Hockey Now!

Taylor Thompson joins the show after his Teddy Bear Toss goal! We'll ask him about his quick stint in Europe earlier this season and what it was like to re-join the Solar Bears locker room after the tough start to the season.

Eugene Helfrick from TheHockeyWriters.com jumps on the line as we continue to try and dissect the Tampa Bay Lightning and their inconsistent season thus far. Is it all part of the plan? Are they waiting to flip the switch and get hot?

Bryan has a concern. He's feeling the mid-season lull. Is that a normal thing? Luckily, Eric was part of pro-hockey locker rooms...and he shares some surprising information about the lull in the locker room.

The Solar Bears broke a 4 game loss streak with an OT win Monday Night at Amway...but will that be enough to turn fortunes for the club? We'll take a look at some of the strengths and weaknesses so far this season, and what the addition of Blake Kessel does for the leadership of the team.

Are we being patient enough with the Lightning? Are they saving their best efforts for the latter part of the season? If they're not, what ARE they doing? As the Atlantic Division separates around them, the Bolts find themselves outside of a Wild Card spot and in need of points.

With the extra time, we have a discussion about Fighting in Hockey...and the personalities of the tough guy role in the modern game, vs. "the old days". There are 3 traits we come up with that defines the traditional enforcer...and realize the new generation of "tough guys" may not have any of them.

OSB D Alexander Kuqali calls in to be the first "Hat-trick Guest" on Hockey Now. In his third visit, Kuqali breaks down the Solar Bears turnaround after the Everblades losses, and whether the message in the locker room relayed to the ice. Alexander also talks about the recent Orlando Sentinel article about his Mother, Marcia, and her ongoing battles with Cancer, and the support from his Hockey Family through this time.

Pat Maroon received his Stanley Cup Ring when the Lightning visited St. Louis this past week. The Lightning dropped their 2nd straight, and Maroon has some frank and direct comments about what his team needs to do moving forward through the early part of the season.

In the "it was a matter of time" headline of the week, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired their Head Coach, Mike Babcock, and replaced him with their AHL coach, Sheldon Keefe. It's clear that the Leafs, led by GM Kyle Dubas, are trying to point in a more modern direction, and Babcock was the hurdle. What happens, though, when a Coach "loses the room"? Who better to ask than Eric, who was in Maple Leafs camp with these coaches, and his playing career experience.

The Solar Bears have had some troubles as of late, dropping their last 3 games to the same opponent, the Florida Everblades, which they round out the series of games with on Thursday Night. What is the first step for the Solar Bears? Should we be worried? Is talent enough to win hockey games?

The Tampa Bay Lightning have returned to North America after their trip to Sweden for the NHL Global Series. Eugene Helfrick from thehockeywriters.com joins us to look at the trip, whats next for the Bolts, and whether or not its too soon to think about the trade deadline for this team trying to return to form.

Going into the new season, the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils got all the attention, and now the odd team out in that area, the New York Islanders, have picked up points in their last 13 games, winning 12 of them. Why are the Islanders as good as they are? Is it Barry Trotz? And who's this John Tavares guy anyways!?

Hockey Now is BACK! The Solar Bears had their traditional School Day game, with the largest attendance in Solar Bears History, a game where Tyler Bird picked up his first goal as a Solar Bear. Tyler jumps on a call to talk about his time with the team so far, his NHL Development experience and the Everblades/Solar Bears Rivalry.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are in Sweden for the Global Series, a pair of games with the Buffalo Sabres at the Globe! Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin and other Swedish-born NHL stars return to their homeland to play, but are these games more important than the other Global Series games? Plus - a trip away doesn't hide the Bolts early season woes. What is the problem? Bryan knows.

Lazlo Holmes. Chance the Rapper. An SNL skit that is taking the Hockey World by viral storm. Do you like it? Are you a crotchety traditionalist? Someone on the show is...to no surprise! Also, the next chapter of the Evander Kane story is a can of worms for the NHL, at a time when the league is embracing gambling. Dangerous? Maybe! Eric, though, isn't surprised the guys would hit the tables, but with conditions.

Before you listen, quite literally, Nick took over the show in the 2nd half. Sure, we had a great conversation with Solar Bears Head Coach Drake Berehowsky about the upcoming season, the leadership of his veterans and the hardest part of his job, but eventually...Nick took over. We'll share the opening night roster for the Solar Bears, and a friend of the show who missed the cut for the Bears...but eventually...Nick took over.

Bryan is starting to ponder "scenarios" involving the (at the time) 1-1-1 Tampa Bay Lightning and what happens if the team continues down this even-keel trend...but eventually...Nick took over.

Drew Doughty angry at his team. The lackluster start for the New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks. The Rage Room at Wells Fargo Center. Fantasy Hockey. All of these topics Bryan planned to talk about...but...

...eventually...Nick took over.

We had the opportunity to bring Hockey Now to Orlando Solar Bears Camp at RDV Sportsplex after their Team Scrimmage! Taylor Doherty stopped by first to talk about his first stint with the Solar Bears, and his experience last season in the Czech Republic. Then, new Solar Bear Jake Marchment joined us to talk about his expectations for the coming season, and what kind of insight he got from his cousin, Mason Marchment, a former Solar Bear.

Our buddy Jackson Playfair stops by as we continue the show from RDV Sportsplex Ice Den after the Solar Bears Team Scrimmage! You really won't believe the summer Jackson had, LITERALLY crisscrossing through the continent on his way to Orlando! Of course, we have to hit Jacky (this will make more sense after you listen) with the 20 Questions - and Nick geeks out about Jackson's Flow. The word "Flow-God" was used.

The last of 3 parts from our time at RDV with the Solar Bears after their Team Scrimmage! We spend some time getting to know Solar Bears Goaltender Zach Fucale, a former 2nd round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens, and the impact Carey Price has had on his game! We'll also hit Zach with the 20 Questions!

Kristin Baier - Director of Marketing and Game Presentation - stops by to talk about some of the promotional nights for the coming season - including some of the specialty jerseys the team will wear! Jesse Liebman also swings by before we wrap up the recording for some quick hits and insight to the coming season and some players we're excited to see take the next step this year!

Auston Matthews had an incident occur months ago that has just recently come to light. We all found out about it on Twitter...ALL of us, including Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas. We'll recap the story and ask the question...is it a big deal?

The Solar Bears add a former player to the roster, Taylor Doherty, who was with the team for the 2016-17 season! He's a big body at 6'8", and Nick shares an interesting and exciting stat about the Solar Bears roster when it comes to size!