What are they concerned with in T Bay these days? The goalies water bottles and their placement in a special league mandated holder on the top of the nets.
"While it was easy to take the bottles out of the sleeve, it became difficult for goaltenders, who are bogged down with gloves and straps on each hand, to get the bottle back into the sleeve without undoing either their blocker or catching glove.
"It would take too much time to get it out and put it back in because the holder was so tight, so I really didn't have time to drink between whistles," Lightning goaltender Johan Holmqvist said.
Given the time constraints, Holmqvist would end up skipping out on taking a quick swig of water before getting ready for a faceoff. And for a player like Holmqvist, who is constantly hydrating himself before a game and sweats profusely during the game, every ounce of water is required to keep him hydrated. "
There's other pressing issues in Lightning land as well. Just like Ottawa, the team is looking for secondary scoring from someone other than their top line of Vincent Lecavalier, Vinny Prospal and Martin St. Louis.
Chris Gratton hasn't scored in 20 games and free agent signee Michell Ouellet was a healthy scratch Saturday night and might be tonight as well.
On the Ottawa side of the ledger, Randy Robitaille is going to get a chance to play on the top line with Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza. If this doesn't get the underachieving winger (nee invisible) going, then this guy should be the first to ride the pine once the team is healthy. Maybe Bryan Murray now wishes he kept Oleg Saprykin around instead of hauling Robitaille out of Europe. At least Saprykin showed a pulse. The ice-girls who clear the snow between plays get more hits than this guy.
It should also be noted that John Paddock finally did the responsible thing and broke up Wade Redden and Andre Meszaros as a pair on the back end. Meszaros got the demotion to the pairing with Luke Richardson but that shouldn't obscure the fact Meszaros has been better than Redden so far this year. Even Joe Corvo is starting to look like a better option than Redden.
But alas, the Senators will probably turn things around on this road trip. The players seem genuinely upset and there's too much talent and work ethic in the room to stay down for long. Look for Ray Emery to put in at least a solid, consistent game like he did in relief of Martin Gerber against the Rangers and maybe the Sens can steal one in Tampa. But it will be awfully difficult stopping Lecavalier without Anton Volchenkov in the lineup.
Memo to Redden: Time to step up.
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P.S. Take a look at Lecavalier's socks in the above picture. What the f*!* is that? He looks like an extra from The Road Warrior or something.
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