Lightning Power Lunch – October 6, 2025

Lightning Power Lunch – October 6, 2025

This is Lightning Power Lunch presented by Reef Rum on the Lightning Audio Network with Dave Mishkin and Greg Lenelli. Listen, this is this is the time of year that uh kids are trying to make teams and trying to make impact on the uh on the organization and uh you know there’s there’s players out there that haven’t been in our organization. So, Yeah, you got to give the kids credit for doing, you know, like working. We’re going to try and make a team. So, um, no, that’s, uh, we don’t go into games like everybody. [Music] So glad the preseason’s over with. I’m so glad. We actually played about eight and a half preseason games, not seven. Last two games. We’ll get into that. By the way, I think for you, props to you because I think that’s a tough game to call, particularly trying to figure out all the penalties. That was a tough game to call. Yeah. I mean, that’s one of those where it’s just like, all right, he’s going to the box. I’ll let you know when he gets out, you know? Well, so look, I mean, the elements are what the elements are. I’m just happy to call games, but I will say what made it challenging. First of all, I was working alone, which I’m not unaccustomed to working on. the vantage point for the visiting radio booth in Sunrise. It’s kind of it’s fairly close to one net. So, the other end is a little farther away, which complicated a couple of the calls. Like I couldn’t tell it was Gurgensson’s who got hit by Verhigi just right based on my angle. And then once the hit happened, there was just a massive players. So, that was a little frustrating because I wasn’t sure. It was actually Jared Johnston who who, you know, let me know via text. But probably the biggest issue was I have one replay monitor and it’s actually behind me. It’s on a wall behind me. And if I want to try and see a replay, I have to take my eyes off the ice. What benefit does that do for somebody calling a game? I mean, in our booth, we’ve got it, you know, to your side. If it’s in front of you, you can kind of glance quickly and and in your peripheral vision, you can see if something’s happening on the ice. So, I have to make a kind of dedicated choice to turn around and like, am I going to see the replay? because I may turn around and the replay isn’t there. And this was a game that we really needed replays. So, I was probably I was probably, you know, at a disadvantage as opposed to the the two telecast which had lots of replays. They knew when the replays were coming. They knew what they were looking at. So, it was a little bit of like I was in a boat by myself with one ore and doing the best I can. But, that’s the way it goes, right? Like, I did the best I could. So, you did you did a you did a great job with that and I appreciate that. Um because I know our sounds like your kids are cheering on my effort and you know they’re yelling kids are home. Of course, the kids are off Friday and Monday so that is everything that is happening right now. Are they complaining about how the discipline was only doled out to the Lightning and not to the Panthers? Did they get wind of that? They might have gotten wind of it. I don’t know. Hey, keep We will address that. We will address that, too. By the way, I want to let everybody know uh we do have a sponsor this year, Reef Rum, sponsoring Power Lunch. You can uh enjoy some Reef Rum. Smooth, versatile, and now pouring at every bar at Benchmark International Arena. Order a Tropical Wave or a Lightning Mule and taste why fans are switching. Reef Rum is a premium craft Florida local rum built on authenticity, quality, and easy drinkability. As for Reef Rum by name, go Bolts and me. make sure you enjoy responsibly. All right. So, I got a lot of uh social media posts afterwards, as you can imagine, partner. I’m sure you did too, about one, I think our our audience was excited for us to begin the show today to recap what we saw really the last two games. Um, but you know, what transpired in preseason game number seven, I think even exceeded people’s expectations. if you were of the opinion that some stuff was still going to linger from game six to game seven again in the preseason. I didn’t think it would escalate the way it did. But then again, this is a very emotional sport. And one thing about hockey players, I was explaining this to a buddy the other day. Man, boy do they have long memories, don’t they? Or short memories. But in this instance, you know, if you do something not only to that individual person or anybody else, a teammate sometimes, a lot of times will try to avenge what happened. And I think that’s what we saw um in game number seven. And it began with a big hit uh Scott Surn on Eblad. And a lot of people didn’t like that hit for sure. Not I should I should clarify, not the body check, the stuff that ensued. Mhm. And it it goes back to what you and I have discussed and I think you brought up this point. I heard Brian Anglam bring up this point, Chief, is that in the olden days of hockey, you you take a run at one of our best players, it’s not enough to take down necessarily the guy who did it, although that can happen. It’s you you target one of the best players, you know, an eye for an eye. And it just so happened that Eggplat is both. He’s the guy who initiated uh a lot of the things that went maybe too far and he was also the guy that was targeted in game seven. I use the word targeted because it was pretty clear that’s that’s what happened. And then from there it was just constant chaos. And I I’m I’m actually surprised the Lightning were able to finish with the right amount of guys to to finish the the game. Well, Dominic James played over 27 minutes. One reason why he played 27 minutes is there were a few other players on the bench. They also used him on defense, which what a feather in a cap in the cap for him. Like what a preseason he had. Incredible. And the other part was I think he was one of three Lightning players not to get any penalty minutes. So he was not unavailable at any point. Before we get to Saturday’s game, I do want to mention cuz the Lightning are in Asterero practicing. Mhm. And all the players that were kind of held out toward the end of preseason with the exception of Gurgensson’s who got injured in the game on Saturday, everybody is on the ice. So that is very good news. Other than Gurgensson’s and James. So we don’t know exactly if James has been reassigned to Syracuse. It was our expectation based on his age and his his waiver exempt status that he would be. The the opening day rosters are due later today. So read into that what you will. But you know, Hedman’s on the ice, Hegel is on the ice. Radish, who didn’t really practice and and didn’t play on Saturday after he had a very full game on Thursday and had the fight with AJ Greer, he is on the ice. Churn did get hit up high. He’s wearing a shield. Yeah. In the game on Thursday, he is on the ice. All of that is extremely good news. And it does appear, at least based on what we’re seeing, that the Lightning are going to open the regular season with three goalies. I was wondering when they picked up Phoenix Cppley, and we hadn’t really seen Johansson since the Orlando game. I’m like, I wonder if Johansson maybe got dinged up a little bit. And that led to why they they picked up CPPley knowing as Jim from Jacksonville has pointed out like they have backtobacks early in the season where they probably wouldn’t want Vasilowski to play both. And Vassie’s working his way back into into shape. But I mean, from