After a long, hot summer, the moment hockey fans have been waiting for is finally here. A brand new NHL season is dawning and the excitement is electric. This is especially true in Tampa Bay as the Lightning seem to be poised on the brink of a fantastic 2014-15 campaign. Years of careful rebuilding are starting to pay dividends and many people are taking notice in a big way. This is great. So why does it make us so incredibly nervous? (Photos/Susan Ferlita)
Teams in nontraditional markets have the blessing and curse of relative obscurity in the larger hockey world. Whether it’s due to geography or underachieving squads, they just don’t seem to pay as much attention to what’s going on down here until it’s time to escape winter weather. Many Lightning fans have long asked why members of the mainstream media don’t talk about our players and their achievements on a more regular basis. Sure they may have talked about Steven Stamkos and the insane number of goals he scored but that’s as far as it went for a while. It’s a little unnerving to hear so much chatter about the Bolts but they’ve become too formidable to ignore.
The Hockey News Season Preview hit newsstands recently and showed their predictions on everything from award winners to division standings. The Lightning were pegged as finishing second in the Atlantic behind the Boston Bruins and make the playoffs. When it came to selecting which teams would make the Stanley Cup Final the publication had the Lightning facing off against the Chicago Blackhawks. Pete Jensen of NHL.com had the same matchup for the Final. While both THN and Jensen pegged the Blackhawks as the Cup winners, it speaks volumes for the improvement in Tampa Bay.
On the other hand all of this press is more than a little nerve wracking. The high praise
leads to great expectations. A lot of questions remain for the Bolts. Can Steven Stamkos return to his pre-injury form? Will Ben Bishop match last year’s spectacular season? Can Calder Trophy finalist forwards Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson avoid sophomore slumps? The general consensus seems to be that even if parts of the roster falter, the off-season changes put the Bolts in a better position to deal with that adversity. A good example of this was a drastically improved penalty kill unit in their preseason games. The preseason is definitely not a direct correlation but the difference was easy to see.
When it comes down to it, predictions are just that. The fast and unpredictable nature of the game makes it nearly impossible to foresee who will be left standing as champions next June. Anything can happen in the NHL and the Lightning learned that the hard way last season. There are a lot of reasons to be excited about hockey in Tampa Bay over the next few months. The team has put themselves in a position to be incredibly fun to watch. One of the coolest things about these high profile predictions is that people in high places see the possibilities for the Bolts as well.
Follow me on Twitter @alexis_b82 and please “like” LightningShout on Facebook. You can email us at [email protected].
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
