Sports: Lightning cuts 23 players

Lightning cuts 23 players

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

It was a difficult day for coach John Tortorella. It's never easy telling people they are out of a job.

The Lightning on Thursday reduced its camp to 26 players by cutting 23. The team must be at 23 players by Oct. 3.

"It's not so much telling the guys who are going to the minors," Tortorella said. "It's telling guys who have grinded for a week and strained all summer, 'You have to look elsewhere.' Some of these guys don't have anywhere else to go. That stinks, but it's part of the business."

There were no surprises among the cuts. The reassignment of right wing Sheldon Keefe to the AHL's Springfield Falcons was expected given that he did not travel with the team this week.

Assuming left wing Nikita Alexeev and right wing Jimmie Olvestad are front-runners among those fighting for jobs, those on the bubble are center Martin Cibak, left wings Gordie Dwyer and Ryan Tobler and defenseman Kristian Kudroc.

Who makes the team could come down to a numbers game. Tortorella said he would rather work with a 22-man roster so players, especially younger ones who are more likely to be scratched, aren't losing playing time.

The best guess is the Lightning will go with 13 forwards and seven defensemen.

Cibak is a fourth-line type who has impressed with his defensive awareness, smarts and consistency. The heavyweight battle is between the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Dwyer and the 6-3, 222-pound Tobler, both of whom are looking to fill a tough-guy role.

"Gordie has come into camp in very good shape and has played very hard," Tortorella said. "Tobler has impressed us with his willingness and overall play. He has quietly gone about his business and impressed the coaching staff."

The odd man out on defense might be the 6-6, 240-pound Kudroc, who at 21 is still raw and might benefit from some time in the minors.

Tortorella would not confirm that and added, "You never know what is going to happen. He has impressed the staff from Day 1."

But he also said, "He has a tremendous upside, but it depends on how many minutes you think he's really going to get. With the youth of the team at that position, we don't want to have him around and not see games. We don't want to rob the kid of an opportunity to play to sit around with us."

STICKING AROUND: Another survivor was goaltender Robert McVicar. A training camp invitee, the Lightning is expected to offer McVicar, 19, a contract and send him to the minors rather than cut him and re-expose him to the draft.

KEEFE SENT DOWN: Keefe got good reviews from Tortorella and general manager Rick Dudley but was still sent to Springfield.

Keefe started camp with the B squad as penance for not accepting a minor-league assignment last season. He never played with the A squad, which consisted mostly of NHL players.

"Sheldon had a very good camp, and I'm sure he wasn't too happy about it," Tortorella said of the reassignment. "Now, it's how he handles the situation.

"That's the true test; what you do after you've been reassigned and how do you handle the situation to get back to the NHL club."