what I can tell, Gabby’s down there, and she didn’t mention that Johansson was missing. So, I guess they’re they’re going to have the three goalies. Anyway, I’m going to repeat what I said a few times during Saturday’s broadcast. This whole mess could have been avoided had AJ Greer decided to go a different route at the beginning of Thursday’s game because the first seven minutes of Thursday’s game were garden variety minutes in the preseason. So, yes, the Lightning did go after Aaron Ecklad on Saturday. There is no question. But did they go after him? He was in the game on Thursday. Did Aaron Eckblad have anyone coming at him in the first seven minutes of Thursday’s game? No. So, look, do I think at some point Ebad even still may have to answer for the forearm shiver elbow to Hegel from the playoffs. It is certainly possible that he is going to have to answer to that. Maybe Hegel himself will will challenge Eblad. That’s for down the road. Hegel left Eblad alone in the first seven minutes of Thursday’s game. It was Greer. Greer started it. And everything that came afterward can be traced back to that single moment. And we talked about it on Friday’s show. And I even said, I’m getting a little worked up about this. Mhm. Because it wasn’t just that this was completely unnecessary. It could have been avoided. But if Greer is like, “We’re the Panthers. We’re going to show that, you know, no one’s going to look at us funny and like he wanted to do this to a Lightning player.” Had he done it to any other player playing in that game, I’m not sure it would have escalated. He did it to Hegel. What do you think is going to happen? one of the best players on the Lightning, one of the best players in the NHL, who got knocked out of the series last year with a dirty hit on a concussion inducing play where the Panthers felt retribution was in order, but did it that way. They didn’t challenge him to a fight or anything like that, which Hegel talked about. All right, you figure the chapter should be closed at this point. Didn’t Hegel in the minds of the other team pay enough at this point? If you feel that he needed to pay for the hit on Barkov, which I still I am like going blue in the face on this. It was not a hit to the head. He hit him in the chest. Yeah, I know that there’s some language about a hit to the head on Barkov. I watched the replay again. It popped up. I do not see a hit to the head. And fans, you know, like I don’t wear lightning colored glasses when it comes to this stuff. I’m trying to watch it as objectively as I can. Did Barov hit his head? Yeah, he went slamming into the boards. Had Barov touched the puck, that’s a clean hit in my mind. He didn’t. Hegel got penalized. Deservedly so. He got a five-minute major for interference. It was not a hit to the head. He got a five-minute major and a game of conduct for interference. Barov didn’t touch the puck. All right. The Panthers don’t like it. I get it. I understand. They want to take matters into their own hands and pay back Hegel. You knocked him out of the series. You gave him a concussion. Are we closing the chapter on this now? No. Apparently not. AJ Greer is like, “No. You have You have still more toll to pay.” That was the line that was crossed. The Lightning were like, “Are you kidding us?” So, as worked up as I was, and I reeled myself back in on Thursday, I think you can assume based on what happened on Saturday, that the Lightning were about 10 times more irritated than I was talking about it after the fact because they were like, “This is this is a line that does not get crossed ever again, and if it’s crossed again, we’re going to have more games like this.” So, yeah, the Lightning made sure they rested their top guys, as did the Panthers. The Lightning called up six guys from Syracuse, but four of the six guys that were called up, I wouldn’t say were in the category of like tough guys. They called up Sverin and Schmidt, who played in the game on Tuesday in Orlando just to make sure nothing was going to happen. Now, this was not clearly a lineup decision where it was just to make sure nothing was going to happen. Both of them went out there with intent. But why do they have to go out there with intent? They went out there with intent because of what happened on Thursday. Yeah. And Ekblad, who not only had the play last year in the playoffs, was not penalized and scored the the it wasn’t the winning goal, but it was the tying goal in game four because he was still in the game. Did not escape the DOPS. He got a twoame suspension, but like he was involved on Thursday when things went off the rails. Like we talked about it. He was he was engaging guys. He was bumping guys after whistles and was like, “You’re not getting away scott-free from what you did last year.” And Sabarin absolutely blasted him. He blasted him. He targeted him. He checked him. He crossed him in the face. And he sucker punched him. He punched Ecklad before Eklad. I don’t know if Eky was going to fight. Ekbad was like enough. Now Eklad is is on the ice for practice today. So, you know, he got through it, missed the rest of the game, recovered yesterday. He’s practicing. I’m not sure that this chapter is closed with this whole Equad situation for the Lightning based on what happened in the playoffs last year, but I mean, honestly, Greg, I said, I’m not sure what is going to happen on Saturday. Maybe it’ll be a nothing game. It’s possible that Sabin and Schmidt would have just been in the lineup to make sure the Panthers didn’t do more of what we saw on Thursday, at least at the beginning. Once once Greer did what he did, it was on, right? Both sides were were involved. The Lightnings were the aggressors on Saturday. But I think that they felt that that was something that needed to happen after the Hegel play with Greer. So that’s why I keep going back to this kind of like lynchpin moment. You take out that play, we probably have two pretty regular preseason games to to round out the preseason and unfortunately for the Lightning, you know, Gergensson’s got hurt on a on, you know, a check from behind wherever, hey, you got a five-minute major in a game of conduct. and we will get to the supplemental discipline and the fines and the we don’t know if the players on the Lightning are going to be suspended. They have hearings today, Moser and Sabin. But that’s kind of how I saw it. And in retrospect, I don’t know if we should be surprised that the lightning came out this way beforehand, like would we have predicted it? But once it happened, like you do see that there is there is some logic to it that this was not some isolated game in a vacuum. This was a game that had ties to the game two two nights before and it also had ties to to what happened in the playoffs last year. So, it really went off the rails, but the Lightning probably felt they did what they needed to do. I don’t um I don’t I don’t disagree with anything you said. Um I’ve heard some people This is separate to a degree on how the officiating um was different from that last game to game six. It was the same two referees. They probably knew I mean we talked about get Greer out of the game on Thursday. They chose not to do that. Maybe it would have made a difference. And clearly for Saturday, whether it was their choice or the league talked to them like you guys are working the same game, you know the history, anybody blinks funny, get them out. And we saw that, but it still didn’t it still didn’t stop things. You know, it’s not going to happen because there is a there’s revenue attached to it. A game that