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#BellLetsTalk

January 28, 2015, 2:43 AM ET [26 Comments]
Michael Stuart
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Tampa Bay Lightning looked worse than bad in Carolina on Tuesday night, as they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Hurricanes.

In their first game after the all-star break, the Bolts looked like they were still on vacation. Sluggish doesn’t begin to describe what fans in attendance saw from the road team. Give credit to the Hurricanes for pouncing, but Tampa needs to be and can be much better than that.

In case you were wondering, it didn’t take long for things to go sour. Eric Staal scored for the Hurricanes only 22 seconds into the contest, and Nathan Gerbe tallied less than six minutes later. The result was a 2-0 Lightning deficit against a team that is closer to Connor McDavid in the standings than it is to the Bolts.

Cedric Paquette cut the deficit in half late in the first, but Justin Faulk was right there to answer with a power play goal midway through the second to restore the Hurricanes’s two-goal lead. Brian Boyle and Jiri Tlusty traded goals before the final buzzer rang, but their scores proved to be inconsequential.

It all added up to a 4-2 defeat. Ben Bishop was iffy. The skaters looked half asleep. The team should throw away the tape and move on.

I’m keeping tonight’s recap short and without much (read: any) analysis because I want to take the opportunity to talk about something else. I have a unique platform here at HockeyBuzz, where thousands of people stop by every month to check out my coverage of the Lightning. Usually I stick to hockey. Tonight that changes. I want to talk about something far bigger, something far more important.

For those of you who are unaware, today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. For every tweet using the hashtag #BellLetsTalk and for every share of the Bell Let’s Talk Day Facebook image, Bell will donate five cents to mental health initiatives. According to the Let’s Talk website, Bell has committed $67.5-million to mental health initiatives in Canada since 2010. They are making a difference.

The stigma around mental health issues has to end. We have to be the ones to end it. And the only way for us to end it is to have this conversation. So let’s talk. Let's educate. Let's ask questions. Let's be educated. Let's clear up misconceptions. Let's listen. Let’s end the stigma. Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day, but the conversation shouldn’t end at midnight. It must continue.

If you haven’t already done so, head over to Twitter and tweet using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag. Sign on to your Facebook account and share the Bell Let’s Talk photograph. Every tweet and every share makes a difference. If this blog convinces one person to make one extra tweet today, I’ll consider it one of my best.

Thanks for reading.

Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.
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