Bolts prospects get chance to shine

BRANDON - Chris Lawrence grabbed the orange. Vladimir Mihalik took home the lemon.

Those were the prizes handed out on Friday following a pair of shootout competitions that wrapped up a four-day Tampa Bay Lightning's prospect camp at the Ice Sports Forum.

Lawrence was awarded the orange after he was the last man to successfully score on his shootout attempt, with his treat being a sweet snack. Mihalik, however, received his soured snack following a second shootout competition, which was done in reverse - you kept going until you scored. Unfortunately for the 6-foot-7 defenseman, with the rest of the campers lined up to form a gauntlet-like lane down the slot, Mihalik couldn't convert and wound up being the only player among the 16 skaters to come up empty. Hence, he received his lemon and promptly ripped the rind off with his teeth before biting down into the fruit.

"He was good, he even gave one of those faces," said Norfolk coach Darren Rumble, as he tried to imitate Mihalik's sour-scrunched, contorted face. "Too bad nobody had a camera down there, it would have made for a nice picture."

All in all, it was a good way to end what Lightning general manager Brian Lawton said was four solid days for some of the team's top prospects, including this year's No. 2 overall pick Victor Hedman, before the start of Saturday's regular training camp.

"It was very well-run," Lawton said. "I'm a big fan of doing this over the Traverse City (prospect tournament) type things. Development, development, development is a common theme here. This is more of an opportunity for us to do that. It also prepares the players, in my opinion, better for the start of training camp. They aren't beat up. They haven't been fighting. There's been a plan toward getting them ready for camp."

Among those who stood out to Lawton included Hedman - "He looks like he's got his game face on," Lawton said. - Mihalik, defenseman Ty Wishart along with 2009 draftees forwards Carter Ashton, Richard Panik and Alex Hutchings.

Rumble, who enters his second consecutive season as head coach for Norfolk, didn't hide his excitement level at what he saw on the ice this week either.

"I saw some skill, some hockey sense, so it's coming," he said. "It's not something that changes overnight, but the guys who have been through a couple of years with us down there have really made some strides. The new kids we just drafted this past season, a ton of skill there, and some hockey sense to go with it. I'm excited for what's on the way."

Now, however, it's no longer the kids against the kids. It's time for the younger crowd to mix in with the experienced NHL players to see just where they have improved, where the still need to step it up and how it all might translate against better competition.

"Now, it's live fire with the big boys and we'll see how they do," Lawton said.