gets that kind of out of control, do you just just say we’re done? We’re just done, guys. Let’s whether it’s in the game and it just has gotten out of control because guys are just looking for each I mean, I’m not sure you could take anything in a positive way out of that game for the Lightning. I don’t. Now, you could say, “Well, this is hockey, and again, you’re dealing with gate revenue.” I I understand that. Maybe you just don’t play game seven in the preseason to begin with. I I just I Well, they can’t next year. They Yeah. So, it’s We seem to have learned that there is a limit on how many preseason games and and look, you don’t want to overreact because this is one thing that transpired. I get that, too. But sometimes you have to make those decisions. What’s in the best interest of not only the sport, but these two teams? I mean, people who don’t follow hockey saw what happened and that’s what they were talking about. It seems like that’s always the case. It’s never about a great goal or a great assist or a great stop. It’s usually about, hey, did you see that brawl that ensued um in that game or that cheap hit that happened? I I don’t know how strongly people feel about the reputation of the game and of things that happened on game seven and game six between Tampa Bay and Florida overall. Is it healthy for the game when you ch when you start talking about growing it? I know I’m getting into a little bit of discuss another topic. Yeah. But no, I can tell you a lot of people didn’t like it. Yeah. And I I understand that that be that as it may, the preseason is over. The preseason is over. Thank goodness. The Lightning for the most part, I would say, acquitted themselves very well. And and some would even say, partner, that even after all of the shenanigans that happened in that last game that the Lightning, one of the the interesting messages that we heard throughout this camp is that guys may be sticking together. They have each other’s back. There’s a cohesiveness here. There’s guys are gamers. that maybe that best illustrated what that meant based off of this last game where guys you didn’t have to say anything to Saburn. He knew and I guess that’s a positive development. I’m not sure we needed that game to justify it. said, “Hey, if you feel like the Lightning answered some questions about some depth, some younger players who are knocking on the door to play in the NHL and that other element the teams like to have, it can be swag, it can be whatever you want to call it, cohesion that maybe the Lightning and Break camp found that and they do have it and that’s going to bode well throughout an 82 game season and hopefully into the playoffs. So, I would say collectively this has been one of the more notable preseasons I can remember since covering the team. And one when I look at this Lightning roster, there are some question marks for sure. Everybody’s going to talk about the health. That’s a priority. And people might even uh question the goalending health, both uh the starter and the backup maybe. Who knows? and the power play is going to be something we’re going to watch as it goes on. But I’m not sure we’re going to be able to really give you a great opinion on that until they play a few games. But I think all things considered, this Lightning team initially partner answered some questions and that overall it feels like the Lightning are in a pretty good spot from an or organization perspective. I agree. Uh, I mean, even before these last two games against the Panthers, you know, we were singing the praises of many of the guys who opened some eyes. Yep. On the Lightning side. And maybe for Lightning Management, they didn’t open eyes because they kind of know their prospects, but they had to feel good that so many players acquitted themselves as well as they did in the preseason. not just with their play, but with their attitude, with their, you know, compete level, with their willingness to to battle no matter the score. The Lightning had games where they had a lead, they held on to a lead. There were other games where they were down, they found a way to come back and win. So all of that was very very positive and I think it it sets them we’ll see how the season plays out but I think it sets them on a course where they feel that they can call up some guys from Syracuse with no concern about their ability to fit in at the NHL level understanding that you know in Syracuse they will develop their games plural you know each player will develop his own game in Syracuse. So, it does look like Jack Finley is going to make the opening night roster. So, congratulations to him cuz he was not on waiverss yesterday. And if they were going to send him down, he would have been. He’s another guy who acquitted himself very well both in kind of the Garden Variety preseason games and also the the last two against the Panthers. So, now we get ready for Thursday. Uh, I do know a lot of fans were questioning what came down yesterday as the kind of the after effects of Saturday’s game. So, I do You want me to lead you into a couple of questions and then you can kind of answer because or do you want to answer? Yeah. No, let I mean, I’m sure a couple it’ll give you comments. The questions Yeah, the questions will will probably be Let me get to a couple here. Uh, Lee on YouTube said, “I can’t stand the leaguewide discussion on why what the Lightning did was wrong. The NHL forced their hand when they didn’t suspend Greer for the hit on Hegel. The Lightning either take matters into their own hands or continue to have liberties taken against their star players. The refs and DOPS have nothing have done nothing in the past to merit confidence from Tampa Bay’s point of view. And then partner Alex on YouTube says, hm, no supplemental discipline for Verheis for Verhey for a copy and paste of the Moser hit. He will definitely be suspended for. Okay, those are good questions. So, just to recap in case the fans I think most fans probably following the show do know what came down yesterday. Yeah. But I’ll repeat it. So, the Lightning had five players that got game misconduct stemming from major penalties. One of those Saver got a match penalty, which is you get a match, it’s an automatic review. You’re having a conversation with the DOPS no matter what. So the Panthers had one player, Verhagy. He got a major penalty in a game misconduct. So of the five players, Sabvern has a hearing today. Moser, who got a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct, has a hearing today. Gage Gonalez, who got a five-minute major for cross-checking, I believe, and a game misconduct was fined. And Roman Schmidt got a five-minute major. I may be mixing up the the penalties, but he got involved with Verhagy and and cross-checked him. He got a he got a major and a game. He also got fined. Oliver Borkstrand, who got a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit to the head, which I never saw that replay. We were talking about where my replay monitor was. He got no supplemental discipline. He got he got no fine. He has no hearing. So, the Lightning have two players who are probably going to get suspended. If Saburn is in the minors, his suspension doesn’t affect him there. It would only be if he comes up. And then Moser, the Lightning do have still seven defensemen cuz it looks like Declan Carlile, who was put on waiverss yesterday, assuming he clears, is going to go to Syracuse. That’ll leave them with seven. If Moser has to miss opening night, hopefully the the DPS decides not to suspend him, which is that is a