.

[Aquaman]

The wait is over for Andreychuk

Canadian Press
6/7/2004

TAMPA, Fla. (CP) - When former Boston Bruins great Raymond Bourque placed a call to his former teammates Tim Taylor and Dave Andreychuk this week to wish them luck in the playoffs, it was only fitting.

In 2001, Bourque was in exactly the position as Andreychuk - heading into the Stanley Cup final after 22 years in the NHL without a championship.

Bourque finally got his ring that year with Colorado after two decades of frustration with Boston and after Tampa's 2-1 win over Calgary Monday, so did Andreychuk.

``It's been an awesome run,'' Andreychuk told the CBC after the win. ``I can't put it into words but it's a lot more than expected.''

Andreychuk's experience and leadership were a big part of the young Lightning's rise to their first Stanley Cup final this season, but there was as much focus in the playoffs on his personal ambitions.

Despite his lengthy career with decent teams in Buffalo, Toronto, New Jersey, Boston and Colorado, Andreychuk had never appeared in Cup final until this season.

He's one of the NHL's top power forwards of all time with 634 regular-season goals and an NHL record 260 power play goals.

But he never found himself with the right team at the right time.

After 11 seasons in Buffalo, not far from his home town of Hamilton, he was traded to Toronto in a blockbuster deal that sent goalie Grant Fuhr to the Sabres in 1993.

The Leafs were one win away from reaching the final that season, but were beaten by Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings.

He moved on to New Jersey in 1996, just missing the Devils' first Cup in 1995, and then signed as a free agent with Boston in 1999, missing New Jersey's second Stanley Cup in 2000.

Andreychuk and Bourque were dealt to Colorado at the trade deadline in 2000, but after failing to win the Cup, Andreychuk opted to return to Buffalo as a free agent, missing the Avalanche's 2001 triumph.

Things did not go well in Buffalo, where Andreychuk didn't get on with the coach, his former teammate Lindy Ruff, who humiliated the six-foot-four forward by scratching him for a key playoff game.

After the season, he was looking for a new home and found one with another former teammate, Rick Dudley, who was the Lightning's general manager.

``Rick asked me and I thought it would be a great fit,'' said Craig Ramsay, another former teammate who is an assistant coach with the Lightning. ``I thought he'd had a really good year with Buffalo.

``I was surprised we had an opportunity to get him. I thought it would be a really good move and it has been that, and more.''

Those, like Ramsay, who saw Andreychuk when he entered the NHL as an 18-year-old in 1982 shake their grey beards when they see the player he has become.

``It's really quite remarkable what David has accomplished,'' Ramsay said. ``He's been around a lot longer than people would have imagined when they watched him come into the league.

``He wasn't a great skater and really didn't have a big shot, but he certainly paid the price to score goals.''

What struck Ramsay is how he transformed from a pure goal-scorer to a complete player, scoring at one end of the ice, checking at the other and leading his team back in the dressing room.

``You saw that talent, those great hands, but he didn't know much about the other side of the game and didn't seem all that interested,'' added Ramsay. ``Now look at him - a faceoff person, a shot-blocker, a checker, as well as a goal-scorer.

``And his leadership skills in the dressing room and on the ice are remarkable.''

Despite his 40 years and the grind of post-season play, Andreychuk remained one of Tampa Bay's hardest-working forwards through the playoffs, averaging more than 18 minutes per game.

In the regular season, he had 21 goals, posting his 19th season with 20 or more goals, which ranks third all-time behind Gordie Howe (22) and Ron Francis (20).

Andreychuk will now decide whether he has had enough, although he is leaning toward staying on for at least one more season. The Lightning have made it clear they'd welcome him back as they defend the NHL's championship.

``I still like playing,'' he said. ``I still want to play.''

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Richards claims Conn Smythe Trophy

Canadian Press
6/7/2004

TAMPA, Fla. (CP) - Brad Richards keeps getting better.

The shifty centre from Murray Harbour, P.E.I., claimed the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the playoffs on Monday night after leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to their first Stanley Cup championship.

Richards lead all playoff scorers with 26 points, including a record seven game-winning goals in a single post-season.

He is the first forward to win the Conn Smythe since Joe Nieuwendyk did it with Dallas in 1999.

