GDT: 1/29/15 - 7:30PM EDT - Detroit VS Tampa Bay

[MattM92]

Great team game tonight. Bishop made some big saves. Let's not kid ourselves and pretend he's a god now though. He's been this way this year. He'll have a great game or two mixed into a series of just good/ok games. He's definitely not bad, he's almost always good enough to grab the win, he's just not a top goalie. Not sure how that can even be disputed based on his stats this year.

 

[Sky04]

Great team game tonight. Bishop made some big saves. Let's not kid ourselves and pretend he's a god now though. He's been this way this year. He'll have a great game or two mixed into a series of just good/ok games. He's definitely not bad, he's almost always good enough to grab the win, he's just not a top goalie. Not sure how that can even be disputed based on his stats this year.

So what else do you want? You could blame half his losses on the terrible defense that shows up at an even lower rate, he can't bail out the defense 100% of the time even though he was pretty much doing that on a regular basis last season. When the defense shows up, Bishop usually wins the game.

 

[czechrover]

Just a general question...

I have a season ticket for Hc Sparta Prague in the Czech league and follow the lightning in the NHL. We often go to away games... Its easy because the furthest we have to travel to another stadium is 4 hours. I know its a little different in the NHL because of the number of games, cost and huge distances. I'm just watching last nights game on gamecenter and there seems to be so many Red Wings fans in the arena. Is this normal!?

 

[BoltSTH]

Just a general question...

I have a season ticket for Hc Sparta Prague in the Czech league and follow the lightning in the NHL. We often go to away games... Its easy because the furthest we have to travel to another stadium is 4 hours. I know its a little different in the NHL because of the number of games, cost and huge distances. I'm just watching last nights game on gamecenter and there seems to be so many Red Wings fans in the arena. Is this normal!?

Unfortunately it is the case, same for the other original 6. Worse still is that most live in Tampa and many go to other games supporting the Bolts, some are STH.
I give anyone 1 season to get over their old club if they move here, but it seems, for some, that having a a distant relative that once went to a game in MSG or the Joe is is enough reason to turn traitor.

 

[tattooedsean]

Coach Cooper praises those in the upper deck

http://instagram.com/p/ydu0NooeF6/

 

[Werewolf]

Just a general question...

I have a season ticket for Hc Sparta Prague in the Czech league and follow the lightning in the NHL. We often go to away games... Its easy because the furthest we have to travel to another stadium is 4 hours. I know its a little different in the NHL because of the number of games, cost and huge distances. I'm just watching last nights game on gamecenter and there seems to be so many Red Wings fans in the arena. Is this normal!?

Florida is a tourist destination for the Northern states. So you'll see a lot of Boston/Detroit/Montreal/New York/Pittsburgh fans down here because of their damn awful winters and the paradise that we live in. A lot of the older folk from the Northeast and Midwest have Winter homes in Florida. A lot of people from Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York, etc...they have spent 40+ years rooting for those teams.

Take my family for example. My father is a die hard Browns/Indians fan...he spent 45 years rooting for Cleveland. Now he is in Tampa and roots for Bucs/Rays whenever they aren't playing the Browns...his first love. I have spent 15+ years living in Tampa and came down young enough to root for all Tampa Bay teams...I still have some fondness of my Cleveland teams. But by far I make Tampa my home and I root for the home town team - especially the Lightning. My daughter and son ... they could care less about Cleveland - both only root for Tampa teams.

I suspect there is a TON of people who travelled out of the frigid weather and now make their home here...it just takes time and generations for it to stick. I haven't met many people at all my age that were born and raised here which is strange. It is normal to see Ohio State sweatshirts, Georgia Bulldogs t-shirts, Michigan hats, especially worn by the older crowd. The younger generation and people my age are probably sitting up higher. And the older crowd who only spends ticket money on a couple of games a year to see their team...spend the most to get down in the lower bowl.

It is a healthy franchise...but it is also paradise for those from the North and they spend good money to be in the lower bowl. I should know...sometimes I sell them my tickets for a very healthy profit.

 

[Glide5]

Just a general question...

