Time with family, team is precious for Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher

Here's a recent article from our Tampa Bay Lightnings:

Martin Raymond said he always knew what time it was and he didn't even have to look at a clock. All he had to hear was the knock on his door. Raymond, an assistant coach last year for AHL Hamilton, was renting a basement apartment from his boss and longtime friend, then-Hamilton coach Guy Boucher. "At 11:30 p.m. there always would be someone knocking on my door wanting to talk about the power play, the penalty kill, whatever it was," Raymond said this week. "He'd put the kids to bed and then come knocking at my door." Raymond, now a Lightning assistant, is not as accessible this season, seeing as he has his own place, so Boucher, Tampa Bay's first-year coach, works alone, watching video, pouring over scouting reports and copious notes, sometimes until 4 a.m. It does not matter if he is home or the team is on the road.

"My biggest worry is that I miss something, an edge somebody sees that I don't see," said Boucher, 39, in his first NHL season and the league's youngest bench boss. "I'm possessed by the idea I have to find an edge."

 

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Bucs notes: CB Mack still defying odds

Here is your weekly dose of Tampa Bay Sports news:

 

TAMPA - Buccaneers CB Elbert Mack continues to defeat the odds.

Mack was barely recruited out of high school and attended Butler County Community College in Kansas. He later played for Troy and entered the NFL in 2008 as an undrafted free agent. The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder has been a solid backup and special teams player for Tampa Bay, but it appeared his luck would run out in 2010.

The Bucs drafted CB Myron Lewis in the third round, and with the preseason emergence of E.J. Biggers, Mack seemed like the odd man out.

As usual, Mack emerged to make the roster and plays on special teams and in dime packages. He hopes to make his presence known Sunday when Tampa Bay hosts Carolina.

"He's battled through injuries and he's just kind of that tough guy that you love on this football team," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said. "He comes out every day, he's businesslike in the walk-through, he's businesslike in the classrooms and he's businesslike on the field.

"He's the example of (our roster) being driven from the bottom up, and there is no better person in the room than I can give an example about than E-Mack."

Mack has three tackles as a defensive back and two on special teams.

Despite his limited participation this season, he is happy to have defeated the odds again.

"Sometimes I wake up and I don't even know how I've been doing it. I just know God has been pulling me through it," Mack said. "Sometimes you just have to be ready for whatever it is. You just got to take the blows and be ready to embark on whatever the journey is in life.

 

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