News

[b]QMJHL[/b] There were no Lightning prospects in action in the QMJHL tonight. [b]OHL[/b] There were no games in the OHL tonight. Bolt Prospects' Chad Schnarr has learned Marek Bartanus has missed the past few games in Owen Sound due to a concussion. He is skating again and may be ready to return tomorrow night against Erie. [b]WHL[/b] Blair Jones had 1 assist as Moose Jaw beat Prince Albert 5-1. Justin Keller had his three-game goal streak snapped during Kelowna's come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win over Prince George.

The Lightning's game readiness still hasn't gotten back from Torino. Hopefully it will by Saturday. FLA-8 TB-2 Ryan Craig scored his 10th of the season on the power play, the game's lone silver lining. Post mortem by [url=http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20052006/GS020867.HTM]NHL.com.[/url]

Even in Sweden, home of the triumphant Olympic gold medal winning team, it was back to business today. Fredrik Norrena, fresh off winning a silver medal as backup on Team Finland, jumped back into action defeating Mora 5-1. He stopped 27 of 28 shots faced to improve his record to 19-9-5. Unfortunately, Bolt Prospects has learned that Norrena's annual ritual of playing footsie with the Lightning in contract negotiations before leaving the team at the alter has finally put GM Jay Feaster past the breaking point. The team now claims zero interest in signing Norrena due to the goaltender backing out of a solid agreement with the Lightning just before the IIHF signing deadline this year. The contract would've been a relatively lucrative one year deal which, because it was his first coming out of Europe, wouldn't have required him to be fed through waivers in the event of a callup. The team still has strong interest in signing Karri Ramo out of Finland and will attempt to sign Vasily Koshechkin if he is free and clear of any contractual obligations to Lada Togliatti for next season.

The following are statistics for Lightning prospects playing within the Canadian Hockey League as of February 28. Last season's stats are listed below 2005-06 stats. Key: Games Played, Goals-Assists-Points, Penalty Minutes, Plus/Minus, Power Play Goals, Shorthanded Goals, Game Winning Goals Stanislav Lascek, RW, Chicoutimi (QMJHL): 56GP, 39-76-115, 86PIM, (+33), 15 PPG, 3 SHG, 6 GWG (2005: 53 GP, 18-72-90, 42 PIM, E) Justin Keller, RW, Kelowna (WHL): 61GP, 46-33-79, 68PIM, (+6), 19 PPG, 2 SHG, 9 GWG (2005: 72 GP, 31-22-53, 103 PIM, +14) Blair Jones, C, Moose Jaw (WHL): 63GP, 30-40-70, 79PIM, (+20), 14 PPG, 1 SHG

(WHL Release) The Greyhound WHL Player of the Week is forward Justin Keller of the Kelowna Rockets. Keller earned player of the week honors by recording seven goals and nine points in four games, including five power-play goals and a game-winning goal during the week of February 20th to February 26th. Keller also had a plus-minus rating of +4 and was named the game’s 1st Star in three of the four games while helping the Rockets to a perfect 4-0 record for the week. Keller is the first WHL player this season to capture the weekly award twice, winning the award in December. On Tuesday, February 21st, Keller recorded two goals and added an assist in a 5-2 win against the visiting Spokane Chiefs. On Friday, February 24th, Keller scored two goals in a 5-3 win against the visiting Kootenay Ice.