Hedman, Kucherov named All-Stars; Tampa Bay Lightning injury updates

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
January 10, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning returned to the ice Tuesday determined to find the cure for what ails them

After taking a day off following back-to-back games on the road over the weekend, the team spent an extended time pouring over video in the locker room before emerging down the hallway toward the ice. And with some of the issues the team has had, allowing 22 goals during a four-game losing streak, there is plenty to go over.

The on-ice session was broken up in to two different sessions, with the Zamboni cleaning the ice in between.

But it was also quite a newsy day, particularly based on who emerged from the locker room to take part in practice.

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The day started with more news on the TampaCuse shuttle, which revved up its engines once again when the team announced that goaltender Adam Wilcox and forward Adam Erne were sent to Syracuse. The return move saw goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis and forward Gabriel Dumont recalled by Tampa Bay.

But it was a bit odd when Gudlevskis did not actually appear on the ice for practice and did not have any of his gear hung up in the locker room. As it turned out, that’s because Ben Bishop was a full participant in both practice sessions and appears set to return from an undisclosed lower-body injury suffered in the first period on Dec. 20.

Head coach Jon Cooper mentioned that Bishop could make an appearance in net for one of this week’s two games – Thursday against Buffalo or Friday against Columbus. That was all but confirmed when Gudlevskis was sent back to Syracuse later in the day.

Also back on the TampaCuse shuttle was defenseman Slater Koekkoek, who was reassigned to the Crunch, which per usual created some backlash among the fandom. But Luke Witkowski now requires waivers to be sent down and the decision to send Koekkoek back to Syracuse could have purely been more of a numbers related issue than performance based as Braydon Coburn returned to practice on Tuesday and could be ready to return this week. That would give Tampa Bay eight defensemen, and for a team up against the cap (even with Steven Stamkos on LTIR) every dollar counts. but keep an eye on this to see if there is something else at play.

Brian Boyle, meanwhile was back out on the ice. He’s been out of the lineup since suffering a lower-body injury on New Year’s Eve against Carolina. He also appears ready to return to the ice this week.

But it wasn’t all good news as Ryan Callahan, who has struggled to fully recover from hip surgery done over the summer, did not practice. Callahan did not play on Sunday and it was believed to be for precautionary reasons to prevent him from playing on back-to-back days. His absence, however, after the off day on Monday was not an encouraging sign.

When asked if Callahan’s absence was precautionary, Cooper said he would not characterize it that way and indicated Callahan may not be in a position to play this week, but they would have to wait and see.

Also missing at practice was J.T. Brown, who likely suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head by the shoulder of Wayne Simmonds during the third period of Saturday’s game at Philadelphia. Brown was blindsided by the hit and lay on the ice for a few minutes before heading to the locker room. The team has called it an upper-body injury.

Away from the injury news was the announcement that Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov have been named to the 2017 NHL All-Star game, which will take place Jan. 29 in Los Angeles. It is the first selection for both players, who will represent the Atlantic Division in the 3-on-3 tournament style format that was introduced last year in Nashville.

“It’s a big honor and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it when it comes to that,” Hedman said. “It’s a huge honor to represent this organization there, and for me and Kuch will have a good time there. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun. I’m very excited about being nominated.”

Kucherov seemed less than thrilled to discuss his selection when he was asked, simply stating he was “excited” without elaborating.

But Cooper said it’s an honor to have both heading to Los Angeles for the game.

“You are really happy for what they have done, and they would be the first to tell you they wish we were a little higher in the standings,” Cooper said. “But ultimately the All-Star game is recognition for a job well done and because you have done this and been elite in this league, everybody gets to be on display for the fans. It’s an entertainment game but it’s also a celebration of guys that have unreal skill and are really good at the game. And those are two guys that are well deserving for it. I’m happy for them.”

Here’s a look at what the lines looked like during practice on Tuesday:

Ondrej Palat-Vladislav Namestnikov-Nikita Kucherov

Brian Boyle-Valtteri Filppula-Jonathan Drouin

Alex Killorn-Tyler Johnson-Matthew Peca

Michael Bournival-Cedric Paquette-Gabriel Dumont