The bitterness of politics meets the cold of ice hockey
2018 election year campaign contest… Nikita Kucherov vs. Jack Eichel. Seeing I’m a Kucherov supporter, I’m sharing his ad here....
Just where did Rusty Fedotenko go? I’m glad you asked!!
Anyone ever wonder what happened to Ruslan Fedotenko? Real estate. He's involved in townhomes on Treasure Island. Read about it here https://t.co/b4CUMNcFmc #TBLightning #TBLightningAlumni —...
Personal note: I’ve taken back “Boltsmag”
Just a heads up: When I started blogging about hockey, the posts were published on Boltsmag.com. Upon me founding Raw Charge, I pointed the domain...
A visit from the 2018-19 NHL season
Twas the night before hockey In old Tampa Bay With Lightning comes thunder…And sometimes, even rain! The fans were all curious; what on Earth...
That mascot Gritty is now a heralded PR SNAFU
One day after my little piece on that shitty thing called Gritty, I got a PR email regarding the mascot that seems to have a...
Philly’s Gritty monstrosity – A fitting declaration for a weak mascot
Mascots and pro sports are a way to rile up the fans in a good way, a caricature personality that associates with a sports team....
When events lead to self-realization and rolling along while lost at sea
I don’t know what was worse: How the news of Tuesday and the stepping-down of Steve Yzerman laid out one hell of a road bump...
A word to summarize the Tampa Bay Lightning before the 2018-19 NHL season
It’s a foreign word in the history of sports in Tampa Bay, really. Oh, there are numerous athletes that the Bay area has produced who...
Right-vs-wrong; Brett Connolly will not attend Washington Capitals White House visit
Brett Connolly was Steve Yzerman’s first draft choice as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010. Connolly started a tend, though, that too...
Florida’s Fox Sports Net stations are up for grabs
I could kvetch here about conglomerates and how mega companies merging – even entertainment companies – is not ideal in many ways, but I just...
Instead of thoughts and speculation, Erik Karlsson trade rumors bring thundering silence to the Tampa Bay Lightning blogosphere
Rumors, innuendo, speculation… It’s loomed since before the 2018 NHL trade deadline and now it’s on the forefront during the NHL offseason. Days after the...
Boycotting the White House and Donald Trump isn’t part of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals discussion
The Philadelphia Eagles boycotted the White House by-and-large to the point President Donald J. Trump “revoked” the team’s White House visit on June 5th. He...
The inconsistency of NHL rule enforcement and inconsistency of accountability
I’ll invoke a name and that will inspire both groans of displeasure and distaste as well as defensive reactions from those who support their team’s...
The pressure of novelty and the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals
With game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight at Capital One Arena, there are two words on my mind, linked together but entirely unlinked....
Weather or not, Lightning watch party at Curtis Hixon Park for Game 6 of Eastern Conference Finals
I can’t recall the last time the threat of rain and weather was in place chronically over the Tampa Bay region. I’m not talking the...
A snap reaction to snap reactions aimed at the Tampa Bay Lightning and the 2018 NHL Eastern Conference Finals
I don’t know if it’s a casual fan base element, bandwagon fans or actually faithful of the Tampa Bsy Lightning who put on the panic...
Lightning announce watch party locations for Games 3 and 4 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals
As the title says, the Bolts have formally announced two watch party locations for games 3 and 4 of the 2018 NHL Eastern Conference Finals....
A charged factoid about the remaining clubs of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Teams still in the NHL playoffs, Conference Championships: Vegas, Winnipeg = 0Nashville = 1Washington = 1Tampa Bay = 2 Stanley Cups:Nashville, Vegas, Washington, Winnipeg =...
Poll: Are broadcasts of the NHL on NHC Sports patial?
This poll (via Twitter) will be running until Saturday, May 12th. As an #NHL fan, do you find @NHLonNBCSports broadcasts partial toward one team over...
[UPDATED] Regarding the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Lightning watch parties
We know who the Bolts are playing in the second round but as of this writing nothing has been announced regarding offficial team watch parties for...
NBC lists TV ratings for the 2018 NHL Playoffs (so far)
I only crossed it this morning but NBC Sports revealed the top 10 markets for broadcasts of the 1st round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs...
The sum of 51 and the Toronto Maple Leafs quest to advance to the second round
Someone has to say it and I’m sure TSN, Sportsnet and the like will be mentioning this if the Toronto Maple Leafs advances to the...
The Lightning’s habit of the 3rd period lapse and thoughts on Tampa Bay vs. New Jersey leading in to Game 5
I was concerned going into the late minutes of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey...
