Yeah, that’s me… Of course no one has heard hide nor hair from me on the blogosphere about the Lightning since… well, my last post. I’ve been busy as hell with other projects and interest in other things…

Not that I am going to let Boltsmag fade away. Which leads me to this post: I’d have aprpeciated it if someone could have pointed out to me how out-of-whack the site looks when you venture to the archives. It makes me ashamed

Back to the drawing board on that… And who knows, maybe I’ll talk Olaf Kolzig or Steven Stamkos sometime soon?

You are not making the most of first impressions in hockey circles. Just saying.

I don’t know how far and wide this has carried since I saw it first mentioned in a St. Petersburg Tiems article last week, but Vincent Lecavalier wants to stay in Tampa. That isn’t news (though our friends in the province of Quebec would tell us otherwise)

What is news is Kent Hughes telling the world it’s not a short term deal. It’s a long one. To paraphrase: rest of his career.

And nwo Erik Erlendsson at the Tribune gets a money quote from Vincent:

Despite a pending change in ownership and a certain change in head coaches, Lecavalier said he intends to discuss signing a long-term deal that could keep him with Tampa Bay his entire career.

“I want to. I just think they want to wait to be officially in charge before we talk about it,” Lecavalier said Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to the new owners. They have a passion for the game. Oren Koules and Len Barrie have played the game. I’m encouraged about the new owners, and I’m excited about things.”

There’s no time line. There’s only the talk…

And right now I am still wondering what to make of the direction of the Lightning, as they transition to OK hockey from Palace Sports.

He’s gone. It can’t be so… But it is?

The last few months I have not been comfortable with the direction of the Lightning. Seeing Brad Richards go was painful - though I am told it was a done deal for a while. Now this.

John Tortorella may have lost the players at one point or another but I believed in his style and how he handled things. Though there was resentment and bitterness at times between the players adn their coach — he wasn’t paid to be Mr. Popular, he was paid to get results. And for a long time he was doign just that.

The rumors have Barry Melrose taking over here in Tampa… Which I took for a joke the first time the rumor surfaced months ago. I still find it a joke, and Oren Koules will not be investing wisely in his purchase if he has already settled on this choice.

As for John, I wish him only the best as he has brought only the best out of the players here in Tampa. His name being engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup is proof of that. And I don’t think it will be the last time it occurs either.

As of right now… it’s that baseball team that plays home games in St. Pete.

Yes, your Tampa Bay Rays.

There have been so many instances so far this season where a title next to the Rays name (AL East leading, for example) is just too foreign to grasp… But it’s happening, it’s really happening…

Enjoy it.

What do you do when someone is trying to voice disapproval of the new Rays ballpark propsoed by the team?

Answer: Block signs of the anti-sentiment. Hat tip to St. Petersblog.

The Tampa Bay area seems to be in disbelief right now with the team that resides in St. Petersburg performing in a certainly non sub-mediocre level that the area is so accustomed to.

Yes, the mighty Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Mighty? MIGHTY? They aren’t world beaters (as the series in Boston last week could certainly point out) but they are a sight better than what they have been in the past.

St. Petersblog pointed out how the Rays are ranked #4 on the worst-franchises ever list and it’s certainly fitting and deserved of the franchise that once attempted to charge a marching band to stay and watch the game after they performed the national anthem. On the field, they have won 70 games ONCE in ten seasons. Off the field… well, that national anthem flap is only the tip of the iceberg. I won’t go into that.

So with a whole lot of pathetic anecdotes and poor play dominating the team history, it’s not surprising that Friday’s game versus the Angels — a thrilling win with strong pitching and a Sayanora home run by Evan Longoria — drew a paltry 12,000. Even American Idol top-three performer Syesha Mercado couldn’t lure a larger crowd of people to spend a hot and muggy Friday night inside the climate controlled comfort of Tropicana Field and watch two of the top performing teams this season in the AL go at it.

It won’t take long for fever to truly grap Tampa Bay with this baseball team. But there have been a few seasons where there has been one degree or another of promise that only spiraled out of control into a pit of desolation and humiliation.

Terrence Mann’s soliloquy from Field of Dreams doesn’t apply yet. People won’t necessarily come, Ray. Winning may cure all ills but the element of belief hasn’t hit the general sport-fan populous in the area. Once it does… Look out. Until then, however, empty nights at the Dome will be what greets the team.

That last poll? About the #1 draft pick? It’s irrelevant. Brant James article in the St. Petersburg Times this morning shows why. Steve Stamkos will indeed be the top pick for the Lightning.

Why so sure? Because when a sports franchise employs a Hollywood marketing blitz comparable to what has been used the last year for The Dark Knight (in theaters later this summer) hyping a prospect, you know they are big on them.

Seen Stamkos?

(hats off to the guys who thought up the flash mob viral marketing, if it was Koules people or an ad agency somewhere in the Bay area)

I gave no coverage to the Lightning winning the Draft Lottery… But I will ask you for your thoughts on what the Lightning should do with the pick.

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And While we’re at it — and local media lacks any coverage of this stuff — head on over to MyNHLDraft and view some fo the mock drafts and other draft and prospect information.

I’ve gotten used to the New York Islanders pulling stuff like this and I’ve also gotten used to the Tampa Bay lack-of-Devil Rays pulling this on a cost effective platform in the past…

But a nine year investment in a rookie? This takes things to new risk levels:

“This is obviously fairly unique,” Friedman said. “But it was something both sides had interest in really exploring and talking about. And both sides had to make some concessions along the way to get to this point.

“… We have to stay open minded. The economics of the game and us being a low-revenue team, we have to think differently and take chances such as this to keep our nucleus in place as long as we can.”

The salaries for the first six years of the agreement are guaranteed, with the team holding a one-year option for 2014 season and a subsequent two-year option for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The contract guarantees $17.5 million. If the Rays exercise both options, Longoria would earn more than $44 million over the life of the nine-year agreement.

“Fairly Unique” does not begin to explain it. But Longoria was signed on the cheap considering what has has already accomplished and what he could command on an open market… IF he pans out (and even if not — scrub players are getting obscene money in MLB in recent years).