possibility, too. We’ll find out probably later today. Then the Lightning, if they don’t have Moser, they do have six. Okay. So, we don’t know if the Lightning are going to get suspensions. I’m certainly I’m very certain Savin is going to get a suspension. I don’t know if Moser is going to get a suspension. We’ll see. I was curious about the Verhei play, too. So this morning I reached out to Brian Briezmann and said, you know, can we contact the league and get an explanation or at least, you know, something that that we can pass along to understand their reasoning, even if it’s not an actual written explanation, reasoning for why the Verhagy hit did not rise to the level of any supplemental discipline, suspension or fine. And so essentially, you know, Brian Brezin reached out and, you know, PR from the league, he he got back to me. He’s like, you know, PR from the league, we’ll talk to you. So this morning, I called the the league PR. I explained we have a show. I explained fans are going to want to know like what’s going on. The DOPS is very transparent when they suspend a player, like what they why they suspend it. But for players who don’t get suspended, there’s no explanation, right? They don’t do a video for every play that they look at where they don’t suspend. There may be a lot of those. Should they? So, that’s a good question. Well, so what what you know the PR person with the league said was first of all, he’s like, I will reach out to DPS and he’s like, I will get whatever their reasoning was, I will get it to you. So, just tell the fans I I did hear back for the show, so I will pass on kind of what we heard from the DPS. But he’s like, keep in mind, he’s like, there are a lot of plays out there that they look at and they feel like it does not rise to the level of supplemental discipline. Even if it did rise to the level, let’s say, of a major in a game, like the call on the ice was the correct one, but there’s a separate standard like it has to go beyond that for them to to fine or suspend. So, the fan kind of said these are copycat plays. In the league’s mind, they were not copycat plays. The Moser play and the Verhagy play. The Verhagy play to me looked reckless because he leaves his skates and he’s basically like at one point almost horizontal to the ice and this is a factor when they look at supplemental discipline. Gurgensson’s was injured. The guy that Moser hit, yes, was not injured. So why like why why is there a difference here? And again, I don’t necessarily know exactly how the rule is written for boarding, but essentially the difference was what we heard back from the league. Moser is going in a straight line toward the end boards and sees the players numbers and hits him in the numbers. Verhagi is going down the boards and essentially does not he doesn’t have Gurgensson’s numbers in front of him. So Gergensson’s kind of sort of turns, but it’s a hit along the sideboards. It’s not like a locomotive going straight to the end boards where the player can choose to veer off. That is the distinction. Fans may not like the explanation. In fact, I’m guessing most Lightning fans are not happy with this explanation. They may disagree with the explanation, but that was kind of the the dividing line between something that rises to the level of supplemental discipline. That does not mean that the league was happy with the Verhigi hit, but they felt that the major in the game was sufficient for the hit that was laid out based on the fact that this kind of happened on the side. And in fact, I’ll I’ll read exactly what what they wrote back. Calling the ice was appropriate punishment for Higgy came down the boards and not directly across and into the numbers. They said coasted into the hit. So that’s how they saw it. So people were like the DPS is biased and they don’t they don’t only penalize one team. Like they look at every hit and I will acknowledge the hits are not the same. You know, Boquist is along the end boards. So you can make the argument and the league made this argument in a way they said you know Moser could have peeled off and not rammed him directly into the end wall. Verhigi I guess they felt had fewer options based on where Gergens was. I thought it was a reckless hit. I personally would have liked to have seen him get supplemental discipline but to to just like broadstroke and like the DOPS has no idea what it’s doing is just not accurate. It’s not like they look at the hits and they have to make a determination based on kind of how the rule is written for supplemental discipline, not for penalties. Different and this is the decision that they reach. They have a lot. It’s a hard job. Greg talked about this. Is this one of those and I’m looking at the FGI by the way as you speak just so I could go back and look at it again. So what do you see? I mean you tell me. So I thought it was a dirty hit. I mean I think everybody agrees with that and I think the league felt it was a dirty hit. Yeah, I thought it was a dirty not a major in a game of but I’m also wondering how much of that hit to Gergensson’s did they feel like you know you always hear that part or maybe it wasn’t said out loud did the player who got hit put himself in a vulnerable position cuz when you say things like Verhi maybe didn’t have as many options when he wasing down but it’s clear those were my words but yeah Gergensson’s does turn yeah at the end how much how much time does Verhigi have where he can see the numbers. That’s kind of the question to ask. And again, this isn’t imply that there should have been no penalty like understand. And I’m not trying to be like a representative of the league here. I’m just passing on the information that that we were given. And I’m trying to explain the way the league looked at it when they decided no supplemental discipline. And if you ask yourself the question like how much time does Verhigi see the numbers in front of him? And if the answer is not very much time, then that would explain why they felt that the call on the ice was sufficient punishment. And so that’s where you get into a a gray area like that. So I can understand where the league looked at that and maybe didn’t come down as hard as as Moser. The the other part that maybe maybe you can prove maybe you can’t. I mean it feels like every time the Lightning play Verhagy there is a pretty big chippiness to his game. Yeah that I think some tow definitely looks to Would you agree? I want to say run but he definitely finishes hard checks against the boards on lightning players. I had that in mind too but maybe the league doesn’t because I do feel like sometimes some of the things that Verhi has done in this game in this series and call it the series since he’s been with Florida going against his old team. I think you can several several against Chernack. I know that go some against Yeah. that go over the line. So, I’m not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt more so than the league did maybe in that. So, that’s why I would have been like, you know, throw you out of the game and if you want to start talking about suspension, I what I’m saying is I would have been easily convinced that you were on the right path if that’s where you wanted to go because I’ve seen enough Carter Vihy hits on lighting players previously to say I don’t want to read his mind. I do think it was something where he had to change direction pretty quickly, but I think based off of the evidence we’ve seen how he plays against the Lightning over the years. I don’t know if I’d be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that. But