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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 3088209" data-attributes="member: 2012">Burke clears waivers, heads to AHLCanadian Press9/26/2006 4:19:46 PMMONTREAL (CP) - The Tampa Bay Lightning have revamped their goaltending and 39-year-old Sean Burke found himself the odd man out.Burke cleared waivers Tuesday and was assigned to the AHL's Springfield Falcons as the 2004 Stanley Cup champions opted to go with two new goaltenders - Marc Denis and Johan Holmqvist.Burke has agreed to play in the AHL rather than retire and will likely be the first goalie recalled if there is an injury."He wants to play," said general manager Jay Feaster said. "We talked to him when we traded for Denis and he wanted to play, and we talked to him again (when he went on waivers) on Sunday."He feels he can still contribute."The Lightning hoped another team would claim Burke and his US$1.6 million salary.Feaster said he would put Burke on re-entry waivers at a later date. If another team claims him, only half his remaining salary would count against the Lightning's salary cap.Burke did not make the trip to Montreal for a pre-season game Tuesday night against the Canadiens. Instead, he was gathering personal effects at his home in Phoenix, Ariz."I'll go to Springfield and get some good practice in and see what happens around the league," Burke told the Tampa Tribune. "This game is always fun to me at every level."I'll go get on the ice and look at it as an opportunity to work with the younger guys."Denis also didn't make the trip to Montreal due to a visa problem. The Bolts had Holmqvist on hand and called up goalie Karri Ramo from Springfield.Tampa Bay was caught short in goal last season when Nikolai Khabibulin, who backstopped their Stanley Cup drive in 2003-04, signed as a free agent with Chicago.John Grahame moved into the starting job while Burke was brought in as a backup. But Grahame was publicly criticized more than once by coach John Tortorella while going 29-22-1 with a so-so 3.06 goals-against average and .889 save percentage.Burke was 14-10-4 with a 2.80 average and .895 save percentage.Feaster traded 31-goal scorer Fredrik Modin and goaltender Fredrik Norrena to Columbus in the off-season for Denis, who was 21-25-1 with a 3.25 average and .900 save percentage last season.The Lightning hope the six-year NHL veteran will excel behind a strong offensive team in Tampa.Holmqvist returns to the NHL after two seasons with Brynas in the Swedish league. Holmqvist, a standout at the Olympics and the world championships this year, spent parts of two seasons with the New York Rangers in 2000-01 and 2001-02.He hopes to compete with Denis for starts."We'll see what happens," he said. "I'm going to do what I can to play. It's up to the coaches."Holmqvist said his international experiences earlier this year helped build his confidence."I feel more mature than the last time I was over here," he added.The Lightning remain close to the $44-million cap limit despite losing Modin and free agent defencemen Darryl Sydor, now with Dallas, and Pavel Kubina, who signed with Toronto.Feaster said it was key to keep the team's three stars - Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis - and fit other salaries around them.The Lightning also must count $662,500 for retired veteran Dave Andreychuk against their cap.Feaster said Kubina was willing to take less than the $5 million he will make in Toronto in order to stay in Tampa, but he was still too expensive "because Dan Boyle is only making $3.3 million and he's been our best defenceman the last couple of seasons.Losing Sydor was a "pure salary dump," he added.The Lightning hope newcomers Filip Kuba, Luke Richardson and Andy Delmore will fill the holes on defence."Kuba is going to play a lot of minutes for us," Feaster said of the former Minnesota Wild rearguard.</blockquote>

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