Richards' play and the team's success made Lightning fans of many in P.E.I., where Richards' father Glen is a lobster fisher.

``I'm so proud of where I'm from,'' Richards said after hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time. ``They're behind me every day, every minute.

``This was for them.''

They appreciated it.

``People here have tears in their eyes, we're so proud,'' said Dean Murdoch from a bar in Montague, the closest community to Murray Harbour. ``Everybody is just so numb.''

Richards has come a long way. A year ago, as the Lightning reached the second round of playoffs for the first time in the team's 12-year history, he was held without a goal in 11 games.

This time around, the 24-year-old was the Bolts' most dangerous attacker along with regular season league scoring leader Martin St. Louis.

``You can't explain why,'' Richards said. ``When it starts going in and you're working hard on both sides of the puck, it just happens.

``People talk about the golf gods or the hockey gods, well, for some reason, they've been on my side.''

Coach John Tortorella said during the Stanley Cup run that Richards learned from last spring's disappointment.

``This is his second year in the playoffs and he understands it better: the intensity and the things you have to do to win,'' the coach said.

Veteran Dave Andreychuk saw a direct relation between Richard's stuggles in last year's post-season and this year's success.

``It all started in the last playoffs,'' the 40-year-old Lightning captain said. ``He waited a year to come back and prove to everybody and himself that he could play.''

Until this season, the soft-spoken Richards was often seen as the sidekick to his long-time friend and teammate Vincent Lecavalier, with whom he has played on and off since they were 14-year-olds at Notre Dame College in Saskatchewan.

But Richard's skills are more subtle than those of the flashy, six-foot-four Lecavalier. More and more, his quick shot and clever passing in traffic recalls the player he looks up to most: Colorado's Joe Sakic. He even wears Sakic's No. 19.

There was only mild surprise when Richards was selected for Canada's World Cup team while Lecavlier was overlooked by Wayne Gretzky and the rest of the management team.

Both Richards and Lecavalier played for the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In 1998, the Lightning selected Lacavlier first overall in the draft and got a steal when they claimed Richards in the third round with 64th overall pick.

Lecavalier went directly to the NHL while Richards stayed behind and became a scoring star in junior hockey.

In 2000, he pulled off the triple - being named MVP for the QMJHL regular season, the playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament. He had 186 points in his final year in junior and played for Canada at the World Junior Championships.

While Lecavalier has had ups and downs as a professional, Richards began his NHL career with consecutive 62-point seasons and followed with campaigns of 74 and 79 points to become the first Lightning player with 60 or more points in four straight years.

This season, he surpassed Lecavalier in scoring in both the regular season and the playoffs, but Richards doesn't see it as a competition.

``Ten years we've been playing together, so it's exciting to be in a Stanley Cup final,'' Richards said.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Lightning claim first Stanley Cup

Canadian Press
6/7/2004

TAMPA, Fla. (CP) - Stanley is staying in the Sunshine State.

Ruslan Fedotenko scored both goals as the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup on Monday night, ending the championship dreams of the injury-battered Calgary Flames with a 2-1 victory in Game 7.

The Lightning, with the first Cup win in their 12-year history, had to fight off a late Calgary charge before a sellout crowd of 22,717 at the St. Pete Times Forum.

But they hung on, barely, with Nikolai Khabibulin making some amazing saves - including an eye-popping stop on Jordan Leopold with the net wide open. It looked like Leopold could have driven a Zamboni into the goal, but somehow Khabibulin stuck out his pad to block the puck.

``In the end we ran out of gas,'' said an emotional Flames coach Darryl Sutter. ``In a way winning Game 5 cost us because of the injuries we sustained. We did what we could to conserve energy but in the end they had more legs than we did.''

The Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP went to Tampa forward Brad Richards, the pride of Murray Harbour, P.E.I. who led the playoffs in scoring with 12 goals and 14 assists.

Most of his family was on hand to watch him win the Cup. Back home in P.E.I., friends and neighbours got together to watch on TV.

``I'm so proud of where I'm from,'' he told CBC.

It was a huge night for 40-year-old Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk, who finally got to hoist the Stanley Cup after 22 NHL seasons, ending the NHL's longest streak (1,760 games) without a Cup.

