#lightning lb

[smithebrini]

Dylan: guys.. you gotta hold the fish… you cant just hold them from the clamp..

Luke: but thats gross

Jack: yeah… ill pass..

Tyler: babies

[yamball]

Oliver Bjorkstrand: A Belated Goodbye

(and hello Lightning Lb)

So! Oliver Bjorkstrand is so longer a Seattle Kraken. As he moves on to his new home in Tampa Bay, I wanted to take a moment and send along some of his lore. He deserves a run; he deserves a home. We’re sad we couldn’t be that for him. Let’s review here… lore featuring a textbook portrait of a gifted kid, complete with a demanding father, psychological mind games from his father’s friend, grief, heartbreak and also…enduring friendship and resilience. Let’s go!

Bjorky is from an American family but born in Denmark since his father was a hockey player who was incentivized to play in Denmark.

His dad was friends with John Tortorella in college hockey.

This is important.

While Ollie was growing up, his dad was probably one of the most well-known names in hockey. Which made the attention on Ollie all the more intense. Plus: his dad coached him. (Ollie is the little baby in the blue helmet)

Of that time, reflecting back on it later, Ollie has said: “My dad’s pretty demanding. He expects hard work and so on.” His dad fairly infamously suspended 5 teenagers from his own team from the World Juniors for goofing off during a media apperance. Oliver has said he noticed that his dad has softened his approach since those times coaching his son.

And of coaching Oliver, his dad says: “Oliver was young. He was only 16. And he was pretty easy. He pretty much just tries to do his best when you give him instructions.”

Overall, the coaching worked: Oliver becomes excellent.

He begins his career in Denmark and quickly outpaces the skill level there, leading him to being selected 26th overall in the WHL import draft in 2012. He moves to the States to play for the Portland Winterhawks.

In 2013, he is selected 89th overall in the NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He will return to the WHL for the next couple seasons, where he wins championships and overall dominates the league. People know Oliver Bjorkstrand’s name.

He starts professionally in the AHL for the 2015-16 season, then makes his NHL debut in March of 2016.

He scores two goals in his second NHL game. The kid’s good.

He’s sent back to the AHL for their Calder Cup run and lmao Bjorkstrand literally wins them the Calder Cup dude like he scores the game winning goal in SO many of these games, including the final one!

HAHA FUCK THE HERSHEY BEARS (sorry, kraken fan, I have to say this, sorry) the Monsters win against them for the Calder Cup!

And Oliver is named the Most Valuable Player :)

Oliver belongs up with the NHL the next season and now we have to talk about a very important part of his lore.

John Tortorella is in charge of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

And he is. Very intense with Oliver Bjorkstrand. Oliver deflects a lot of the intensity by saying that he was prepared for Torts style by being coached by his dad, who is very similar. Which. Okay. Feeling normal about that!!

Where to start…there’s so much:

Torts tells Bjorkstrand that, to be a good player, he needs to copy Artemi Panarin. He doesn’t need to be Oliver Bjorkstrand; he needs to be more like an entirely different player. A player with a language barrier so high that Oliver can’t even become friends with him or have many conversations with him. He just has to try (and he fails) to become more like him.

He tells Bjorkstrand to be more like Panarin in front of the whole team, on the ice at practice. And the whole team is asked to support it, with Nick Foligno stating “[Bjorky] would be stupid not to learn from [Panarin]. And we know he’s not stupid.”

Torts pits Bjorkstrand and Anthony Duclair against one another, publicly, stating that there’s only room for one of them on the third line and the other one will be scratched if he isn’t good enough. This is discussed openly. Multiple articles about it.

The media has a field day, getting quotes from all parties involved and seeing who will please Tortorella the most.

This drags on, as Bjorkstrand struggles to get basic respect and regular ice time, but eventually he does. The Jackets enter the playoffs consistently from 2016-17 onwards.

Upon elimination from the playoffs in the 2020-2021 playoffs (a very strange pandemic series) he makes a statement: he wants to keep going. Despite the struggles of these early years with Torts, he is a committed Blue Jacket. He signs a five-year extension to remain with them in 2021.

