For Lightning players, playoffs trump payroll
If Lightning players are worried about reports the team twice
needed help to meet payroll, it is buried under the normal stress
of the season.
No surprise, then, defenseman Mattias Ohlund said it does no
good to fret about things you cannot control. And while captain
Vinny Lecavalier said, "Obviously, you take notice," the focus is
on "the guys in the room."
In other words, right wing Marty St. Louis said, "The day
we're going to miss a paycheck, I think guys are going to start
asking questions. But we're getting paid, so we go out and play."
The degree of Tampa Bay's difficulties came to light
Thursday, when the SportsBusiness Daily Web site reported
television rights holder Sun Sports in April advanced the team $2
million to help it meet last season's final payroll. It also
reported the league helped Tampa Bay meet January's obligations by
advancing it some of the revenue sharing money it will receive
after the season.
All that against a backdrop that includes estranged owners
Oren Koules and Len Barrie and a team for sale that, according to
media reports, is in default on its debt to former owner Palace
Sports & Entertainment.
"You become resilient to it, immune to it," coach Rick
Tocchet said. "You don't even think about it. You just kind of
block everything out and have that bunker mentality."
But in an age of instant communication and media saturation,
news is difficult to filter. Still, Tocchet said, the team's
finances is not a topic the coaches bring up in the locker room.
"You have to keep guys focused on the game," he said, "keep
guys focused on their play, keep guys focused on the team."
The Lightning has plenty on which to concentrate, in
particular tonight's game with the Thrashers. Atlanta and Tampa Bay
are three and four points, respectively, out of the East's final
playoff spot.
With ticket sales the lifeblood of NHL franchises and the
Lightning 23rd in the league in announced attendance, winning such
games could help the bottom line, Ohlund said:
"You do feel the responsibility to perform. If we perform the
way we can, then more people are in the building and the better the
financial situation."
"I know they've had issues here the past two years," added
the big Swede, who last summer signed a seven-year, free agent
contract, "but I also know it's not too many years ago that this
franchise had a great team with sold-out buildings. If we play the
way I know we can, I'm sure we'll have more fans in the building."
As for the financial problems themselves, players said they
are background noise during a playoff push.
"It's a time we have to isolate ourselves," Lecavalier said.
"There is a business side to hockey, and in the summer, OK, you can
talk about it. But during the season we have to keep focused on
what we have to do."
"We haven't missed a paycheck," St. Louis said, "so I'm not
concerned with it."