An NHL element mixes in with the story of lawyer Michael Cohen
It seems fitting that a sports element has mixed into the story of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen and his alleged ties to the...
Watch the Lightning and be the thunder at Easter Conference Quarterfinal watch parties
With the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs underway, I was wondering if there are any watch parties taking place with the Tampa Bay Lightning playing...
Regarding the Humboldt Broncos and the Canadian town of Humboldt, Saskatchewan
14 dead, 14 injured in a horrific collision in Saskatchewan. And a small town — a population around 6,00 – is put in shock. It...
A note on Tampa Bay sports and the playoffs
Though it literally does not play out like this: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers make the playoffs on average less than once every four seasons of...
The idea of politics and the NHL cross paths
Russia. Collusion. Obstruction of justice. “Act of War”. You can’t dismiss this stuff and it’s still coming to fruition through Special Counsel Robert Mueller as...
NHL player frustration mounts from officiating inconsistency
It’s silly season in the NHL, where fights are going to be more common along with outlandishness on ice and off. Yet there’s been a...
A Tampa Bay Lightning ramble by the original Lightning blogger
I made a name and reputation for myself with 12-and-a-half years of blogging about the Tampa Bay Lightning. I was a pioneer in hockey blogging...
Of Tampa Bay sports and media focus
I’ve been put off since last week while scanning headlines and online coverage of news in the Tampa Bay area and seeing a greater-than-usual focus...
The idea of hockey players from Tampa Bay
Some of the history of Tampa Bay Lightning hockey was touched on with my endorsement and love shown in the Vincent Lecavalier piece last week....
The grand and highest; the feats achieved for Tampa Bay by Vincent Lecavalier
“Grand Marshal“, why does that seem such a fitting title for Vincent Lecavalier who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning 1st overall in the...
An annual Tampa Bay festival to coincide the NHL All-Star invasion
Happy New Year to one and all. May 2018 be an annum of achievement and positive happenings for you and yours. A little note to...
Change and lack-there-of behind the bench in the NHL so far in 2017-18
It’s mid-December in 2017, just shy of the true middle of the 2017-18 season and there’s a noteworthy lacking going on. Oh, it is an...
What is time’s tale of Tampacuse with Lightning and Crunch fans?
The intention here was to write a blog post leading in to this poll regarding the Tampa Bay Lightning / Syracuse Crunch affiliation. The...
Three noteworth Reddit groups for hockey and sports fans
Reddit isn’t just a message board. It’s also not a dump-all marketing destination either. As a long time blogger, I didn’t deliberately try to mine...
Q and A with Calgary Flames blogger Kent Wilson of FlamesNation
I got Kent Wilson from FlamesNation to participate in the hockey blogger Q and A that I’ve been casually conducting this month. Kent’s one of...
A hockey blogging Q and A with Ken Boehlke from SinBin.Vegas
It is a season for beginnings, and I don’t just mean the rookie class of 2017-18 (that’s a yet-to-truly-know brood; it’ll clarify in the weeks...
A hockey blogger Q and A with Lyle Richardson of Spectors Hockey
One of the routine areas that draws fans to the web to find out what they can are rumors. Some are made up, some are...
A hockey blogger Q and A with Laura Astorian of St. Louis Game Time
Continuing the Q & A series that was unveiled Wednesday, another of hockey bloggings assetss chimes in on life in covering not one but two teams...
A hockey blogger Q and A with J.P. of Japers Rink
While I pour over headlines of the hockey blog universe on a daily basis, I’ve been noticing something missing in the summer of 2017 that...
Best of the Bay and the Bolts for 2017
I may have touched on talking about music (sweet music…music everywhere) but the topic of note is the one that my name is usually linked...
Topsy Tourney; Thoughts on hockey and the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics
In a way, ice hockey can be much like soccer/futbol. Oh, I’m not comparing playing on an ice sheet to playing on a huge field...
Tweeting an NHL-related poll
The timing may seem a little odd to do this now as we are in the middle of the summer doldrums of the NHL and...
NHL fans versus “Mad” Mike Milbury
Let me start with a link to an old article on Raw Charge by one Mister John J. Fonts Esq. (me, it’s a pseudonym ):...
Social Media Reach and the Tampa Bay Lightning
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Edmonton Oilers fans take over performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” Sunday, April 30 before game 3 [VIDEO]
Forget the politics for a second. Forget the anti-NAFTA scree coming from the White House. Go to sports, go to the National Hockey League and...
And down the stretch they come….! Thoughts on the Tampa Bay Lightning as the NHL season wanes
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On Tampa Bay sports disappointment and media coverage
A disappointing season in sports – both professional and amateur — is just that, a disappointment, a downer. Things don’t go as planned and the...