Tampa Bay Lightning Nuts & Bolts

Favre fans

The Lightning's three Minnesotans — defensemen Mike Lundin, top left, and Matt Smaby, center, and RW Brandon Bochenski — said they were heartbroken by the Vikings' loss to the Saints in the NFC Championship Game. But all three said they want QB Brett Favre back for one more season, even though his interception on what turned out to be the Vikings' last play was tough to take. "It was kind of a pull-your-hair-out moment," Smaby said. "Why didn't he just run it?" Lundin said. "But as a pro athlete, you realize those things are a lot clearer to watch on TV than when you're in the heat of the moment. Obviously, he was doing everything he could to win. Maybe he tried too hard." Bochenski called Favre's time in Minnesota a worthy experiment: "Whether he comes back or not, the poise he brought is going to make the team better next year."

Home on the range

Lightning D Matt Walker, right, is disappointed the team is out of town while a bull riding event is at the St. Pete Times Forum this weekend. He would have liked to have seen it. There is a little cowboy in Walker, who grew up in Beaverlodge, a town of 2,200 in northern Alberta. Walker said that when he was about 10, he and a buddy would jump onto the chuck wagons after rodeo races and help slow the teams of horses. "We'd run out there and jump in the rack in the back and climb up the front, and my buddy's uncle, who was driving, would give us the reins," Walker said. "I thought I was the coolest guy in town." As for riding bulls, Walker said that was a nonstarter: "Talk about tough guys. They put it on the line. Every time they get on a bull, it's do-or-die. … I'm too smart to get on those things."

Quote to note

"It'll be worth waiting the next six months, him flip-flopping his decision."

Defenseman/Vikings fan Matt Smaby on Brett Favre

5 questions | C Nate Thompson

Why did you shave your beard? It was getting a little bit scruffy.

That's it? And it's pretty warm down here.

How long did you have it? A couple of weeks.

Are they tough to get used to? Yeah. Whenever you grow a beard, it's going to be itchy.

Will we see a new one soon? Possibly. You do get lazy sometimes and just don't want to shave.