Lightning coach John Tortorella said the announcement of World Cup rosters between now and the May 25 deadline are an unnecessary distraction for teams still in the NHL playoffs.
Lightning wing Martin St. Louis and center Brad Richards were named Saturday to play for Canada. Sweden will announce today.
"I just don't understand it," Tortorella said Sunday. "It's not only bad timing, it's absolutely, I just ... I just don't get it. Why do we have to announce it while teams are still in the middle of the playoffs here? It just makes no sense to me."
The eight-team tournament begins Aug. 30 in Helsinki, Finland, and ends Sept. 14 in Toronto.
"What's the rush?" Tortorella said. "I mean, what is the rush? We still have four teams with competitive people and proud people playing the game. I think the main focus is the playoffs right now in the National Hockey League. That's all our players are thinking about.
"I'm sure it's the same with Philadelphia and the two teams out west. I just don't understand the rush to announce this in the middle of the playoffs."
Richards would only say Saturday it was "an honor" to be named. St. Louis declined to speak about the tournament.
"The only thing on their minds is Game 5," Tortorella said of the best-of-seven East final that resumes Tuesday at the St. Pete Times Forum and is tied at two games each.
"If something else is on their mind, we're in the wrong mind-set."
World Cup? What World Cup?
Lightning founder Phil Esposito said he really has no interest in the World Cup or any international tournament, for that matter.
"I never even watch the Olympics," said Esposito, who played in the 1976 Canada Cup, the precursor to the World Cup. "I don't care about either. I just don't care for them. It's not the NHL. It's not playing for the Stanley Cup. That's all I care about."
Talk of the town
Tortorella might not want to talk about Flyers center Keith Primeau, but those in Philadelphia can't stop talking about him. He's the second-most popular athlete in Philadelphia these days. (Philadelphia-area thoroughbred Smarty Jones takes top honors.)
Primeau's dominance in this series, particularly in Game 4, had Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock searching for comparisons with some of hockey's other great leaders. Hitchcock compared Primeau's effort in Game 4 with former Cup-winning captains such as Mark Messier, Derian Hatcher and Steve Yzerman as well as his star in Dallas, Mike Modano.
"If you're going to win, someone has to say, "Follow me,"' Hitchcock told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He has accepted the responsibility that comes with being an elite captain. He's embracing it. He loves it."
Richards said Primeau is playing "like he's on a mission."
Primeau said he was in the groove in Game 4.
"Every time I came off the ice, I looked around to Hitch and wanted to go back out there," Primeau said. "I felt I could have played 60 minutes."
He had to play only 22:28 to leave his fingerprints all over Game 4.
Long and short of it
Judging by Game 4, the Flyers' game plan is working. The Flyers lost Game 3, but they won Game 4, in part, because of the punishment they dished out in Game 3. The Flyers' goal coming in was to hit and hit and hit and, they hoped, wear down the Lightning as the series progressed.
"Tampa wanted to make this a short series," Hitchcock said. "And now it's going to be a long one."
Is Desjardins close?
Flyers defenseman Eric Desjardins, who has sat out the playoffs with a broken arm, is skating and shooting the puck well. Desjardins' return would be a huge boost for Philadelphia's blue line, which lost Marcus Ragnarsson for the rest of the playoffs in Game 3 with a broken left index finger.
Asked if Desjardins is ready to play, Hitchcock said, "I have no comment on him right now."
And how about Cullimore?
No word on when Lightning defenseman Jassen Cullimore, out since Game 3 of the East quarterfinals with the Islanders, might return. But Tortorella said his big body would help mitigate the Flyers' physical impetus.
"Jassen has been one of our top two all year long," Tortorella said. "He's a big man and would have helped, sure. But this is something we can't control. Injuries are injuries. There's no sense spending too much time thinking about them and what could be if he was there. We've had some capable people come in and do the job."
Hitchcock said he does not believe Tampa Bay is being worn down.
"Not really," he said. "When you talk about physical play at this time, it doesn't wear people out. But when you play physical, you're skating. And the more physical we play, the better we skate and good things happen."
Quotable
"It's wearing when people are coming at you all the time. You're always on your heels. You're always flat-footed. We've done a good job of that." - Hitchcock on his team's physical play during the series.