``I can't put it into words what's going on right now,'' he told CBC. ``It's awesome.''

The Flames, seeking their second Stanley Cup and first since 1989, fell short in their bid to become the first Canadian-based team to win since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.

The Lightning were the the top seed in the East while the Flames were sixth in the West.

``That Calgary team keeps coming, they deserve a lot of credit,'' Andreychuk said before lifting the Cup and kissing it.

The Flames outshot the Lightning 17-15 on the night but lacked zip until it was too late.

Calgary may look back at Game 6 when what seemed like a Martin Gelinas goal was not called. The league said replays were inconclusive.

The valiant Flames will have all summer to think about it.

And they may have even longer to ponder. Monday night's game could be the last NHL hockey for many months as a possible lockout looms unless the league and the players' association can reach agreement before next season. Their collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15.

Fedotenko scored in the first and second periods of a game in which both young teams looked to be fighting nerves and the choppy ice surface.

``It is unbelievable,'' Fedotenko told ABC. ``To come here and win the Stanley Cup is a dream come true.''

Calgary's Craig Conroy scored a power-play goal on a screen shot at 9:21 of the third period to make it interesting. The puck may have deflected off Gelinas en route.

The goal energized the Flames but Tampa held off the furious late charge. A charging call at 18:58 against Calgary defenceman Andrew Ference didn't help the comeback attempt, although a tripping call against the Lightning's Andreychuk evened manpower with 23 seconds remaining.

``I can't (describe it),'' Lightning coach John Tortorella told CBC. ``I've never been through something so gruelling. It's a great feeling.

Earlier the Lightning had the edge in energy, as they outskated a weary-looking Calgary side and forced them to take penalties to slow down the speedy Tampa Bay forwards.

The Flames failed in their bid to set a record with an 11th road win in one playoff year and to become the first team to win a Cup with a losing record on home ice in the post-season.

Flames captain Jarome Iginla, a one-man wrecking crew through the first three rounds of playoffs, was rarely dangerous for a second straight game as Tampa Bay took the final two matches of the series after falling behind 3-2 in games.

Iginla played 23 minutes but did not have a shot on goal.

The nerves showed as neither team managed a shot until almost the eight-minute mark - a non-shot, really, as Fedotenko fell and had the puck slide to Miikka Kiprusoff.

The Lightning finally got the ominous first goal at 13:31 with Oleg Saprykin off for tripping when Richards feathered a shot in from the point and Fedotenko shook off Robyn Regehr's check to lash the rebound in from the doorstep.

The team that scored first won every game of the series.

Tampa Bay did not have a shot until more than 11 minutes into the second frame, but then Vincent Lecavalier battled and stickhandled his way through two Flames to set up Fedotenko alone in the slot to beat Kiprusoff with a high shot at 14:38.

The Ukrainian Fedotenko, who had 12 playoff goals, missed Game 3 of the final with a facial injury after he was hammered into the boards in Calgary.

Regehr, the Flames' top defenceman who limped away from Game 6 with a foot injury, was in the lineup, but forward Shean Donovan missing a second game with a knee injury.

Sutter said Donovan had strained knee ligaments Robyn Regehr had a broken ankle or ligament damage.

The Stanley Cup could be the first half of a championship double for Lightning owner Bill Davidson. The 81-year-old billionaire also owns the Detroit Pistons, who lead the NBA final 1-0.

Notes - Home teams have won 11 of the 13 seventh games in Stanley Cup finals history. The last road team to win was the 1971 Montreal Canadiens. . . Kiprusoff went into the game having already set the record for minutes played in one playoff year. He ended up with (1,595 minutes before Game 7). . . The Flames matched the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers for the most playoff games in one year with 26.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Congrats to the Bolts.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Qacer]

HECK YEAH!

I was going to join the festivities, but believe it or not, before I got off work there was thunder. It looked like it was going to rain. It was probably a message from above.

The Cup is getting a tan, baby!

 

[Aquaman]

THe Fonze wins the Cup:Q

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[bootymac]

The Cup is getting a tan, baby!

Haha, I love that line

 

[SSP]

Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[bootymac]

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have a need for secks, think you can satisfy me, bot man?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: DaZ

Originally posted by: BostonRedSox
How great would it be if one of the players just starts making out with one of them hottie sideline reporters live on tv.