the league then would have to go back and understand some of those borderline hits he’s had previously against the Lightning. And I’m not sure, right, they have that information in front of them. Unless the Lightning are going to the league quietly and saying, “Hey, keep an eye on this guy. He’s taken a run at our defenseman the last five games.” Well, look, the fact that I heard from the league and the league said we were not happy with the hit, like I mean it is on their radar. Yeah. So, we’ll see moving forward. The last thing that I will say and we can get to more questions about the DOPS which is always I don’t care with with what fan base you’re with. It is one of the easiest departments to to pick apart in the league office because the calls invariably are going to upset someone or a team. either the player gets suspended and the team is upset about that or the player is not suspended and the team that that was on the receiving end of this is is upset. They do the best they can. I do believe that uh George Peros meets with the broadcasters at our broadcasters meeting every year and this is one reason why I’m able to come on the show and say like this is what they look at. You know, they are not coming in with a bias. They are coming in and trying to make a fair determination on some of these calls which are not easily done. Some are more direct like a match penalty for sure. So for Lightning fans who are upset about what happened and I I concede like I was surprised that Verhigi wasn’t suspended. Then I got the explanation. I’m like all right well that’s what they chose to do. Verhigi getting suspended or not suspended does not affect the Lightning though. If Rhy was suspended, he wouldn’t be playing tomorrow against Chicago. He would be playing the next time that the Lightning and Panthers meet. So, let me just say this. There were five Lightning players that could have gotten some kind of supplemental discipline. Only four did and two of the four got fined, meaning that they don’t have to miss any time. of the five players, three are, you know, gonna be on the NHL roster. Moser, Gonzalez, Borkstrand. So, from that standpoint, you know, the Lightning could have gotten more from the league. I’m not saying that Gonzalez should have been suspended. I’m not saying Bu should have been fined or suspended. It’s not my place to say that. But once you get the major in the game, the league is looking at it. And we’re not talking about like accidental high stick or you know a fiveminute major of high sticking where the guy was a little reckless and you know we’re talking about hit to the head cross-checking major. I mean the league looked at those and they elected to give nothing to Borkstrand. So from that standpoint I mean the Lightning should be pleased right and the fan base should be pleased. Oliver Bjorkstrand is able to play on Thursday. I think the thinking is with going back to your point and everything you said I agree with um with Verhagy it’s yes you’re right it’s not going to impact the next time these two teams play in terms of his availability. I think maybe the thinking would be if you are suspended does that tone down how reckless you are? Yeah, that’s the other part and that not only benefits the Lightning Dave I think that benefits the league. What have I told you? And you and I have had discussions about this over and over again on this show. I can’t understand the lack of respect the players have. That is for another topic in when it hit when coming hit from behind. And so we can get into this conversation about he didn’t have enough time to move or maybe the player that was hit put himself in a vulnerable spot. And look, this goes for Moser as well. Again, I’m just going back and watching it. I mean they got him mainly because he I mean he kind of you know gives him that I am that is why I think suspensions need to be more prevalent in this league because somebody is going to get hurt. We always talk about the speed of the game and the players are bigger and faster yada yada yada. Well, what is the effect of that? It’s when you hit them particularly from behind and they’re defenseless you can get serious injuries. And so for me, and this would be somebody whether it’s Moser, Verhaggy, or anybody, I actually think a hit to the back should be treated as something potentially that you get suspended for at least the game. Because my worry is I don’t think I’ve seen much improvement from that perspective over the last handful of years of players going after one another when they’re they’re the most vulnerable. And I think I would say that for anybody. Um, I will say this too about Moser. Boy, does it it feels like he is playing with a lot of sandpaper to his game. Eat if he has to eat some time on a suspension like he has come in with he is playing at a high level. He’s playing with some snarl in his game. Yes. I mean, it sounds like somebody, you know, messed with his lunch and he’s upset and he’s looking for that person. But, I mean, that’s good to see. We talked about this with some of the lighting players. The more engaged they are physically, the better they are. I think Mitchell Chaffy, Connor, Geeky probably fit that that mode. I mean, Moser, it has stood out. Yeah, it has stood out. And like he was very good last year before the injury and maybe he looked at his game and said, “Listen, I’ve got to be physical. I’ve got to be chippy to play against.” And look, this could be, you know, look, second year with the team now. maybe he feels a little bit more comfortable. But if we’re going to see that JJ Moser throughout the year, assuming he can stay healthy and and the hits are legal, I think you might be getting the best version of JJ Moser and he was already pretty good. Yeah. So I I want to make that observation. Um before you get to another question, Greg, one of the first question actually was the first question asked about Greer and like why was Greer not suspended? We didn’t get any explanation from the league about that. I’m sorry. All right. I don’t think what Greer did rose to the level of a suspension. It didn’t. It was It was unnecessary. It lit the match. He’s the reason. I don’t mind saying that. His actions are the reason we had these two games. But did it rise to the level of a suspension? I don’t think so. I mean, compare what Greer did to what Roman Schmidt did. I mean, Schmidt cross-checked Verhiggy in the face and gave him a couple of sucker punches. I think Verhigi was ready for him, but he got the same punishment that Greer got. He got fined. Correct. And so, does Schmidt act the way he did had Greer not acted the way he? I don’t think so. Now, that’s hard to gauge because there there is history. There is history. Schmidt and Sabin played in the game in Orlando. No, it was a completely different Florida team and Schmidt did have a fight in that game. But let me let me ask you this. Things completely changed after the first seven minutes on Thursday. They do. I I do want to ask you this and then we’ll take some more questions. Do you think when you have a team, two teams that have this bad blood and it’s a little more unusual because it’s preeason and they’re playing back to back to back. So, of course, I I get it. and scheduling referees throughout the season and changing things on the fly, I’m sure, is incredibly hard. Do you think it makes sense for these two teams to have the same officials for the whole year? That way they understand what’s happening because sometimes it does change. Correct. Interesting point. And we were talking about and