Lecavalier to have shoulder surgery

Something tells me that Matt Cooke isnt going to be on Big Vinny's Christmas card list this year:

Tampa Bay Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier will have surgery to repair damage to his right shoulder.

Lecavalier was hurt in Thursday's game at Washington. His shoulder was dislocated when he fell awkwardly after a hit by Washington's Matt Cooke.

Personally, I saw the hit and thought it was clean. Cookie (a perfect nickname for a top instigator, no?) was fined $2,500 for it, but that seemed more of a "OMG, how could someone hurt NHL superstar Vinny?" type of deal to me. The refs didnt call anything on the play for a reason.

In other news, the Caps will play the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs, most likely to start on Thursday. I'm still flying high from yesterday's win, but when I come down, I'll have lots to stay about the league's dirtiest team. Most of it will start with the letter F.

Stayin' Alive

CAPITALS: 4, LIGHTNING: 1

Lighting continue to slide

And John Tortorella continues to blow up:

Fuming from a brutal 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche last week, Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella had his players show up for an 8 a.m. practice the next day and skated their tails off.

General manager Jay Feaster liked the idea and made a snide comment about his players when asked his thoughts on the early practice.

"We only got 20 minutes from them (against Colorado), so we needed to get that 40 minutes back," Feaster said.

Tortorella said he was simply trying to emphasize the need to work harder as a team.

"It's not about embarrassing athletes," Tortorella said.

As for Tortorella having one foot out the door in Tampa, Feaster supported him and placed much of the blame for the Lightning's last-place standing on himself.

"I believe John Tortorella is the right guy to coach this team," Feaster said. "There's no quit on this hockey team in terms of the coaching staff.

" ... This is my mess. This is my problem. The responsibility lies with me."

No quit in the coaching staff? Maybe not, but there is a whole lot of crazy.

I never thought I would say this...

...but I feel bad for the 'Ning.

TAMPA, Fla. -- A group led by former Florida Panthers coach Doug MacLean has agreed to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning from Palace Sports and Entertainment.

The NHL team said Tuesday that Absolute Hockey Enterprises signed a purchase agreement that also includes the leasing rights to the St. Pete Times Forum and adjacent properties. The sale is subject to approval by the NHL's board of governors.

Absolute Hockey also includes Jeff Sherrin and Oren Koules. Team spokesman Jay Preble said Sherrin is a Coral Springs real estate developer and Koules is a TV and movie producer. Preble declined further comment until a news conference later Tuesday.

MacLean coached Florida to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996. He was fired in April as the Columbus Blue Jackets' president and general manager.

The Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004.

The knock on MacLean is that he is a nice guy, but a terrible manager. If he is inserted as GM of the Ning, I think the club is going to start going south very quickly. But then again, I really dont mind if the Caps division rivals start to unravel. I cant wait to see how management deals with Tortorella.