That summer, he suffers the loss of Matiss Kivlenieks with the rest of his teammates. It could break them, but they show up to training camp ready to go for him.

And Oliver Bjorkstrand shows up with a brand new A on his sweater. They win in their home opener, and Bjorkstrand says of their lost goalie, “We played for him.”

He is a leader in this team. He certainly worked for it. But moves are necessary to bolster a broken team.

The Jackets don’t make the playoffs in the 21-22 season and Oliver Bjorkstrand spends his long summer getting married.

And then, during his honeymoon, he picks up his phone to find multiple missed calls and messages from his GM.

Oliver Bjorkstrand has been traded. On his honeymoon. To the very much struggling Seattle Kraken heading into their second season.

General manager Kekalainen says this was “the toughest decision” he’d made as a GM, sharing how wonderful Oliver is as a person.

He is gracious about it. He understands. He knows that his salary is high and space needs to be made, mostly for Johnny Gaudreau who is bringing much needed stardom for the team.

Ever the team player, ever the class act, Bjorkstrand and his wife reach out to Johnny and Meredith and personally sell them their new house so they don’t need to look too much for a house to move into. To make the move easy on two people even as they’re forced out.

So Oliver comes to Seattle. He struggles but he also doesn’t have to be EXCELLENT. He can be steady.

When Seattle adds on Eeli Tolvanen, Bjorky seems to bloom a little more. They become very close, laughing and talking constantly during games.

Those two get put on a line with Yanni Goirde and become affectionately known as the Brothers Line. Why?

“Those guys bicker like brothers,” head coach Dave Hakstol says of the three. They push each other. They joke. They’re goofing off and they’re also productive.

Oliver and his line get all the way to the first playoff appearance of the Kraken’s history.

And Oliver Bjorkstrand gets the game winning goal in game seven of their first playoff series.

No, the Kraken did not win the Cup. Of course not. But he did win them a playoff series that NO ONE expected them to win. And that secured him a spot in our hearts.

The next season, the Kraken are back to struggling, but Bjorkstrand continues to put the work in to be the steady presence with occasional game-breaking goals that we’ve grown to expect from him.

He is named all-star and he is…so Oliver Bjorkstrand about it lmao it’s so funny. If you know anything about him before this, it’s most likely this? Here’s an article.

At the All-Star game, he’s last to be chosen at the draft :/ but he scores first in the game for his team :)

Unfortunately, the Kraken continue to struggle after this and beyond, into the next season.

In November 2024, he’s healthy scratched for the first time in years. Coach Dan Bylsma (who replaced the fired Hakstol) sent the message that no one on the team was beyond reproach, including our current all-star.

And the media, they, uh. They asked Oliver’s dad about it.

Imagine getting scolded at work and then some people go and ask your dad about it lmao but he says: “He’s just got to take it and learn from it and try to be better.”

Great lmao

Bjorkstrand isn’t radically different after that, and his name begins to be floated around as a trade piece because he still isn’t to the level the Kraken hoped he would be when they traded for him in 2022.

He is traded during trade deadline week in 2025, along with Yanni Gourde, to Tampa.

And this is where we are now.

So this is who Oliver Bjorkstrand has been: a father’s protege, a juniors’ phenom, an AHL champion, a coach’s project, a gracious trade piece, a man who sells his home to the guy who pushed him out of town, a player who cancels his vacation to represent his team, a guy who looks like a professor but will drop the gloves in a second if so asked.

His NHL playoff appearance over the five years has only ever come in unexpected seasons, as the underdog. He was excellent in that appearance. EXCELLENT. I’m so excited to see how being a true contender ties in with that play.

And if we can stop asking his dad’s opinion when he fucks up, that would be AWESOME that would BE GREAT.

Anyway. I love him. Here’s him being really hot in Columbus.

[goalie-numbers]

NHL- Did the goalies wear the same number? YES!!

Apr 17 2025 Lightning vs Rangers

Lightning- Johnson-31

Rangers- Shesterkin-31

[perreqult]

i fucking hate them. i fucking hate them. i fucking hate them.

