Tampa Bay, FL - As a self-appointed media representative for The Bone, I felt it my duty to respond to the Chris Krenn email to us media types, inviting us to the Tampa Bay Lightning Media Day. I walked down the hallway & saw a few players milling about. Spotted Jay Recher & said hey, then Krenn, strolled in and sat next to Diandra Loux & chatted with Dave Randorf, Dave Mishkin & Brian Engblom and booked Gabby Shirley for our upcoming broadcast.
I will keep my rambling to a minimum, as I want this to be about the hockey players and their personalities.
WHAT YOU WILL SEE AND HEAR:
1) Hockey dude Dave asking Brayden Point about Nikita Kucherov & the “dumb” comment. Pointer didn’t take the bait but explained that Kuch is a genius.
2) Andrei Vasilevskiy saying he loves to play & would play 84 games. Laughed about the “old school” preseason hockey last year.
3) New dude, John Carlson talks about fitting in with a solid team.
4) Ryan McDonagh stresses the importance of stability.
5) Soft-spoken Brandon Hagel carries some sharp words for a team that hasn’t gotten it done in the postseason.
It’s okay if you hate the Mac transitions. I saw on my phone I had accidentally recorded it, so I used it. You really get a different feel for the players that close.
Kuch doesn’t want to talk about his contract sitch, and Victor Hedman appreciates the support but would clearly like to move on to this season. I took a swing and asked Pointer about how he likes it here in Tampa Bay. He smiled, so I’m gonna take that as a W. Saw Brian Breseman & Coop on the way out. Didn’t know what to say to Coach, so I said nothing. Maybe next time. Awesome morning.