I have a season ticket for Hc Sparta Prague in the Czech league and follow the lightning in the NHL. We often go to away games... Its easy because the furthest we have to travel to another stadium is 4 hours. I know its a little different in the NHL because of the number of games, cost and huge distances. I'm just watching last nights game on gamecenter and there seems to be so many Red Wings fans in the arena. Is this normal!?

In the Wintertime, it is common for a team with a big fanbase to have most of the crowd in the stadium. Tamps is still Florida, and most people up north love the idea of getting to Florida at some point to thaw out. Especially a team like Toronto, because tickets to Amalie are so cheap compared to tickets in Toronto. On nights where we play Toronto, most of the stadium will chant Go Leafs Go.

Some people hate this, but I kinda like it. Its a lot of fun at those games because the Bolt fans that are around have a lot more fight in them, compared to nights when it is just us in the stadium. Also, a full is a full stadium. I'd rather it be full of a rival teams fans, than half empty with just our fans. We don't want a Sunrise on our hands here haha.

 

[DFC]

Great team game tonight. Bishop made some big saves. Let's not kid ourselves and pretend he's a god now though. He's been this way this year. He'll have a great game or two mixed into a series of just good/ok games. He's definitely not bad, he's almost always good enough to grab the win, he's just not a top goalie. Not sure how that can even be disputed based on his stats this year.

Aside from the Carolina game, Bishop has been really good lately. We also know, by his own admission, he wasn't at 100% to start the season. To me he seems to be switching to a higher gear now. When we've won close games lately (Edmonton, Colorado, even Buffalo), he's been a huge reason for it.

 

[Leonardo87]

Aside from the Carolina game, Bishop has been really good lately. We also know, by his own admission, he wasn't at 100% to start the season. To me he seems to be switching to a higher gear now. When we've won close games lately (Edmonton, Colorado, even Buffalo), he's been a huge reason for it.

I don't even want to look back at that Carolina game, they played down to that team and suffered the consequences including Bishop.

It seems against the bigger guns we step our game up, but we are going to need points and can't throw away points playing against bottom dwelling teams. Those are golden opportunities to get higher in the standings.

But I agree about Bishop he has been very good as of late with the exception of that Carolina game, he may not be playing like he did last season, but I don't think we need him to do, for this team to be successful.

 

[Outl4w]

I was there last night; three rows off the ice. Big Ben really did influence the game. It made a few saves they would have been goals on any other goalie. The save and Tatar and the one timer save were a BEAUT. TB outplayed DET in every aspect. The shots were close, but most of DET shots were from non- scoring areas. The D and Forwards really played great. I am a fan of both teams, but it is making me hard to me be a TBL fan first since I live here. DET has the history, the playoff streak almost as old as the lightning, but man the Lightning are a great franchise. Vinik and Yzerman have built a winner. Stamkos and Hedman lead the young talent, but the depth and drafting is unreal.

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

Bishop was in beast mode last night and it certainly energized the home crowd. You could watch the enthusiasm drain from the faces of the (est.) 1,000,000,000 Red Wings fans sitting around me as we kept scoring and he kept plucking their shots out of the air. By the middle of the 3rd there were no more LGRW chants and no more trash-talking about our "horrible franchise and fans".

 

[MattM92]

So what else do you want? You could blame half his losses on the terrible defense that shows up at an even lower rate, he can't bail out the defense 100% of the time even though he was pretty much doing that on a regular basis last season. When the defense shows up, Bishop usually wins the game.

I'm not the one suggesting we do anything else right now. My issue is people acting like Bishop is the best goalie in the world when his numbers don't come close to backing that up. He was elite the first half of last season, but that was a minor percentage of his career. Since when is the anomaly the new rule?

Bishop is getting the job done for now, but it doesn't mean we won't upgrade in the (near) future. Bishop is a fine goalie, but would you rather have Niemi or Price? Of course, we can only hope Vasilevskiy ends up anywhere close to Price's level, but that's certainly within the realm of possibility. Personally, I don't see Bishop finishing his contract here.

 

[Brie]

I'm glad that they keep focusing on these:



They need to get both to click going forward even if the 5-on-6 hasn't been bad they need to get better at them when they are only up by a goal to keep the pressure from the other team down, to clear the puck better and get better at hitting those empty nets.