[c-grant]

what is going on in florida. tampa cannot let the evil panthers win. brandon hagel pls rock matthew

[tojisun]

vasilevskiy tonight

[annieqattheperipheral]

perplexed by this wonky espn camera work. If you're gonna track the puck like that-- zoom in!! pls let's send the alberta camera ppl down there to train em, they do it perfectly.

Also the directing.. cutting to a close-up of vasy's post-block reaction face WHILE THE PUCK IS STILL IN PLAY in the other zone, it wasn't whistled down!!

my goodness espn/tnt/whatever the hell you are pls learn hockey im begging 😭

[howdthebruinsdo]

Boston Bruins defeat Tampa Bay Lightning in electric 7-3 victory

Saturday evening, the Bruins hosted the Lightning for their second matchup of the season. This game followed Thursday’s loss to the Penguins, where five goals was not enough to win against Pittsburgh’s offense, led by Sidney Crosby, but indicated the hunger from Boston’s offense that continued into their game against Tampa. Trent Frederic led the Bruins offensively with two of the seven Boston goals against the Lightning, having scored five goals total in his last four games. 

The first period opened similarly to the last game, with a puck finding the back of the Boston goal within the first minute. This one was from Tampa centerman Point after winger Kucherov collected the puck on a failed pass between Bruins players Geekie and Lindholm. Boston is lucky for a power play opportunity just two minutes later when Tampa defenseman de Haan pulls Pastrnak to the ground as he falls and is called for holding. It is just as this penalty is expiring that Shattenkirk connects a pass from the blue line to Frederic posted just in front of the goalie, who quickly puts it past Vasilevskiy, tying the game 1-1. The Bruins would have another power play when Hagel goes to the box, but the Bruins are unable to capitalize, despite their sustained puck control. Tampa had their chance next when Geekie was called for a hooking penalty about halfway through the period. Despite the Lightning being tied for first in power play goals, they were unable to score on Geekie’s penalty, and even let up a 2-on-1 rush from the shorthanded Bruins. With about five minutes left in the period, the puck would clear the Tampa goal line one more time when McAvoy shot the puck through traffic in front of the net and was able to bounce the puck off the stick of Brayden Point before it rebounded into his own net, allowing Boston to go up 2-1 by the end of the first period. 

The second period did not get as quick of a start as the first, but within the first two minutes saw a number of things happen. Matt Poitras, just back on the Bruins roster, took a slightly late hit and was on the ice for a bit as Frederic scored his second goal of the night, putting in his own rebound back off the goalie and into the net. It appears that head coach Jon Cooper heard a whistle blowing the play dead to check on the injured Poitras, though the whistle blew shortly after the puck crossed the goal line. Cooper had a strong reaction and drew a bench minor for his behavior. This penalty was served by Eyssimont, and passed without any change in the score, leaving the game at 3-1 in favor of the Bruins. The next penalty was drawn by Lightning defenseman Myers after holding Lauko, though the Bruins had little time to capitalize before Geekie was sent BACK to the box for interference, giving both teams about 90 seconds of 4-on-4 play. The extra space seemed to favor both teams, taking turns scoring on each other and jumping the score to 4-2. The Lightning goal was from Kucherov, who recovered the puck when DeBrusk lost track in the Bruins’ zone and scored unassisted. The Bruins goal followed thirty seconds later as Pastrnak had a breakaway opportunity, outskating centerman Motte for the goal. Still looking to tie the game up, Brayden Point would score another goal before the end of the period, as Kucherov created an excellent opportunity for him by outskating Lindholm. The score after the second was 4-3 in favor of the Bruins. 

