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Reality Check: It's Time For Lightning To Rebuild

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 26, 2008

Updated: 01/26/2008 12:12 am

TAMPA - This season has been one long reality check for the Lightning, interrupted only occasionally by bits of hope. Like most teams do, the Bolts grab on to the hope and dismiss the reality checks with the argument, "yeah, but better days are just around the corner."

Problem is, they're running out of "yeah, buts ..."

That became apparent again Thursday night when they lost 8-4 to Ottawa. The loss did more than break a three-game winning streak. When you've struggled as much as the Lightning have, it doesn't take much to bring the old questions storming back - even if intellectually you tell yourself it was just one game.

The argument doesn't work anymore. This has been a season mostly of just one games, and the Bolts are running out of time.

They have arrived at the All-Star break with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and second-worst in the National Hockey League. Thanks to the utter mediocrity that is their division, they are just seven points out of first place, but throw away your calculators and use your eyes.

"We've had a lot of ups and downs," defenseman Dan Boyle said, after returning to the ice after a long injury absence. "We need more consistency. It's no secret we're going to have to win a majority of our games."

At the risk of going Mora on you, "Playoffs?" It has taken the Bolts 50 games to win 20 times. They probably need to win 20 more times in their final 32 to have a realistic chance at the playoffs.

You see 20 more wins from this team?

Rebuilding Dead Ahead

We've focused this year on the goalies. We've talked about the lack of consistent scoring. We've bemoaned the problems on defense. What's left?

Mid-ice blunders led to three quick Ottawa goals Thursday. That's basically the kind of game-turning mistakes the Bolts have been making all year, save for the little hot streak that provided a sliver of hope.

John Tortorella's frustration boiled over after this game. His postgame remarks took about 10 seconds and featured the basic absence of, well, remarks. He walked into the interview room, announced he would take no questions and walked out.

Perhaps it was just as well. His team's performance this season has spoken eloquently enough. Tortorella has adjusted, prodded, pushed and cajoled and still has squeezed just 20 wins out of this team.

Maybe that's all there is to get.

The problems run deeper than just one bad season, too.

The Bolts played superior defense when they won the Cup, but the organization has had a woeful record lately in producing defensemen or goaltenders. And although that has begun to turn around a little in the minors, there are no forwards in their system even close to being ready to help.

"We have some problems with our organization. We readily admit that, with our lack of depth from our minor leagues right up to our big club," Tortorella said. "We're not a group of guys who are going to hide from that. It needs to be fixed."

Team In Limbo

Don't expect any serious fixing as long as the team's ownership is in limbo. If there is any movement, it should be to trade players such as Boyle - an unrestricted free agent at season's end - and Vinny Prospal for long-term help. That kind of talk doesn't go down easily on Channelside Drive.

"We're right in the hunt right now in our division, really within our conference," Tortorella said. "I don't know what the formula is. It's just a constant concentration on our team concept, not what other teams are doing. We're trying to get better."

About 10 hours after he spoke those words, Tortorella made his cameo appearance in the interview room to tell everyone he had nothing to say. The Bolts hadn't gotten better. We could talk about the mistakes and all that, but that implies the current situation can be cured by just a little more attention to detail.

That's asking too much. Their problems run deeper than anyone could have suspected when this season began. The Bolts are fresh out of "yeah, buts...." What they have isn't working. It is time to get busy rebuilding. That's reality.

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