 

[DFC]

I'm not the one suggesting we do anything else right now. My issue is people acting like Bishop is the best goalie in the world when his numbers don't come close to backing that up. He was elite the first half of last season, but that was a minor percentage of his career. Since when is the anomaly the new rule?

Bishop is getting the job done for now, but it doesn't mean we won't upgrade in the (near) future. Bishop is a fine goalie, but would you rather have Niemi or Price? Of course, we can only hope Vasilevskiy ends up anywhere close to Price's level, but that's certainly within the realm of possibility. Personally, I don't see Bishop finishing his contract here.

We don't know exactly what Bishop is just yet. He was beyond elite at the first of last season. At his height (December) he was rocking numbers that were better than Dominik Hasek's in his prime. We can't believe, nor should we have believed, he's capable of sustaining that. But we also can't judge him by what he did when he was injured at the beginning of last calendar year.

Bishop has been getting better as this year has gone on. He's stolen a game or two for us now. One thing to remember is he hasn't been put in the position to put the team on his back like he was last year, so there's a lot more opportunity for him to fail than there is for him to succeed. When we win it's because we're supposed to win, and when we lose it's because Bishop couldn't steal one. Last year when we won, it was very often because Bishop stole the game, and when we lost it was because he couldn't steal them all.

He was also very good in Ottawa before the trade. I think the jury is still out on exactly where Bishop fits in the grand scheme of NHL goalies, but there have been at least as many good signs as bad.

 

[MattM92]

We don't know exactly what Bishop is just yet. He was beyond elite at the first of last season. At his height (December) he was rocking numbers that were better than Dominik Hasek's in his prime. We can't believe, nor should we have believed, he's capable of sustaining that. But we also can't judge him by what he did when he was injured at the beginning of last calendar year.

Bishop has been getting better as this year has gone on. He's stolen a game or two for us now. One thing to remember is he hasn't been put in the position to put the team on his back like he was last year, so there's a lot more opportunity for him to fail than there is for him to succeed. When we win it's because we're supposed to win, and when we lose it's because Bishop couldn't steal one. Last year when we won, it was very often because Bishop stole the game, and when we lost it was because he couldn't steal them all.

He was also very good in Ottawa before the trade. I think the jury is still out on exactly where Bishop fits in the grand scheme of NHL goalies, but there have been at least as many good signs as bad.

He hasn't gotten better as time goes on though. .911 in October, .922 in November, .907 in December and .908 in January. And in Ottawa he had a .917 over two years. Solid but not world beating.

Again, he is what he is. Good but not great. Not a top 5, maybe not even a top 10. He gets the job done, but I don't see him finishing his contract with us.

 

[DFC]

He hasn't gotten better as time goes on though. .911 in October, .922 in November, .907 in December and .908 in January. And in Ottawa he had a .917 over two years. Solid but not world beating.

Again, he is what he is. Good but not great. Not a top 5, maybe not even a top 10. He gets the job done, but I don't see him finishing his contract with us.

His January numbers are pretty skewed by the game where he came in in relief of Nabby (starters tend to give up goals in that situation), and he wasn't great in the Carolina game. But ESPN has him listed as our top performer in 4 games in January, and 3 of our last 5 (not even including last night).

Vs. Philly he gave up 3 goals on 12 shots in relief. So in January starts (not counting a relief appearance), Bishop's save percentage is .939.

 

[Stamper]

I'm not the one suggesting we do anything else right now. My issue is people acting like Bishop is the best goalie in the world when his numbers don't come close to backing that up. He was elite the first half of last season, but that was a minor percentage of his career. Since when is the anomaly the new rule?

Bishop is getting the job done for now, but it doesn't mean we won't upgrade in the (near) future. Bishop is a fine goalie, but would you rather have Niemi or Price? Of course, we can only hope Vasilevskiy ends up anywhere close to Price's level, but that's certainly within the realm of possibility. Personally, I don't see Bishop finishing his contract here.

Niemi was good enough to win Hawks a cup, I'm personally more than fine with that :smile And really, Price has won an Olympic gold in a team where even Lindy would have kept the score clean. After that his achievements are equally moot as most NHL goalies that aren't considered top 10.