I wonder why CBC has ZERO females involved in their Hockey production. But most of the visible people on ABC are female.. and hotties..

I guess they need ASS to get people to watch in the states

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: bootymac

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have a need for secks, think you can satisfy me, bot man?

:Q I'm not having sex with an animal.......... that's discusting

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: bootymac

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have a need for secks, think you can satisfy me, bot man?

:Q I'm not having sex with an animal.......... that's discusting

Cheers,
Aquaman

Besides, hes not a fully functioning bot.... I checked. :Q

 

[bootymac]

Originally posted by: SSP

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: bootymac

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have a need for secks, think you can satisfy me, bot man?

:Q I'm not having sex with an animal.......... that's discusting

Cheers,
Aquaman

Besides, hes not a fully functioning bot.... I checked. :Q

:laugh:

 

[masterxfob]

i don't generally watch hockey, but it was game 7 of the finals so i made an exception and watched the third period. the game was quite intense, and extremely entertaining. :beer:

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: SSP

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: bootymac

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have a need for secks, think you can satisfy me, bot man?

:Q I'm not having sex with an animal.......... that's discusting

Cheers,
Aquaman

Besides, hes not a fully functioning bot.... I checked. :Q

Does it have a female adapter?

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: SSP

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: bootymac

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have a need for secks, think you can satisfy me, bot man?

:Q I'm not having sex with an animal.......... that's discusting

Cheers,
Aquaman

Besides, hes not a fully functioning bot.... I checked. :Q

Does it have a female adapter?

Its like that angel from Dogma, theres nothing down there. haha

 

[Aquaman]

Heart-broken Flames run out of steam

Canadian Press
6/7/2004

TAMPA, Fla. (CP) - The beards were gone.

Hockey's ultimate superstition, the unkept beards, had disappeared by the time players on the Calgary Flames came out and explained to the world how gut-wrenching it felt to fall one goal short in the Stanley Cup final.

The beards represented two months of hard work. They were gone, as was their dream.

``It's the toughest loss by a thousand times,'' said superstar captain Jarome Iginla. ``One shot. The guys worked so hard. It's a very good season and I'm so proud of everybody but that hurts more than anything else I've been a part of.''

We Are The Champions could be heard reverbating around the St. Pete Times Forum, but it was dead quiet inside a dreary Flames dressing room. Players expressed their thoughts with voices barely audible, as if letting out their last breath.

``This is the ultimate low,'' said centre Craig Conroy, an unrestricted free agent July 1. ``We worked so hard for two months and fell short when it came to the ultimate goal.''

They came short because they ran out of gas, delivering a performance in Game 7 on Monday night that barely had any energy. The aggressive forecheck and rambunctious body checking was not at the usual level.

They were dead, and they were hurting.

Star defenceman Robyn Regehr and second-line winger Shean Donovan suffered injuries in Calgary's Game 5 victory. Regehr suffered a high ankle sprain but still played in the sixth and seventh games, and again left the St. Pete Times Forum on Monday night with a walking cast on his left foot.

``There was no question I wouldn't play,'' said Regehr, who didn't take in the pre-game skate. ``It was an easy decision.''

Donovan suffered an MCL tear on his right knee and wasn't able to play after Game 5.

The Flames reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final despite fighting through major injury woes this spring. Key forwards Steve Reinprecht and Dean McAmmond were lost even before the playoffs started to season-ending surgery. Hard-hitting Denis Gauthier played only five games before going down in the first round, while forward Matthew Lombardi was taken out by Detroit's Derian Hatcher during Calgary's Game 6 victory over the Red Wings in the second round.

Defenceman Toni Lydman missed almost all of the playoffs before returning to the lineup for Game 5 of the Cup final.

The injuries barely slowed down the lunch-bucket Flames, who adopted the blue-collar personality of their coach and grinded their way past division champions Vancouver, Detroit and San Jose before finally succumbing in seven tough games to a vastly more talented Tampa club.

``We know in the dressing room that we played as well as we could tonight,'' said Regehr, who will join Team Canada at the World Cup in August. ``Even though it's a great disappointment, I'm very proud of each and every one here for the effort that we had throughout the entire playoffs.

