I don't have to look far from the goal crease to see my biggest surprise and disappointment. And yes, they are both goalies. Shocking...
Johan Holmqvist
I was scrambling to find out a little bit more info about this kid when he first signed with Tampa. Relatively unknown (I couldn't even keep his name straight for the first few weeks of the season -- too many -qvists in the league) and untested, all I was hoping for was someone who was about the same as Denis, and hoping that the Lightning might be able to score more goals than they let in. But Holmqvist, although he won't win a Vezina trophy for his season, has stepped up and kept the Lightning in a position to make the playoffs and/or go somewhat far. He is a perfect 15/15 in the shootout, and has been relatively solid in goal.
Marc Denis
Only so much can be said about Denis. He was brought in from Columbus to try to upgrade the goalies, with Burke and Grahame disappointing in the playoffs last year. If I was unsure about the deal then, I'm even more unsure why they did it now. He is 11-13-2, and is struggling to keep the pucks out of the net. While he can win sometimes, he hasn't brought the consistency that Tampa was looking for when they got him. I wouldn't mind Tampa trading him for a more solid backup goalie before the trade deadline (although they most likely are not going to do so), something that shouldn't be said about the guy who was supposed to be saving the Lightning goaltending.
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I remember going to a Tampa vs. Sabres game here. It was so much fun chanting "Deeennnnissss" to try to distract him. You'll be glad to know (to my dispair) that it didn't work... :(
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