This is a good time to be a sports fan in Tampa. Well, maybe too good.

You see, for the first time in the team's history, the Tampa Bay Rays are in the Major League Baseball Playoffs, and they're scheduled to play play host to Game Two of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night at 8:07 p.m.

Unfortunately, across town at the St. Pete Times Forum, the Lightning are scheduled to host the Carolina Hurricanes in their own home opener. Wanting to be civic-minded and to not force local fans of both teams to choose which event to attend or watch on television, management sought to move the start time of the game to earlier in the day.

But because the Hurricanes play another game the night before at home in Raleigh against the Panthers, they had the right of first refusal on the change under NHL rules.

When Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Barry Melrose benched defenseman Shane O'Brien for Sunday's game against the New York Rangers in Prague, Tampa Bay Online's Damian Cristodero wondered out loud whether or not the benching wasn't so much for poor play as it was to make sure O'Brien wasn't injured while the team was trying to deal him.

Just 24 hours later, Cristodero was proven right when the Lightning shipped O'Brien and and right wing Michel Ouellet to Vancouver for defenseman Lukas Krajicek and minor league winger Juraj Simek. Needless to say, the move provoked a lot of headscratching in our FanHouse email group. After all, if Tampa Bay's blue line is soft now, how in the world will the addition of Kajicek -- and the rumored interest in free agent defenseman Bryan Berard -- make things better?

Every Monday morning The Ice Sheet will take a close look at everything that's happened in the NHL since Friday night at 5:00 p.m. To read them all, click here.

On Saturday morning when I passed along the news that Petr Prucha was actually going to get into the lineup for Saturday's Rangers-Lightning tilt in Prague, I also made a point of linking to a rather angry Larry Brooks column where the Slap Shot columnist let loose with every little complaint he had about the way the Rangers were handling their pre-season. After giving it a read, you could be forgiven for thinking the team was in a bit of disarray:

It's all about Renney coaching a team without Jagr and Shanahan to lean on, and it's all about this group filling the huge voids created with the decision to dispose of the team's post-lockout identity as if it were toxic.

It's all about one of the most vanilla Rangers teams in memory bonding in order to form a unit greater than the sum of its underwhelming parts.

Well, here we are a little less than 48 hours later, and all is forgotten in the wake of a pair of 2-1 victories over the revamped Lightning. Rangers newcomers Markus Naslund and Wade Redden combined for two goals and two assists over the weekend, as the New Yorkers pretty easily dominated the run of play as the Lightning played against type. While new owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie spent most of the Summer stacking the team with loads of new offensive weapons, it was their goalies, Mike Smith and Olie Kolzig, who kept things close, stopping 76 of 80 shots over the course of two games.

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Matt Carle, D (Trade-SJ); Adam Hall, F (FA-PIT); Olaf Kolzig, G (FA-WSH); Ryan Malone, LW (Trade-PIT); Barry Melrose, Head Coach (FA-ESPN); Andrej Meszaros, D (Trade-OTT); Vaclav Prospal, LW (FA-PHI); Mark Recchi, RW (FA-ATL); Gary Roberts, LW (Trade-PIT); Steven Stamkos, C (Draft-2008); Radim Vrbata, RW (FA-PHX)

Who's Out: Dan Boyle, D (Trade-SJ); Mathieu Darche, LW (FA-BUF); Doug Janik, D (FA-CHI); Filip Kuba, D (Trade-OTT); Brad Lukowich, D (Trade-SJ); Alex Picard, D (Trade-OTT); Andre Roy, F (FA-CGY); John Tortorella, Head Coach (Fired)

What's Changed: Oh, not much. Tampa only has a new hands-on ownership group (giddy up!), a new old head coach, the number one pick from the summer's entry draft, a new mega-deal for its franchise player, a recently minted elite defenseman, the best top six forwards in the League, various other new parts and a fresh crop of ice girls. Oh, and to top it all off, the Lightning will open the regular season overseas with a pair of games in Prague.

Got all that?

A week ago I thought that challenging the accuracy of a statement made by a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning front office would make for an interesting blog post. Now I'm thinking that the increasing opportunity for such challenges would make for an interesting blog. Or an interesting 24-hour cable news channel.

One week after Bolts' veep of hockey ops Brian Lawton put Andrej Meszaros among the game's elite blueliners (on a sidenote, you've gotta at least appreciate a number two who's actually willing to talk to the press), Lightning owner Oren Koules announced to the world that his team has the best top two lines in hockey:

"We take a lot of pride in knowing our top six forwards, who we believe are the best top six forwards in the league, all have three years or more on their contracts."

Assuming that the players to whom Koules is referring are Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Steve Stamkos, Vaclav Prospal, Ryan Malone and Radim Vrbata, is Koules accurate in his assessment, or is he just blowing smoke? Does he even have the top six forwards in the Southeast Division? Let's look at it position-by-position.