``No one thought that we would be in the playoffs at the beginning of the year. And no one thought that we would make it past the first round once we got into the playoffs. The final result is disappointing but we can be proud of some things we achieved along the way. And we have to learn from it.''

They will look back and regret not taking advantage of having Game 6 at home, ahead 3-2 in the series.

``We played too nervously at home in the sixth game,'' said veteran winger Martin Gelinas.

But they leave feeling they played their very best with what they had left. And they plan on coming back.

``We wore out hearts on our sleeves and that's a sign of a great hockey club,'' said winger Ville Nieminen, holding back tears. ``Emotion doesn't go away. There's more great things to come from this team.''

The club will need to re-sign Conroy, who can walk away July 1, and Iginla, who requires a $7-million US qualifying offer by midnight on June 30.

``I want to come back,'' said Conroy. ``But it's really not my decision. I just really hope this wasn't my last game with this team.''

Iginla was too devastated to look ahead.

``This is going to stay with me for a long time,'' he said. ``The guys worked so hard in this dressing room. We were literally one shot away, one second away from winning the Stanley Cup.''

And Iginla will have all summer to stew on being held scoreless over the last two games, including failing to record a single shot on goal in Game 7. His 13 playoff goals meant nothing to him on Monday night.

``In the last two games I didn't find a way to contribute to the guys' win,'' Iginla said. ``You can ask them if they adjusted something, I'm not sure. It wasn't good enough in the last couple of games.

``I don't know what else to say.''

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Flames fans hold party despite loss

Canadian Press
6/7/2004

CALGARY (CP) - The streets of this southern Alberta oil capital became a sea of waving flags, shouts, car honks and fireworks set to the boom of bongo drums late Monday as 40,000 fans came not to bury their beloved Flames, but to praise them.

The Calgary Flames' dream season died as the team lost 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the deciding game of the NHL finals.

But the loss didn't stop the post-game festivities on a commercial strip near the Saddledome nicknamed the Red Mile in honour of the Flames red jerseys.

Thousands of fans with shirts of red and lungs of leather, some packed shoulder to shoulder, shouted ``Go Flames Go!'' and ``We're still number 1!''

``We're celebrating the best hockey team in the league!'' said fan Deb Penman, sporting a Flames cowboy hat and a Flames decal on her cheek to go with a flaming C pin.

``We lost to the refs.''

Other fans, accompanied by two guys banging bong drums, paraded around with a large banner that read: Thank You for the Journey.

Others didn't appear quite ready to let go of what might have been.

``Flames in nine!'' shouted fan Moe Hachem.

Other women doffed their tops in what has become a playoff post-game ritual captured for posterity on one Internet site.

``Does this look like a sad night?'' asked Troy Schere, who brought his Siberian husky Keisha to the party dressed in her own Flames jersey.

``If Tampa had lost the cup, they wouldn't see this,'' he said, pointing at the cheering, dancing crowds.

Police were out on every street corner, on rooftops and in a helicopter overhead to keep the peace.

Inside the Saddledome, 15,500 fans came to watch the game on big-screen TVs.

They were on their feet shouting as the game wound down. Some stuck around afterward to watch in silence as the Lightning players hoisted the cup.

In Tampa, fans danced in the streets and sprayed each other with champagne when Lord Stanley officially became theirs. Cheers, whistles and air horns filled the night.

Searchlights stabbed the sky. Media helicopters buzzed overhead.

There were also lots of beads, part of the city's annual pirate festival.

A capacity crowd of 22,400 witnessed the win at the St. Pete Times Forum. About 8,000 more watched on a big-screen TV mounted on a truck in a nearby square.

``I have been a Lightning fan from day one,'' said fan John Kaytis, 42. ``We're going to celebrate 'til the cows come home. We're staying out all night.''

At the main Canadian army base in Kabul, Afghanistan, dozens of soldiers crowded the messes to watch the game.

As it drew to a close shortly before 7:30 a.m. Afghanistan time, they quietly got up and left to begin their day.

``The Flames choked,'' said one, shaking his head.

Choke or no choke, Flames faithful will get one more chance to say thank-you to their team.

