By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
There was a reason why when Adam Oates learned the NHL lockout was ending, he and his coaching staff sprinted to the Washington Capitals’ offices to get ready for the season. Time was short and the to-do list was long. That was on full display in the Capitals’ 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday to open the season.
After holding their first post-lockout workout Sunday on home ice in Tampa, the Lightning will travel about 2 1/2 hours south for four days of practice and team activities starting Monday in Estero, Fla.
Brent Sutter wasn't out of work for long.
On March 25, J.T. Brown was in Worcester, Mass., playing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament. Less than a week later, he was in Tampa, playing for the Lightning in the NHL.
There was a time when Steven Stamkos' one-timer on the power play gave opponents' nightmares. Quick pass, quicker shot and the Tampa Bay Lightning phenom cruised to a 51 goals in 2009-10 as a 20-year-old.
Debate was sharp on both sides. What was certain: Mike Green's left arm made contact with Brett Connolly's head along the boards and sent the Tampa Bay Lightning forward crumbling to the ice.
It has been one unbelievable "M*A*S*H" kind of year for the Lightning, with injuries contributing to a season that started with lofty expectations but went off the rails. But Tampa Bay is suddenly getting healthier — getting back the likes of Victor Hedman, Tom Pyatt and Ryan Shannon perhaps just in time.
Team overviews of all the teams in the NHL.
The Prince of Wales trophy sat untouched on a table in the middle of the ice. It's not the one that Zdeno Chara is hoping to take for a skate.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are once again hitching their hopes of blocking Boston's path to the Stanley Cup finals on goaltender Dwayne Roloson.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are once again hitching their hopes of blocking Boston's path to the Stanley Cup finals on goaltender Dwayne Roloson.
Mike Smith went to bed thinking he'd be in his usual backup spot as Tampa Bay's goalie. Less than 24 hours later, he stood in the Lightning's net when the puck dropped to start Game 5 of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Boston and Tampa Bay have played a pair of surprisingly high scoring games and the trend might continue the way the Eastern Conference finals is going.
Scoring five goals in one period didn't satisfy Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien. Neither did an outstanding offensive game by prize rookie Tyler Seguin.
There's a procedure in the NHL for a player coming back from a concussion: The doctors put it off as long as necessary, and the coaches keep it quiet as long as possible.
"The game shape that we talked about, that we focused so much on during the week, really made a difference," Boucher said. "You could feel at the end of the second period. You could see it in the other team, you could see it in our players."
Capitals Aptitude Adjustment: Team still learning Oates’ system after abbreviated camp →
"I'm not going to kid myself. It takes three weeks to a month to really put things on the ice ... a system and really execute it consistently, and even then we usually start the year all over the place like everybody else," Boucher said. "These guys are going to be animals coming out of a cage. They've been wanting this for a long time. The main focus this week is game shape and chemistry."
