The Lightning’s practice lasted two hours today

Marc-Olivier Cook
The Lightning’s practice lasted two hours today
Credit: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

The Canadiens will kick off their series against the Lightning on Sunday in Tampa Bay.

The Montreal team practiced yesterday and today in Brossard to prepare for their matchup against the Bolts. They held approximately 45-minute practices to iron out the final details.

Except that the Lightning decided to do things a little differently…

Tampa Bay's practice, after all, lasted two hours today. Jon Cooper clearly wanted his guys to get plenty of ice time ahead of Sunday's opener, and he also held a special teams session at the end of practice.

Will this have an impact on the Lightning players' energy on Sunday?

Every coach has his own techniques.

Martin St-Louis isn't the type of coach to drag out practices, though: he prefers short, intense sessions.

That's what we saw all season with the Canadiens, at least. And surely Jon Cooper had his reasons for running such a long practice today, even though we're just two days away from the first game between his team and St. Louis's…

It's also worth noting that after practice, Jon Cooper provided an update on Victor Hedman.

In fact… the Lightning coach actually stated that he had no news regarding his captain and Pontus Holmberg. Cooper finished his sentence by saying this:

No (I don't have an update to give), but there will be one. We'll address that in the coming days. – Jon Cooper

Will we see Hedman in uniform against the Canadiens in the first round? We're all wondering that right now. The Lightning will obviously have to do without their captain for the start of the series, and the guys will need to be ready over in Tampa Bay.

Maybe that's why they were on the ice for so long today… hehe. 


In a nutshell

– Go!

– I like that.

– Good news for the Oilers.

– Oh.

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