The third period started similarly to the second, with a Boston goal within the first two minutes. The scoring opportunity started in the Bruins’ defensive zone when the puck was recovered by Lindholm, passed up to Pastrnak, who entered the zone quickly, leaving Geekie a clear shot, which he took quickly, beating Vasilevskiy. This goal helped redeem Geekie’s earlier blunders that led to the first two Tampa Bay goals. The Lightning was given another opportunity on the man advantage when Grzelcyk was sent to the box for hooking. The Bruins put up a strong PK despite two Bruins losing or breaking their sticks during the course of play, which is the result of Ullmark knowing when to stop the play and allow a reset. After Boston’s strong penalty kill, the Lightning added extra reinforcements to their next power play opportunity (slashing from Boqvist) by pulling the goalie with almost five minutes left to play. Despite their 6-on-4 advantage, a tragic stick break from Lightning defenseman Hedman at the blue line gave DeBrusk the opportunity he needed to steal the puck and slide it into the open net, also atoning for his part in the Kucherov goal. This put the Bruins comfortably ahead 6-3, but they were not done quite yet, as Coyle had a garbage-time breakaway opportunity just as Boqvist’s penalty expired, ending the game with an impressive final score of 7-3. 

This win is exactly what the Bruins needed right before a four-game road trip in the West. It also saw a shuffling of the lineup, with some expected changes and others that were a bit surprising. Center Matt Poitras, back from playing for team Canada in the Hockey World Juniors tournament, was a happy homecoming, and unsurprisingly, young center Merkulov was not in the lineup, likely sent back to Providence. Beecher was also out of the lineup, swapping back with Lauko. Unexpectedly in the lineup was Jesper Boqvist, taking the place of winger James van Riemsdyk, who is out with an undisclosed injury. The Bruins defense also had a minor change, as Lohrei’s usual spot (in Forbert’s absence) was replaced with Wotherspoon instead, seemingly a rest day for the young defenseman who isn’t conditioned for an 82 game season. Overall, these changes demonstrate the Bruins’ bench depth and promise for later in the season for rest-day rotations to keep our players fresh and energized. 

The Bruins play next at 9PM EST Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche. 

BRUINS LINES (1/6/24)

Zacha - Geekie - Pastrnak Marchand - Coyle - DeBrusk Heinen - Poitras - Frederic Lauko - Boqvist - Steen

Grzelcyk - McAvoy Lindholm - Carlo Wotherspoon - Shattenkirk

[pierrelucdisaster]

Oh, i love the pretend goalie interference on that Eyssimont goal.

[claraxbarton]

Please tell me someone saw that TB Lighting dude FALL face first from the bench onto the ice?!?!?

[perreqult]

i hope every panthers fan in that arena has a terrible YEAR

[magickcandie]

I’m so not caught up. When the fuck did Corey Perry get trained to Chicago?

[paladin--strait]

hi this is for hockey hearts nhl!

I enjoy reading, drawing, and i’d say i’m a homebody. I’ve got dark hair, im tall (5’10”) so i definitely think someone taller and who could deal with a girl who’s pretty athletic (i did basketball so my legs are thick). They can have brown or green eyes and i don’t mind facial hair. my love language is quality time and words of affirmation.

your match is...

andrei vasilevskiy!

andrei 🥺🫶 he's literally the sweetest, i swear! he is definitely the type to flash those pretty eyes when he wants something. he also lets you play with his hair if you want, he actually really enjoys it! andrei is great with kids and just about everyone. it's really hard to hate such an amazing guy like him. especially when he cares so much about the people around both him and you. he brings so much joy and excitement into not only the locker room, but also to family and friends gatherings that would usually be filled with awkward tension.

he's a pretty active guy, so he's constantly doing something. but he makes sure to take plenty of time out of his day to spend time with you and relax, maybe watching a movie or just sitting in silence on the couch or in the bed with you. he's a pretty good cook and will definitely invite you to join him in the kitchen if you'd like! he loves when you come to home games, but somehow he enjoys when you come with him on roadies more, especially if it's a couple games. he's seen so many stores and restaurants that he knows you'd love when you don't come with him, it makes him sad that he might not get to bring you there for at least a while. so he loves when you come with him! he has time between practices to take you to all those places he knows you'd love.

andrei takes you bowling for your first date! he gets to have fun while learning about you and that's what he loves the most. he takes you out to eat after and pays for everything, like a true gentleman. at the restaurant, he's able to really go into conversation with you and get to know you even better. he's a sweet guy and will always walk you to your car. he gives you a warm hug, telling you he definitely wants to see you soon and hang out again. do you accept?

[easypeasylindyvesey]

keeping up with this game through the app is pure cinema

[poke-checked]

What is happening in the House of Commons