A civic rally is planned for the Flames on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Olympic Plaza in the city's downtown.

It will be the last hurrah for a team of underdogs who in eight weeks found themselves carrying the hopes of an entire nation looking to end an 11-year Stanley Cup drought.

The last Canadian team in the finals was the Vancouver Canucks in 1994. The last winner was the Montreal Canadiens a year before that.

Tampa staked out a two-goal lead after two periods on goals by Ruslan Fedotenko before Calgary's Craig Conroy scored midway through the third to make the game close.

Tampa centre Brad Richards - from Murray Harbour, P.E.I. - was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Richards' friend Dean Murdoch - reached at a bar in Montague, near Murray Harbour - said, ``People here have tears in their eyes, we're so proud.

``Everybody is just numb.''

Few had expected the Flames to get this far. They had been doormats for years before climbing into the playoffs this season as one of the lower-ranked teams.

The Flames defeated three division champs - the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks - en route to the final.

The franchise, which was born in Atlanta in 1972 but relocated to Calgary in 1980, has been to the final three times but has won it all just once - in 1988-89.

Their incredible playoff journey turned the city of Calgary on its head. The Flames jersey became the hottest seller in Canada. The burning C logo flew from flags on cars and was painted on windows, walls and lawns.

Thousands of fans came nightly to the Red Mile, painting their faces and dying their hair red, waving flags and hoisting homemade Stanley Cups.

As other Canadian teams were knocked out of the post-season, the Flames became Team Canada by proxy.

Fans jammed pubs from coast to coast to coast to cheer the Flames.

But while the dream died this year, Calgary appeared ready Monday to be back and to believe again.

``Next year,'' vowed 14-year-old Luke Godin, his shirt festooned with Flames buttons. ``They'll be coming back for revenge.''

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Lightning fans celebrate

Associated Press
6/7/2004

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Jubilant Tampa Bay Lightning fans celebrated their first Stanley Cup win Monday night with cheers, whistles, air horns and lots of beads.

After a tense final game - the Lightning beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 in Game 7 - the crowd outside the St. Pete Times Forum was finally able to relax.

Search lights scanned the sky, media helicopters buzzed above and fans danced in the street, spraying champagne all over each other.

``I have been a Lightning fan from Day 1,'' said John Kaytis, a 42-year-old real estate agent. ``We're going to celebrate 'til the cows come home. We're staying out all night.''

The smell of hot dogs and beer wafted over the crowd, which continued to whoop long after the last Lightning player carried the Stanley Cup around the arena. Beads, part of the city's annual Gasparilla pirate festival, were everywhere.

Some fans tempered their celebrations. Richard Kerr, 34, who works in computers, was carrying his seven-month-old son, Jarred through the crowd. Kerr said his kids had stayed up late to watch the game, and he was going straight home to put them to bed.

For a city whose appetite for sports championships was whetted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl win in 2003 only to be badly disappointed by the football team last season, the Lightning again has Tampa cheering.

The city planned a parade through the downtown area, ending with a victory celebration at the arena, for Wednesday.

A capacity crowd of 22,717 was on hand for the series finale.

Fans without tickets jammed the square east of the arena, in front of a big-screen TV mounted on a truck. People, some with babies, sat on blankets, leaned against trees and did arm and face painting while waiting for the game to start. Police Capt. Marion Lewis put the gathering at 8,000.

``We're here because we're Lightning fans and this is so exciting,'' said 40-year-old Tampa native Debbie Gil, who was painting arms. ``It's history in the making.''

Chris Pope, a fan of the Tampa Bay Lightning since the team was born more than a decade ago, said she had been offered $1,000 US for her third-level seat and turned it down.

After years of supporting the team - including some pitiful seasons where the Lightning played so poorly the arena was often near empty - Pope said she had earned the right to share the magical moment with her team.

``It's like watching my little kid grow up,'' she said.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

McGuire: Flames just ran out of gas

6/8/2004

In Game Seven, the Calgary Flames ran out of gas. I felt that way going into Game Seven, that that would be the difference for them. We heard about some of the injuries on the Flames but I think we're going to find out about some more big-time injuries to some of their better players.