look it they play when do they play? They play in November and and then they don’t play until February. Did I see that? Two games in December. So two games in December. Does it make sense if some stuff happens in that first game, these officials are taking notes, I’m assuming, after the game, they’re they’re looking at players that when it comes time to play the second and third games, does it make more sense? Do you have a more controlled environment, not let the game get out of hand? if you have the same officiating crew. Maybe not because maybe you’re upset with how the the first game went, but the the the thinking could be maybe they learn from what happened in that first game and maybe they are calling penalties a little more judiciously in the second and third games. It’s just a thought. I don’t even know if the league does that. Mhm. Uh sometimes I don’t know how they schedule the officials either. Sometimes it just happens that you may get the same official depending on where they’re located. I do not think for the first meeting, which is on a Saturday in November, that we are going to see an inexperienced referee. I think that’s fair. I think that’s fair. They’re going to get two veteran guys in there. Yeah, I would because just like the schedule for the team is laid out. I mean, these guys all have to make travel arrangements, too, partner. So, I’m I’m assuming they have a pretty good idea of what their schedule’s looking like. Yeah, I’m not sure if it’s the full season, but they may do it month at a time, maybe. I think I think or at least like a couple of weeks like a rolling couple of week schedule or to your point, do you put the the the officiating crew that’s graded out the best during that time as the crew to handle those games? I look, I don’t want to blow this up, but I I also know that that that got nasty. Yeah. And and again, I don’t know if we’re going to see the same sort of stuff when the teams meet in the regular season. Yeah. We may, we may not. Yeah. I think I think it’s fair. I’m curious what our audience thinks at Bolts Radio. Yeah, I’m sure we have a lot more questions. So, we basically ate up the first 42 minutes. We had the two questions. So, we hope that we did. If if you had a similar question, I hope that that answers some of your questions about Saturday’s game. Uh Nick on YouTube said, “In the end, I think two games like that fires us up and has a positive effect on our season.” We’ll see. I mean, from the standpoint of guys, you know, they always say sticking up for one another. I mean, they definitely did that. You had players willing to fight who were new to the organization. They were not involved in what happened in the playoffs last year, yet they were willing. I mean, look at Sabarin was not with the Lightnings organization last year. That was impressive. And I, you know, talking Anglum about this or it might have been Chief and I can’t the the days are all running close to one another. It was basically nothing had to be said to him. Mhm. In terms of what what needed to be done. You start talking about the hockey code and I think that’s where that falls in line. Anthony on on exartner says, “I love the bottom six guys this year. Still thinks the Koviaak looks too good and should be on the team over Finley. Geeky solid. Looks solid.” Also, I think Stooviaak is going to get recalled at some point. I would agree with that. I’ll leave it at that. I mean, Finley had a good Finley had a good camp, Anthony. Like, they’re not looking for Finley to make a bunch of plays. Finley’s not a scorer. He’s not a scorer. And I know I think that’s where people are looking at this. I don’t want to say a a little flawed because I I do think it has to be within the confines of the role they’re going to have. In other words, um, Stooviaak is an older guy, but maybe is he best served in a top six or top nine role. Finley, you know, we talked about maybe has a higher floor than some of these younger guys, but the ceiling isn’t there. Mhm. He’s more suited to play maybe 8 to 10 minutes even when he’s performing at his best maybe at the NHL at this point to be a guy who can win faceoffs, kills penalties, and be responsible defensively. Although Stooviac is not a young guy, Stooviac is older than Finley and experience. But yes, I think Finley serves a very useful role. Yeah. In what the Lightning are trying to do to to round out their roster and they really like the fact that he can win faceoffs to the right of the goalie. He showed that during the preseason. Paul on YouTube says, “Disagree completely, Greg. More five-minute majors will impact the game in favor of the team receiving the illegal hit. For example, five for cross-checking to the head plus five for un sportsmanlike making it five on three. What is he referring to? What comment did you make that he was Was I Was I saying in terms of throwing people out of the game? I you know that that would deter that that would impact the game at some point once those teams meet again. Uh Paul, give us a little more context. I mean, I I don’t disagree with you that if you go that route and you go more five on threes or four on threes, however it is, that that isn’t going to impact a game uh in a more positive light for the team that’s on the power play. I think the question just becomes, do you have confidence that the the offici will call the game like that and set you up? because we do know how how hesitant they can be. One about issuing sometimes five on threes and if one team is getting more of them in the game than the other. You know, there is that human element. By the way, Greg, our our friend Deandra Louu reached out and she was like, I’m listening. What was the So, again, if you were listening, Deandra, anyone else, this is not like an official email from the league. I think they were just trying to give context. Yeah. Yeah. So, I would not take this verbatim like we get those emails from the NHL about like why a goal is disallowed. Yeah. The the essence of the the ruling was unlike the Moser hit where I think they felt that he could see the numbers call on the ice was appropriate punishment for the Verhigi hit on Gurgensson’s because Verhigi came down the board and knocked directly across and into the numbers. I think that that’s fairly clear about what what they were looking at that led them to say a major in a game was the appropriate punishment and that is different from the Moser hit. Now Lightning fans may say that shouldn’t matter like Verhagy still had you know a reckless in their mind a reckless play. I’m using that word because I felt it was it was a definitely like exuberant hit, right? And the player was injured. He didn’t have to do that. Gurgensson’s was in a vulnerable position. But this is what they look at when they’re determining, this is the key word, supplemental supplemental discipline on top of what was called on the ice. So, it didn’t rise to that level. in the minds of the DOPS. So, I’m passing along what we heard from the league. I hope that I can clarifies. We do have sources. We do have sources. Yeah. And again, it’s not like I got this official email. They were they were doing us a solid, Greg, because they don’t often do this. I’m not sure they ever do this actually, but in this instance, we reached out and I’m appreciative that the league kind of got back to us and and gave us some context for this particular play. Gary Bman, by the way, will join us tomorrow. No, I’m joking. I’m joking. I was Well, I did see that I think it was Jim in Jacksonville asked if we could get maybe Don Koharsski, former