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Bubble Players Limited By Trip

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2008

NEW YORK - The Lightning play their fourth of six preseason games tonight against the New York Rangers, but for all intents and purposes it might as well be the last.

Following tonight's game, Tampa Bay will depart Madison Square Garden for Newark International Airport to board a charter flight headed for Prague, Czech Republic, that begins a 12-day European vacation. And of the 28 healthy bodies who remain on the roster as of Wednesday, there's a good chance a handful of them will not be making that flight.

Lightning coach Barry Melrose had stated his desire to have the number of players traveling to Europe at either 25 or 26, although they may now wind up between 28 and 30 because Melrose said they are not counting on Paul Ranger, who is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, to be available. And while captain Vinny Lecavalier is also recovering from a similar shoulder surgery performed in the summer, his status remains questionable, although Melrose indicated the team is planning on Lecavalier being ready by the time the puck drops.

The schedule during the next two weeks is conducive to Lecavalier's availability, and there is one game in 10 days when the team returns and only seven more games in October.

The immediate schedule, however, is not conducive for players still fighting for spots. The team only played three preseason games before departing town for nearly two weeks, and with more cuts expected after tonight's games, there's been little time to make a first impression a lasting impression.

"A lot of guys have opened a lot of our eyes," Lightning vice president of hockey operations Brian Lawton said. "But it's so early right now, but at the same time it's so late because we are going to Europe in a few days, and that's really unfair for some players trying to earn a spot because it's such a short window of opportunity."

Teams are able to carry 24 players on the active roster for the two regular-season games in Prague, although the extra spot is made to allow the teams to carry a third goaltender. So it's conceivable the Lightning could take as many as 28 or 29 players across the Atlantic Ocean as Tampa Bay has two additional preseason games to play, Sunday in Berlin, Germany, and Tuesday in Bratislava, Slovakia.

That means the competition for jobs is still ongoing.

"That's what we wanted to see," Melrose said of the competition. "We're going to camp with 28 healthy guys and that's just a sign of how camp has been and how competitive it has been."

Should Lecavalier and Ranger each miss the start of the season - and Nick Tarnasky hasn't recovered from a broken thumb - then the lineup on the ice Tuesday against the Rangers might have been the opening-night lineup Oct. 4 at O2 Arena in Prague.

The line combinations were: Vinny Prospal, Jussi Jokinen, Marty St. Louis; Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos, Radim Vrbata; Gary Roberts, Chris Gratton, Mark Recchi; and Evgeny Artyukhin, Ryan Craig and Adam Hall.

The defensive pairings were: Matt Carle and Vladimir Mihalik; Shane O'Brien and Janne Niskala; and Andrej Meszaros and Mike Lundin. Mike Smith was in goal.

Melrose indicated they will likely take nine defensemen to Europe, which likely means Matt Smaby and Andre Hutchinson will make the trip. The remaining battle for spots to take the trip are all at forward where Brandon Bochenski, Jason Ward, Michel Ouellet, Zenon Konopka and David Koci still hope to make that lasting impression.

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