You can't take anything away from Calgary. I know it's disappointing but I look at the future of this Flames team and see Jarome Iginla with Mark Messier-type qualities. There is depth on defence with Robyn Regehr, a stalwart with a big-body presence, Andrew Ference, a great support player, Jordan Leopold finding his way and they have Dion Phaneuf coming. Up front, a kid like Matthew Lombardi is going to get better.

And head coach and general manager Darryl Sutter has surrounded himself with good people like Rich Preston and Jim Playfair. The organizational blueprint is in place and the mandate to the scouts is to find hard-charging, fast players. You can find guys like that. Maybe they don't have the overall skill level like some players on the Lightning but they will get players that play Sutter's style and that's why I don't think they'll fall too far off the pace.

This team is loaded and ready to go. It's an exciting time to be a fan of the Calgary Flames. I know it doesn't taste good right now but this team is going in the right direction.

---

In November, I thought the Lightning were one of the best teams in the NHL because of their quick strike offence, depth on defence, strong goaltending and the high organizational standards, including holding Vincent Lecavalier accountable. Jay Feaster really stabilized things in Tampa Bay and I didn't give him a lot of credit when he first became the general manager because he didn't have a lot of credibility. He was nobody in the NHL. But over time, he has evolved and developed and the smartest thing he did was not fire head coach John Tortorella and bring in Bill Barber, who recommended Fedotenko.

Vincent Lecavalier recorded a monstrous point in the second period of Game Seven. He stepped on the accelerator in the cycle with linemates Cory Stillman and Ruslan Fedotenko. He jumped in, broke down the defence, used his puck protection skills, showed off his unbelievable escapability and found the high man in Fedotenko, who fired the puck by Miikka Kiprusoff for a 2-0 lead. That was the turning point in the game.

That goal allowed Tampa Bay to get into their game pland and forced Calgary to get out of theirs and they couldn't get going.

And what about Brad Richards? It's not just his ability 5-on-5, but he's an elite penalty killer, he runs the power play off the point as well as any forward in the NHL, he's a strong face-off man and he's solid in 4-on-4 situations. He's a multi-dimensional player who knows how to elevate his game and he's very important to this team.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

McKenzie: Hats off to Jay Feaster

6/8/2004

Two years ago at the NHL Entry Draft, Lightning general manager Jay Feaster made a deal for Ruslan Fedotenko which was universally panned. Pierre McGuire didn't like it. I didn't like it. I don't know if Feaster knew how close the Lightning were to winning the Stanley Cup, but Fedotenko has never scored 20 goals or 40 points in the regular season.

Yet, he came in and dominated his old team, the Philadelphia Flyers and then scores two goals in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final. I don't know anyone who can write a script like that so hats off to Jay Feaster, who maybe knew something we didn't at the time of the deal.

---

In November, the Lightning were looking good. In December, they went completely into the tank. It wasn't until January that they started to turn things around. Brad Richards was despondent about his game and the play of the Lightning when he went home to Prince Edward Island at Christmas. There was a point when this team didn't look like a playoff team. But down the stretch they were absolutely terrific.

Speaking of Richards, he's not overly big, he's not a big, strong guy, he's got good speed but not blinding speed, but he's a very deceptive hockey player. He comes up big in almost every situation and became the 38th Canadian to win the Conn Smythe in the 40 years the trophy's been presented.

---

The Calgary Flames left absolutely everything on the ice. This was an unbelievable playoff performance by an unbelievable team. In the more than 20 years I have been covering Stanley Cup Finals, I don't ever remember a team that played relentlessly as hard and physical and showed as much heart as the Calgary Flames. When you go back to Game Six against the Vancouver Canucks, the Flames were down 4-0 in that game but they came back to tie it up and send it to multiple overtime. You couldn't imagine they would come back and win that series. But they came back to win Game Seven in overtime, then knocked off the Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks and went to Game Seven with all the travel against Tampa Bay. But, with all the injuries, it was the war af attrition that they lost.

The entire city of Calgary was captivated by what the Flames did and anybody who is a hockey fan had to love what head coach Darryl Sutter and Calgary did. They played a quintessential team game. They became the hardest working team in hockey, not just in the playoffs but throughout the fabricated four seven-game series' that Sutter made his team play to get to the playoffs. That was a chore in itself but once they got in, they displayed a passion that we haven't seen in years. They were a joy to watch.