Tampa Bay Lightning coach Barry Melrose, aka "The Mullet", can always be counted on to give a great interview and speak his mind on any subject. As a former enforcer-type, himself, you know Melrose values toughness more than most coaches would, and wouldn't put up with a Valeri Bure type on his team for very long.

In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Melrose laments the lack of physicality in today's game, and why the league should embrace fighting.

How do you feel about the league's long-term crackdown on fighting?

I think toughness is leaving our game, and I hope people realize it's wrong. I hate to mention this, but the fastest-growing sport in the world is ultimate fighting. We've got that as part of our game. To act ashamed of that has been wrong of the NHL for a lot of years. You can say you don't like fighting or you love fighting, but it creates conversation. It creates energy and excitement.

And, as you see it, perhaps a strategic advantage.

It's a useful part of the game. It's a tool, and that's how coaches use fighting. It can change the mood of a game. It's like a big hit or a power-play goal or anything else.

The real effect of a fighting and hitting on a team has been debated and analyzed, and I can't recall anyone proving that being overly physical actually helps increase scoring in the short term. Does having your player win a fight really translate into a momentum change as Melrose thinks?

Melrose is certainly right about fighting creating entertainment value, but one has to wonder if his coaching tactics will involve bashing faces in an attempt to give Lecavalier more ice to work with. If I were a Bolts fan, I'd sure hope Melrose doesn't have his club take unnecessary penalties just to be physical.

Late Friday night the Andrej Meszaros mini-series came to its dramatic conclusion when the Ottawa Senators sent the restricted free agent to Tampa Bay in exchange for defensemen Filip Kuba and Alexandre Picard and a first round pick. The Bolts wasted no time signing the 22-year-old rearguard to a six-year/$4 million deal and over-selling their new acquisition to anyone within earshot:

"Andrej is an elite player ... no doubt about it," [Bolts vice president of hockey operations Brian] Lawton said.

Really? Elite? Let's take a closer look at that assertion.

Senators GM Bryan Murray referred to Meszaros' play over the past two seasons as "[leaving] a lot to be desired" (not something you typically hear of the game's top defensemen), and the numbers certainly represent something a lot closer to "pretty good player" than "time to adjust the game plan, we're facing Andrej Meszaros tonight" -- Meszaros finished last season 25th among the League's defensemen in scoring and 68th in that group in plus/minus. He was 80th in ice time, 35th in power-play scoring and 100th in shooting percentage.

Perhaps someday Andrej Meszaros will be an elite player (of course, so too might Alex Picard or the player Ottawa selects with that first round draft pick). But to call Meszaros, a blueliner who has yet to have 40 points in an NHL season or play in an All-Star Game, an "elite player" doesn't pass the laugh test. Then again, what would a circus be without laughter?

Check out Puck Daddy for much more on the trade.

Around this time of year two summers ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning were boasting about their commitment to sponsor a brand spankin' new annual four-team college hockey tournament:

"As we prepare to host the NCAA Frozen Four in 2012, we look forward to establishing a regular college hockey presence in Tampa Bay," said Ron Campbell, president of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Pete Times Forum.

That was then, and this (via INCH) is now:

The Tampa Bay Lightning has zapped the Lightning College Hockey Classic.

Two and out... classic indeed (for the record, Notre Dame, which has co-hosted the event since its inception, and UMass will go down in history as the only two teams to ever win the event).

Who says the Tampa Bay Lightning are going too veteran-heavy with their rebuild?

Much has been made of the Bolts' summer so far, as the team has bought up plenty of older talent on the free agent market to go along with their prized rookie-to-be. But while they may be getting a bit older in some areas, the team is bringing in plenty of *ahem* fresh talent elsewhere, namely with the announcement of their 2008-09 Lightning Girls roster, a squad that will feature seven veterans and seven rookies.

Obviously, this is a group that will benefit from the strong veteran leadership of girls like Karen G. and Crystal R., but will get a much needed boost with the addition of youngsters like Cindy C. and Kara P. as they try to deal with the loss of departed 2007 Ice Princess finalist ToniLynn, among others.

As expected, it's shaping up to be an interesting year in Tampa, both on and just off the ice.

John Tortorella is out of a coaching job, and the New York Islanders are looking for a new coach.

Put two and two together, and you get the Coaching Rumor of the Day, courtesy of Tampa Bay Online.

Former Lightning coach John Tortorella could be in line to take over the vacant head coaching position with the New York Islanders.

The Islanders have contacted Tampa Bay seeking permission to speak to Tortorella, the Tribune has learned. The Lightning have granted the Islanders their request to talk to Tortorella.

Do you really think such an arrangement would work? If Garth Snow couldn't get along with Ted Nolan, don't you think the fiery Tortorella would be an even more explosive combination in the Isles five-headed front office? I'd expect the Isles wouldn't allow Tortorella the same level of power to their new head coach, but who knows what the Isles are thinking at any one time?

Now, I can't be the only one who hopes this hiring happens. Tortorella on a losing team equals hella-fun post-game conferences. Just imagine the tirades the guy would go on after putting up with the Isles for an entire season!