Crossing The NHL’s Atlantic Division: Week 20

Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Lightning

By Tasha Meares of Bolts By The Bay

This has been another week of twists and turns for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Steven Stamkos was optimistic that he would be able to make his return to the ice on Saturday; however, that never came to be. After a visit with the team’s physicians it was determined that his leg was not fully healed, and would not be able to return to NHL ice just yet. This also meant that he would be forced to miss the Olympics as well. This was certainly a blow to both the alternate captain and the entirety of Bolts Nation.

In his place is Lightning captain Martin St. Louis representing Team Canada at the Games. We could argue all day that he should have been on Team Canada’s roster in the first place, which he should have, but at the end of the day at least he is getting to represent his country.

Prior to the break, the Bolts had a pretty tough couple of days. Thankfully, after dropping two games in a row, the Lightning were able to go into the break strong with a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

The Bolts have six players participating in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games: Martin St. Louis, Kristers Gudlevskis, Radko Gudas, Ondrej Palat, Sami Salo and Richard Panik. This gives us plenty of reasons to keep our eyes tuned to the biggest international stage of them all.

I would definitely keep my eyes on the young guns suiting up for the Czech Republic. Gudas and Palat have been playing great so far this season, and having some young, hungry blood on a team is certainly never a bad thing. Also, all eyes will be on Team Canada as Martin St. Louis gets ready for action.

This will certainly be an action-packed couple of weeks.