When asked about coaching this team, Boucher talked about how it was important to "adapt to the guys in the room and not have them adapt to me." He also spoke of dealing with players as individuals first and athletes second. It is a refreshing take, and one you don't often hear from professional coaches in this day and age. When asked about whether he would be bringing his assistants from Hamilton with him, he stated that "while he had seen some of what is out there, there are still people under contract here and that he was going to talk to [Yzerman] about all those aspects." Boucher also talked about the reasons that he chose Tampa, one of which was the "reputation" that Yzerman has as a player and a legend of the game. This is a very underrated part of what this organization currently has going for them.
When all is said and done, a tip of the cap has to be given to Mr. Vinik. When the offseason began, he spoke about making this team world class, and bringing in world class people to run this team. He may have only been involved in two hires so far, but he has achieved that goal, and surpassed it. With both the hiring of Yzerman and Boucher, he not only got the two biggest names out there to be an integral part of this organization, he found two really good people to run his hockey team, and in the long run, it will show in the results on the ice.
Could there be contract talks on the horizon?
When asked about stability, General Manager Steve Yzerman said that over the next few weeks, he plans to "start the process and open the lines of communication with the agents of both Steven Stamkos and Marty St Louis."
Lightning Radio to hit the road
The weekly Tampa Bay Lightning Radio show will be hitting the road over the next several weeks, with stops at local Chili's throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Here are the dates and locations:
6-16-10 Tampa; 2903 N. Dale Mabry
6-23-10 Pinellas Park; 7250 U.S. 19 N
6-30-10 Lakeland; 3750 Lakeside Village Ct.
7-7-10 Clearwater; 25987 U.S. 19 N
8-11-10 New Tampa 17643 Bruce B. Downs
8-18-10 Lakewood Ranch 6125 Exchange Way
8-25-10 Odessa 16420 State Road 54
9-1-10 Brandon 1949 West Brandon Blvd
Email Mike: [email protected] | Twitter: @mcorcoran81