referee. Good question. I mean, we can all Jackson who does some stuff on the broadcast, right? Yeah, I think that would be a fun conversation. Yeah, you know, I think you’d have to understand we’re not going to go in there and hold these guys their feet to the fire either. They have a tough job to do. We would I think the process in many ways would be interesting to pick their brains. Um, uh, by the way, I do want to give a shout out to Deandra because I actually wrote an article yesterday that kind of basically said what I just said. So, I guess I stole it from her, but it’s like to understand Saturday, you have to understand that it wasn’t just about Saturday, that it was about what happened earlier. And I guess she took some flak on on social media. And I mean, people are just keyboard warriors, right? I mean, so good on you, Deandra. I thought it was a very fair factual Yeah. kind of recap of everything that led up to Saturday. Mhm. And if if if it hit some people the wrong way, those people were all on the other side of the state. It was probably a good article. It was a good article. I mean, honestly, so keep doing what you’re doing, Deandra. Good for you. We should have DAR on the show here before we uh Steve on Facebook partner says with Carlau and I assume most of the guys brought up Saturday going on waiverss and being sent down other than assuming Croer and Finley making the team. Is anyone else sticking around longer considering Paul is still out? Well, that’s a good question. the the third goalie basically accounts for Paul being out right now because if Gergens is injured but he’s on the opening night roster, maybe the Lightning will call somebody up. Like you can have your opening night roster, but the Lightning don’t actually open until Thursday. So they can make a roster move after Tuesday, right? But as it stands right now, you know, the Lightning only have 12 forwards if you take out Paul and Gergensson’s and seven defensemen. But we are adding, right, we are adding Gurgensson’s in that regard to the lineup and Paul, but they may have to start on the injured list. They may be on the opening night roster and then once that happens, once that comes through, they put those guys on IR and they call somebody up. I hope Gergens does not have to start on IR, but we’ll wait and see. The fact that he was not practicing today is not promising. Good to see Holberg play. Yeah, now he had a fight. Not sure he wanted to, but good. You know, that was a question mark. You know, I was getting some questions on this partner, and I’m not going to read too much into it. Vassy’s performance. It was such an uneven game in terms of the flow. He has rust like he has not he had to miss a week of camp and just a few I mean even after he came back I think they had an off day in there. So it was not the cleanest game to come back. No, it was not the cleanest game. But I mean he’s going to have time to to work his way. This is different than two years ago where he missed two months. I would. Right. I would. Let’s hold judgment until we actually see him in a regular season game where it’s most it’s more five on five than not, which Saturday definitely wasn’t. Yeah. Anthony on YouTube says, “I hate the Verhaggy hit on Churnack last playoffs. It’s basically the same as Hegel on Barkov, but Churnack needs to be more aware. His head is down too much and he receives too much punishment.” Yeah, I I’ve heard I’ve heard that with Chernac that at times the head does go down a bit more than you’d like, but um you know, a bad hit is a bad hit. Mhm. And Chernack is a guy that is just going to have to be because of how he plays, he’s going to have to be a little more aware, I think, too, of his surroundings because guys will take shots at him. they just will. Um, so we’ll see how that that transpires. You mentioned Boomer. I think he did. Our good friend uh today, okay, was somebody else. He said, “Jack Finley played the most preseason games of any player. He mustered four shots in six games, zero points. I understand we want him to be our fourth line faceoff guy, but I’m not seeing it. I’d rather have Stohoviaak. He can play on the wing, too.” Curious your thoughts between the two. Just an interesting finding here. Eight players were tied for the lead in most points throughout the postseason. Gu or excuse me, Cooch, Gensel, Geeky, Gonzo, Bjorkstar, Radish, Gergensson’s, all NHLers, and Stooviaak. Just saying. Thanks, Stooviaak. Look, Boomer, he had a great camp. I was so impressed with this guy and I’ve been totally consistent on the show talking about that. you have. And I do think he is going to get recalled, but I think you just explained the reasoning behind Finley’s presence and what he brings. You don’t need to repeat yourself, but he brings certain qualities to the Lightning’s lineup that are very attractive. I agree with all of that. And again, I think it’s Jack Finley has a role in a skill set. Let’s not conflate anything else. Uh Matt says, “Guys, when are you all going to have Pat Maroon on? Would love to hear his thoughts on everything that happened.” I did hear, we were on the air, but I did hear some of his comments because he had his first broadcast on Thursday. Yeah. He basically said, “This is not over.” And he was right. I mean, he was kind of talking about the Greer play, so it may not be over for Greer, but yeah, Steve Versnik usually handles kind of come on. I mean, sometime I reach out. Yeah, but I think the plan is to have to have Pat look. I’m not going to say there’s a waiting list to join the show. Pat has I mean, we may be on the waiting list because he has We’ll get him soon, says Steve. I just thought he’s going to be on NHL Network, so good for him. Well, they they love these guys with the big personalities as they should. As they should. And well, I mean, and that’s the perfect game for him to talk about. Well, right. I just meant NHL Network. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, like in demand, he’s he certainly can can add uh NHL MS Paint. Will the Lightning face any repercussions from the refs in the league with non- calls this season because of what happened? I don’t think so. Pierre LeBron did tweet this though, post this that the league had a conversation with the Lightning and Panthers about what happened the last two games. So, I don’t know that it’s going to like dribble down to on ice calls made or not made, but I think the league sort of noticed that they were not thrilled. Well, what conversations are you going to have? In many ways, you could say the league, the way hockey is played allows for that type of behavior because there hasn’t been enough crackdown in the first place. I talked to you about the hits behind that hasn’t been cleaned up. Fighting beer, we didn’t get beer to report on the actual conversation. But I I’m I’m answering the question like as long as you’re fighting in the league, you’re going to have games like this. You’re just you just are. And so unless you start throwing guys out of the game and suspending it, you can talk to John Cooper all you want and say, “Look, um, we think you need to tell your team before the game to tone it down.” Okay. I mean, what does that mean? That goes out the window as soon as somebody takes a run at Coov. I don’t think that would be what was said. It would not be uh, don’t dress Scott so call him up from the AHL. Well, or just like if this sort of stuff happens again, this is what we’re going to do. That may be the I would like to know what they are going to do. I don’t know. I mean, you could find