.
Grade: B
Travis Green: Green has been exactly what I had expected solid defensively and not too flashy on offense. He has provided solid 3rd line play, while anchoring the penalty kill as well.
Grade: B
Tyson Nash: Nash hasn’t done much and therefore hasn’t received much playing time. I guess he has at least allowed our top guys to have a rest so that they can underpreform and not get tired doing it.
Grade: D
Chuck Kobasew: Chuck was brought up to the team recently and has been promoted to the 2nd line in order to take advantage of his natural offensive abilities. We will see if he can handle the added responsibility or if he will need to be placed back on the 4th line.
Grade: not enough games
Defense:
Boris Mironov: Mironov has led the team in scoring, assists and minutes played all season long. He has a low +/-, but that has to do with the fact that he is always on the ice and we tend to let in a ton of goals. His offensive play has been much needed and without him I would be scared to know where we would be scoringwise.
Grade: A-
Brad Bombadir: Brad has contributed absolutely nothing on offense and is near the bottom of the team in +/-. He has been asked to play a lot of minutes based on his experience but he has underperformed and disappointed all year long.
Grade: D
Tomas Kloucek: Starting to become my favourite player Kloucek is fun if nothing else. One of only three players to be plus, although it may have to do with the fact he is often in the penalty box or kicked out of games, Kloucek has turned into the team goon while maintaining a solid defensive presence. He may not fight you but he has no problem kicking or headbutting.
Grade: B+
Shane Hnidy: Shane has provided the team with some toughness, but unfortuantly has been unable to consistently provide the necessary defensive presence this team needs. He is often asked to play more minutes than he probably is used to playing but still most do more to help the team defensively.
Grade: C
Scott Ferguson: Ferguson has come in and done a deceent job. He has added some toughness to the backend. However, there is still some work that needs to be done in regards to consistency and improving his overall play.
Grade: C
Lubomir Sekeras: Sekeras has been a pleasant surprise for us this year. He was expected to be the 6th defenseman or in the AHL this season but instead has stepped in and provided some decent offense for us. He also has been able to stay responsible in his own end posting a respectable, for this team, -4.
Grade: B+
Goalies:
John Grahame: Grahame has been asked to step into the starting role after a number of poor showings by Felix Potvin. He has done well at times but too often has had mental mistakes that have cost this team games. While the team has not provided him with stellar defense more is expected out of John as the season progresses.
Grade: C+
Felix Potvin: Felix was counted on to be the starter this season and to help mentor young John Grahame. Unfortunately he has been entirely ineffective when placed in net and has forced us to go with Grahame earlier than we had wanted.
Grade: F
|
