Sunday morning homily XXIII

Technically, this is a few minutes late. It's Sunday afternoon already, not morning. It's like time, an hour in this case, has slipped away. In a sense, today typifies this season here in the Tampa Bay area.

Last September, during training camp, ambition and hopes ran high. Preparations had been made. Lofty goals were set. Confidence, as it usually is during that time of the season, was secure.

As the season wore on, though, so did the incumbent trials. There were peaks. There were valleys. Highlights and low-water marks. Rays of sunshine blocked by clouds. Like a slow-moving stream, this season has meandered, creating hockey's version of an oxbow lake.

And, now, as we enter the homestretch, there is the realization that yet another campaign is nearing an end. Setbacks, I'm afraid, maintain a slight edge over any steps forward. The aches and pains are getting a little too hard to ignore. Sadly, too, the motivation level seems to have taken a precipitous dip.

Before you start forming an opinion that I'm talking about the Tampa Bay Lightning's frustrating 2007-08 season, I'll have to let you in on a little secret. Though it would be easy to draw a parallel from the previous passages (something that truly was my intent), I was relating what this season of hounding has been like.

There were great days, like having the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators all to myself. Loading up on autographs from the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. Getting 50 autographs from a single session with the Montreal Canadiens.

There have been down days as well. Realizing that a serious concussion would keep Patrice Bergeron in Boston all season. My own health issues sending me to the sidelines for the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild. And I still haven't gotten Sidney Crosby to sign Colin's Penguins jersey.

Three weeks and a day from today, the Lightning will play Atlanta in their final home game of the 2007-08 campaign. Between now and then, with another five teams coming to town, there's an opportunity to end the season on a strong note, setting the stage for the 2008-09 campaign.

Disappointments, I hope, will be few.

5 Big Sigs

Trust me, I can appreciate your doubts that any of these will be fulfilled. Given the past few attempts at this feature, I haven't had the best track record over the past few weeks. But with the New York Islanders and Rangers headed south (in a geographical sense), I'm hoping to add these to the collection:

~ The Isles' Bill Guerin on Blues and Devils pucks;
~ Former Lightning winger Ruslan Fedotenko on an Islanders puck;
~ The Isles' Miroslav Satan on the Slovakian team jersey;
~ The Rangers' Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka on the 1999 NHL All Star Game helmet; and
~ Goalie Henrik Lundqvist on a Rangers puck and a McFarlane base.