somebody heavily. Yeah. Christina says, “Totally agree with you, Greg. More suspensions would eventually tone down the dangerous illegal hits, especially in the postseason. Suspensions are it’s tough are damaging to players. So they miss time. And second of all, it’s a significant pay hit. Yeah. I mean, I don’t have the exact numbers here, but I mean, we always see with the fines, it’s like the maximum allowed for the CBA. I have a feeling like you slap someone with a three or four game suspension, that’s a lot more than the fine at the maximum level, which is a percentage of your your salary. I think it is actually. That’s a good point by you. Um, so Dustin says, “Let’s just call it for what it is. Gregory Campbell’s father is at the top at tiptop of DOPS. That’s why the Panthers get off the hook on their disgusting plays they make regularly. If Gergens was McDavid, Crosby, etc., and taking that hit, the player making the hit is 100% suspended. Is that Dusty who had that? Dustin Keane. Dustin, I’m sorry. Dustin. Uh, that is false. Actually, Colon Campbell is not in the DPS. He’s on the hockey op side. People are like, “What is different? What difference does that make?” It makes a difference. First of all, the DOPS’s office, I believe, is in New York. Colton Campbell’s based in Toronto. I’m not sure how much intersection happens there. George Paros runs that department. The DOPS the the Okay. Yeah. Right. So, I do not think Colon Campbell has any involvement whatsoever in supplemental discipline. Zero. They are not consulting him. I’ve seen a little about this. Well, Gregory Campbell is the AGM with the Panthers. Come on. I mean, I don’t mean to dismiss it, but look, it’s very easy from the outside to like say, “Well, I’m connecting these dots.” The reality is, Greg, and I think we see it just about at every point that you meet somebody who is involved in this game, if you have reached the level that you have reached, you take your job very, very seriously. and the implication that the the guys that are involved in the DOPS decisionmaking would allow themselves to be influenced by Colon Campbell because Colon Campbell’s son is the AGM with the Florida Panthers is I’m sorry an insult to the to the hardworking people in that department. It is. Ben says that when you talk to you talk to George Paros fans, you talk to him and you tell him, “Well, I think that you take it easy on the Panthers because somebody else in the league, granted, somebody who’s been in the league a long time, Coley Campbell, but that person is the father of somebody in management with the Panthers, and that is why you’re making the decisions that you’re making.” I mean, Aaron Ecklad did get suspended for two playoff games last year. I mean, I don’t have the full list in front of me, but it’s not like the Panthers never get supplemental discipline. So, anyway, I didn’t mean to get on my soap box there, Dustin. Please keep asking questions, but I wanted to to at least point out Colon Campbell is not the head of the DOPS. He’s not. It’s fair to point out. Now whether you think that matters or not, you have to leave that to the individual who’s asking the question that we can only give you the facts of positioning and title. I have met enough people who work for the league, Greg, and I will say this and I will swear on anything you want me to swear on that this is the God’s honest truth. Everybody who works at the NHL level in the league office, they take their job very very seriously. I don’t I don’t disagree with that. I’ve never met anybody who didn’t take great pride and feel a great responsibility for doing the job as best as they could. So maybe my hackles got up a little bit more because, you know, I’ve met a lot of these people and frankly it’s insulting to to say that and I don’t I I kind of push back on the McDavid Crosby stuff. I I don’t know. It’s the one knock on the league at times over the years is they haven’t done enough to protect their stars. you know, your guess is as good as mine if something would happen with those players, if the punishment would be different. I I don’t know that. I haven’t seen a ton of evidence to see that over the years to be fair. Uh we’ll look to have some guests on before the game. You know, maybe we can I mean, look, maybe we can get somebody from the DPS to join us on the show. You know, they can they can explain. I mean, I’ve tried to explain based on what I’ve heard about like what they go through when they Yeah. when they look at a play. But that has helped me understand it and has allowed me to gain respect for the difficulty of their job. Yeah. Most fans are not hearing that. So they just see a decision that they don’t like and they think, you know, that the do they even do interviews? the department just is is incapable of of coming to a logical decision in their mind where in fact there probably is logic that most people who are just watching the replay are not are not taking into account. Does George Paris even do interviews? He may I mean that might happen though it might be one I mean that’s something else. Steve get Pat Maroon first. We’ll worry about we’ll worry about the Don Cohes and the talk to them behind the scenes. Power Lunch is bringing in power players to explain the reasoning behind I mean honestly it is it is a slippery slope because if they have to go on every single time they choose not to suspend someone right they would never stop having to you know answer for the decisions that they have to make. There are a lot of plays that probably run right up to, you know, what do we do with this? And so I will just leave the fans with this. A penalty called in a game is part of the punishment. It’s not that, well, the player didn’t get suspended, so the league just took it easy on him or they think it’s okay. It’s not. It’s that they felt that what was doled out on the ice was sufficient. with sufficient punishment. Now, in a preseason game, you’re like, “What big deal?” You know, the player missed the rest of the game. But, you know, if a player misses two and a half periods in a playoff game because you got a game misconduct 10 minutes in, like that’s a significant punishment, right? Anyway, we hope that this was an illuminating show for the fans. Um, I think it was it was a it was a as much as the league maybe wasn’t happy with h what happened and it would have been a lot easier certainly on the broadcasters to have a shorter game if if this hadn’t happened. Yeah. But look, the best thing that could have come out of this is that the Lightning kind of grew grew as a team, grew as an organizational unit. And let the Panthers know that what happened at the beginning of Thursday’s game was was not going to stand. It wasn’t, even though it was two days later. We’ll take more of these questions throughout. And I’m glad we have this show to at least give people an opportunity to vent and to send us their questions because I think it is important to talk through it. partner. Great job as always. I will talk to you tomorrow noon to 1. Look forward to that always. Steve Ursick, thank you. Jared Johnson, our producers and engineers to everybody listen, we always appreciate you guys. I’m Greg Lenelli. You’ve been listening to Power Lunch right here on Lightning Radio.

Dave Mishkin and Greg Linnelli will recap the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 7-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night that saw 322 penalty minutes and 7 Lightning players thrown out. JJ Moser and Scott Sabourin have hearings with the Department of Player Safety today.