(Tampa) Derek Lalonde summed up very well what awaits his club over the next few days here in Tampa Bay: “It will be a challenge. ”
A challenge ? You could say that, yes.
Why ? Because the Omicron variant has been inviting all over the place, and as a good junk, it has also been invited to NHL arenas over the past few days. Including that of the reigning champions.
First, the Lightning will have to find guardians. It is sometimes difficult to find goalies in life in general, as every Garage League player can attest, and it is difficult for the best too. In the case that concerns us, it just so happens that Brian Elliott and Andrei Vasilevskiy end up on the COVID-19 protocol.
It’s not clear if there’s a Zamboni driver nearby who could make it to the arena with their gear, but before they get there, the Lightning will be looking towards the American League … except that the The problem is that the school club in Syracuse is also hit hard by this cumbersome variant.
So Derek Lalonde, who is acting as a replacement coach for Jon Cooper (also COVID-19), was unable to name the goalies who would land here Tuesday morning, in view of Tuesday night’s game against the Canadiens .
“Everything can change but we will have two American League goaltenders in our locker room on game morning,” he explained. It’s just the reality of the league and the world we live in right now … it’s not ideal, but we hope our guys who are already here will help them and be able to play in a way. accountable to them. ”
This funny situation, which is not at all funny in the end, meant that the Quebecer Frantz Jean, the goalkeeper coach here at the Lightning, had to put the pads back in training on Monday morning, while in front of him, it is a certain Kyle Konin who wore the leggings and the mask. According to Hockeydb, this Konin played one last game in 2018-19, with the Vermont Lumberjacks and New Hampshire Avalanche, in addition to serving as an emergency goalie for the St. Louis Blues this season. We assume he’ll be standing close to the arena parking lot tomorrow night.
“We are missing two coaches, we are missing two goalies,” added Lalonde. It would be easy to get discouraged a bit, but our guys are unaffected. ”
In addition to goalies, the Lightning also added the names of Mikhail Sergachev, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, Anthony Cirelli and Andrej Sustr to their COVID-19 list. The case of Sustr reminds us how quickly things can change; he had barely been added to the reserve team, but he tested positive when disembarking at the arena.
So it’s a very different team from the grand final in July that the Lightning will offer their fans on Tuesday night. If there is a match, of course.
You have to prepare as if you are going to play, even though a lot can change. We were told to prepare like we were going to play. It’s a shame what’s happening across the league, but several teams have to deal with it. The teams will have to adjust quickly, we will have to do it too.
Steven stamkos
“It’s not ideal… with the new variant, it will probably be like that for the next few weeks. We’ve had to deal with this for a long time now, but vaccinated guys usually feel pretty well even if they test positive. The majority of our players here have received their 3e dose, and we see examples here where there are guys not feeling so bad even having contracted COVID-19. ”
Let’s wrap it all up in the good news department, if at all possible: Forward Brayden Point, who hasn’t played since November 20, has taken part in Monday’s practice and could take part in his next game. club, he who completed a trio with Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn.
“I just go there as it goes… I introduce myself when they tell me to introduce myself,” explained Point, who isn’t that different from all of us, after all.