Dishy Goalie Monday- Dan Ellis

It's trade deadline day and here on DGM we're going to focus on one of our favourite casualties. On February 24th Dan Ellis was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Curtis McElhinney (who TPA waived and was picked up by OTT today).

Ellis who is now the starter in Anaheim as Jonas Hiller overcomes

a case of vertigo, visited SW Florida during the Lightnings' team trip.

The Lightning came to the Naples/Ft. Myers area and managed to squeeze practice into a hectic schedule of golf and team bonding.

Practice yielded some delicious photos of the bendy Ellis.

Now Ellis has had some issues in the past with social media, but overall I think he gets an unnecessarily bad rap. Seriously, how can you hate on that!

Wednesday Pick Me Up- Niklas Backstrom

I already had a post in mind for this weeks DGM when Niklas Backstrom had to be completely ridiculous and change all of my plans. So this week I've slipped in a little extra love. This post will focus on the delicious Backstrom and possibly the prettiest save of the year.

So here we go....

I always feel weird introducing NHL guys, it seems like everyone already knows the information, but I like to give a little background, it helps with the imagery.

Niklas Backstrom is from Helsinki, Finland and stands just over 6 feet tall (without skates). During Hockey Day in America Backstrom and the Minnesota Wild went up against the Detroit Red Wings and Backstrom came up huge!

and a few more goodies to start the day off right....

Those deep penetrating eyes are so intense I swoon.

I think I'm too young for hot flashes, but good lord.

Wasn't that scrumptious? A good little pick me up on hump day!

Dishy Goalie Monday- Zane Kalemba

My Dishy Goalie Monday post for this week was inspired by all my friends recently rattling on about baseball and its farm system. They pointed out that the hockey system is complicated (who knew). We call people up, lend them out, assign them elsewhere, and send them down. In the minor leagues the movement can give you whip lash and for many fans its easier on the heart and the head to not get attached to any one player.

Especially since sometimes we simply release them and the fans are left wondering, "now what"?

With that in mind it is always nice when you hear good news about the players who left you wondering. Here we have Zane Kalemba, a player whose travels have crossed the country.

The first time I encountered Kalemba was during his time with the Reading Royals of the ECHL. It was the Royals vs the Florida Everblades at Germain arena and Kalemba stood out the moment his skates hit the ice. What was so special you ask? Well the answer lies in his pads.

Kalemba was still sporting his collegiate gear, a bright orange colour befitting his four year career at Princeton.

Personally, I found them endearing, but Swamphockey wasn't as big of a fan.

Shortly after the trip to Florida, Kalemba got bounced around once again and found himself in a tricky situation. He ended up in Stockton, California playing for the Thunder, who after a season ending injury to Alex Stalock and the call up of Tyson Sexsmith had a spot to fill for a quality goaltender.

Zane Kalemba got a chance when starter Bryan Pitton got injured during a game versus the Ontario Reign. Since then the fans in Stockton have welcomed him whole heartedly.

Photos provided courtesy of @icebaby20.

I'm sure new gear is on the way, but for now I will continue to smile every time I see these fan photos.