However, as bright as the future is for the Calgary Flames because they have young building blocks and more on the way, one of the problems is they play a relentless physical style that is hard to maintain. We saw that in these playoffs when they ran out of gas. So when you go back next season and say, "Crank it back up again", it will be awfully hard to do.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: SSP

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: bootymac

Originally posted by: Aquaman

Originally posted by: SSP
Damn bot! Posting all those articles.

THe public has a need and I provide

Cheers,
Aquaman

I have a need for secks, think you can satisfy me, bot man?

:Q I'm not having sex with an animal.......... that's discusting

Cheers,
Aquaman

Besides, hes not a fully functioning bot.... I checked. :Q

That's not what you said last night :Q

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Fans welcome Flames home

Canadian Press
6/8/2004

CALGARY (CP) - The Calgary Flames, hours after losing the Stanley Cup, returned home early Tuesday to a Prairie city filled with broken hearts and red-eyed pride.

``No one should have tears in their eyes today . . . when you consider where this team was just 60 days ago, with a rocky latter half of the year to get into the playoffs,'' said Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier.

``I think it's remarkable that this team put its heart, soul and spirit into really showing on ice what is reflected in this community.''

The Flames lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh and deciding game of the NHL final Monday. They were the first Canadian team in a decade to make it that far.

About 400 fans decked out in Flames jerseys, red wigs and green hard hats huddled and shivered in the pre-dawn darkness at the city's airport to greet the returning Flames.

``I just love the spirit of the Flames,'' said Amy Shoup. ``It has brought a lot of happiness to our city and I'm really proud of them, even though they didn't win.''

Carrying a sign that read Thanks for the Memories, Shoup and her friends stayed up all night, waiting for the team's charter flight to arrive.

The strain of a two-month-long playoff drive - and Monday night's close loss to end it all - was evident on the players as they drove past their fans.

Forward Krzysztof Oliwa couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face.

Many of the players, their playoff beards shaved off, left the airport without commenting.

Rookie defenceman Mike Commodore, however, wandered into the crowd and signed autographs for more than half an hour and declined offers by the police to escort him to his car.

``We had a great run this year. We needed one more win and it was tough for all of us - very, very emotional,'' said Commodore.

``But this makes it a lot easier to come home to all these people.''

The city has planned an appreciation rally for the team at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday at the Olympic Plaza downtown.

It wasn't immediately clear how many Flames players would attend the rally. Bronconnier said it was a chance for fans to ``bring closure'' to the end of the season.

``The fan appreciation is so the players know that this community is solidly behind them,'' he said.

After Monday's game ended, about 40,000 fans still jammed a commercial strip south of downtown - affectionately dubbed the Red Mile for the omnipresent red Flames jerseys and flags - to commiserate and celebrate both the team's playoff run and the win that almost was.

Although the crowd remained in control, a 20-year-old man was sent to hospital in critical condition with two stab wounds to the chest after a street fight broke out between two groups. Brian Donald Gaisford, 18, of Calgary has been charged with assault with a weapon.


In Tampa, fans stayed out in the late-night heat Monday to hoot and holler and spray each other with champagne.

Ironically, the Flames lost the game but won it all on the editorial page of the local newspaper, The Tampa Tribune.

The Tribune wrote two editorials ahead of time - one in case the Lightning won and won if they lost - and sent the wrong one to press.

``We apologize to the team and to the fans for our terrible error,'' editorial page editor Rosemary Goudreau said on the paper's website.

``It is so important to us to get it right. And today we failed you. We extend our heartfelt apologies.''

The season was a Cinderella story for the Calgary club.

After missing the playoffs for seven years, the Flames clawed their way into this year's post-season and beat three division champs - the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks - en route to the final.

They were the first Canadian team in a decade to make it to the finals. The Canucks did it in 1994.

The post-season run brought thousands of fans aboard from across Canada for the wild ride.

Fans cleaned stores out of all Flames memorabilia and decorated cars, homes and office towers with the flaming C logo.

The Flames have made it to the Stanley Cup final three times. They lost to the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 before beating the Habs in 1989.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[sandorski]

woot Flames