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Scott Sabourin might be the most popular Lightning player who hadn\u2019t played in a regular-season NHL game for the team before this week.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no doubt that many a Lightning fan threw air punches along with the 33-year-old when watching the team\u2019s final preseason game on Oct. 4 in Sunrise as Sabourin lowered the boom on Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. Just 19 seconds into his first shift, Sabourin zeroed in on Ekblad, leveling him behind the net, then unleashing fists of fury.<\/p>\n
\u201cI show up every night ready to compete, and I might have gotten a little ahead of myself that time,\u201d Sabourin said Wednesday. \u201cI might have kind of overshot the runway.\u201d<\/p>\n
That night, Sabourin was the first of five players to be ejected in the game\u2019s first 23 minutes. By the end of the night, 16 players were tossed. Some hailed the carnage as the next chapter of what might be hockey\u2019s bitterest rivalry. Others thought it never should have happened. The league believed the latter and\u00a0fined the Lightning $100,000 and coach Jon Cooper $25,000.<\/p>\n
Sabourin received a four-game suspension and $16,145.84 fine for his role. But for taking out Ekblad, who might be Public Enemy No. 1 among Lightning fans for his elbow to Brandon Hagel\u2019s head in last season\u2019s playoffs, Sabourin immediately became a fan favorite.<\/p>\n
Nearly six weeks later, Sabourin is back in a Lightning uniform, recalled along with forward Boris Katchouk from AHL Syracuse ahead of the\u00a0home loss against the Rangers on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Sabourin\u2019s Lightning debut was his 48th NHL game in 14 years of professional hockey. And while he\u2019s spent most of his career as an AHL enforcer, he\u2019s still out to prove he\u2019s more than just that. He\u2019s shown some scoring touch with the Crunch, recording three goals and five points in 11 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to be back and to show some more stuff, some hockey side of it, and play my game,\u201d Sabourin said. \u201cAnd obviously there will be times when physical stuff will be part of it, too. But I want to present as a hockey player as well. \u2026 But anytime you get an opportunity to play, you know, in the top league in the world, you jump at it. So I\u2019m excited to get here, and I\u2019m excited to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n
With intermittent call-ups, Sabourin fulfilled his four-game suspension. And even though the Lightning have a need for healthy forwards, it can\u2019t be totally coincidental that he\u2019s rejoining the team with its first regular-season meeting against the Panthers coming up Saturday in Sunrise.<\/p>\n
Against the Rangers on Wednesday, Sabourin scored the Lightning\u2019s first goal six minutes into the opening period. It was his first NHL goal in nearly six years, the last coming Feb. 29, 2020, while he was with the Senators. The Lightning are Sabourin\u2019s third organization since.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great,\u201d Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. \u201cThe boys were pumped. It was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
But when detailing Sabourin\u2019s story beyond that night, there are more reasons to root for him. He\u2019s played parts of 13 seasons in the AHL.<\/p>\n
He had an 18-goal season just two seasons ago in the AHL but has struggled to stick in the NHL. After playing 35 games with Ottawa in 2019-20, he\u2019s appeared in no more than seven NHL games in a season since. He got into just one NHL game last season with San Jose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think at my age now, it\u2019s kind of keeping your speed, right?\u201d Sabourin said. \u201cI\u2019m kind of on the back nine. So, it\u2019s important to stay focused on your regimen, your health, your food, your nutrition, your fitness, all that stuff, right? It\u2019s all part of it. And if I square that all the way and I have good gym time, then I should be able to keep my boots for a handful more years here.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Sabourin signed a two-way contract with the Lightning during the summer, they made it known to him that the organization was looking for more physicality. He knew the Lightning\u2019s reputation as a \u201cworld-class organization.\u201d And in his time in Syracuse, Sabourin has loved playing under coach Joel Bouchard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBouch pushes us to be better every night, and he pushes us to compete,\u201d Sabourin said. \u201cSo that\u2019s helpful. And then it pays dividends when you come up here and you feel like you know you\u2019re in unreal shape, that\u2019s awesome. You want to feel that way when you get on the ice in the NHL, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Sabourin has another chance to show he\u2019s the type of player who can help teams win. And while his physicality is a part of that, he wants to show he can do the other things to make the Lightning a better team.<\/p>\n
And in that way, it was no different going into that preseason game six weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to get in hard on the forecheck, to be honest,\u201d Sabourin said. \u201cAnd then, you know, one thing led to another. But day in and day out, you know, I want to compete. I want to be hard to play against, and I want other teams to know that I\u2019m on the ice, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, again, that might not have been the best way to go about it, but at the end of the day, the other team will know I\u2019m out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Las Vegas, NV<\/strong> \u2014 As the Las Vegas Raiders prepare for their high-stakes Week 11 clash against the Dallas Cowboys, an unexpected storm erupted on the practice field, shaking up the team just days before the game. In a shocking display of frustration and rivalry, quarterback Geno Smith and defensive star Maxx Crosby reportedly clashed during a heated drill, with tensions running so high that teammates had to step in and break them apart.<\/p>\n “It got out of hand,”<\/strong> Smith admitted after the altercation. “Maxx and I were both fired up, and things got intense. We\u2019ve got a lot of passion for this game, but sometimes that can spill over. It\u2019s all good now. We\u2019re focused on Dallas.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n