Lightning's plan to employ half of NHL moves onto goaltenders
by James Mirtle on Feb 2, 2009 4:59 PM CST
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The Tampa Bay sideshow has used 41 different players so far this season, including 17 defencemen, and with Mike Smith apparently ailing, they're pulling another unknown goaltender from the minors:
The last we saw of Lightning goalie Mike Smith he was smashing a water bottle and overturning carts in the hallway leading to the locker room after he was pulled from Friday's loss to the Flyers. It is unknown if that had any affect on Monday's announcement Smith will not fly with the team for Tuesday's game against the Islanders.
Mike McKenna, signed Monday to an NHL contract, and Karri Ramo will be the goaltending duo. Riku Helenius, who made his NHL debut Friday in relief of Smith, will be sent to AHL Norfolk where he will start the next several games. It is unclear whether McKenna or Ramo will start against the Islanders.
Given Ramo's play so far, both in the NHL and the AHL, my guess is they give Mr. McKenna his first NHL start and make him No. 42.
A 25-year-old from St. Louis, he played two seasons in the NAHL, four years with St. Lawrence University in the NCAA and two more with Las Vegas in the ECHL before becoming a full-time AHLer last season with Portland. He has a .904 save percentage with Norfolk this season and an 11-10-1 record.
Ramo, meanwhile, has been one of the worst regular netminders in the AHL and may not be long for this side of the ocean.
The Lightning have to be approaching some sort of a record for players employed this season, and you have to imagine that's had an affect on the team.
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Go Shaft!
McKenna has a lot of talent that isn’t reflected in his numbers – he seems to keep getting caught behind bad AHL teams that have led to mediocre save percentages. Now that he is finally getting his big break, hopefully his talent will show through but being as he is behind the Bolts blueline, I wouldn’t bet on it …
I have a blog too! www.scottyhockey.com
Let's Go Rangers!
by Scotty Hockey on Feb 2, 2009 7:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I’m … wow … speechless.
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by Cory Lavalette on Feb 2, 2009 8:13 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
McKenna was in Blues camp a couple years ago and there was quite a few fans disappointed that he didn’t get an NHL contract based on his performance.
by degroat on Feb 3, 2009 7:57 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
None of these are saviors. If Smith’s injury lasts more than a couple games, the Lightning can forget any slim playoff hope they might have had.
by Habs on Feb 3, 2009 11:19 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Merry-go-round
Ramo was recently hit with a 6-game AHL suspension, which is why Tampa sent him down in the first place and brought up Helenius instead, a move that would otherwise have been nonsensical. Ramo needs to be assigned to the AHL to run down the games on the suspension, but now that is not possible because Tampa needs two of their AHL goalies for the NHL while someone still has to be eligible to play in the AHL. Helenius was an emergency backup in the NHL with little AHL experience, so it was only logical they wanted McKenna in the NHL and Helenius in the AHL. I think they still view Ramo as a potential backup to Smith in the long term though. He’s better than the numbers would suggest.
by bearhunter on Feb 3, 2009 4:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
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