Below is an excerpt from theTSNarticle: The Tampa Bay Lightning have relieved head coach Barry Melrose of his duties and named associate coach Rick Tocchet interim head coach, although there will be no search to fill the position.
Similar to Bruce Boudreau’s hire in Washington early last year, Tocchet will be the man even though there is “interim” attached to his promotion.
The Lightning are in the midst of a three-game slump and are 4-5-1 in the past 10 games, dropping them to fourth in the Southeast Division standings. Under Melrose, they won just five of 16 games to open the season (5-7-4).
”This was a tough decision to make,” Executive Vice President & General Manager Brian Lawton said. ”Barry is a good man and we have a great deal of respect for him. We wish him nothing but success. However, the results were unacceptable and the players have to understand that we need to be better. Hopefully this change helps push them.” Owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules were guests on Off The Record in late October and when asked by host Michael Landsberg if the coach was safe, Koules was clear and concise. ”Very safe,” he said.
Talk about a screwed up ownership, coaching and team situation!!!
Former Lightning head coach John Tortorella wasn’t completely wrong when he called Tampa Bay Lightning owners, Len Barrie and Oren Koules “cowboys”.
Firstly, the Barrie/Koules partnership hired a former NHL coach who hasn’t coach in the NHL since 1995 and by some accounts, was out of touch with today’s style of hockey.
Melrose, with or without the famous Mullet hairstyle, wasn’t able to motivate his players and there were some feathers being ruffled in the dressing room. When Vinny Lecavalier gets only 16:32 TOI and Vaclav Prospal gets 23:53 TOI in last night’s game against the Red Wings, then something isn’t quite right with the coaching.
Add into the mix that Melrose couldn’t be bothered to show up for a recent practice as an old “coaching trick”, then you start to understand why the hiring was a mistake from the very start.
It’s not only the hiring of Melrose which puzzled people, it was the way the Lightning tried to “re-built” their team by signing old timers like Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts plus totally overpaying Ryan Malone ridiculous money (7 years/$31.5 million……GP-14 G-3 A-0 -2!!!) after riding Sidney Crosby’s coat tails last season.
To make matters worst, there are rumors/reports circulating through reliable NHL sources which indicate the Lightning ownership are quickly running out of money to meet payroll and hockey operation demands. I guess the movie producing industry is drying up like the economy!!!
Let’s be honest, the Lightning are playing a bit below expectations, but nobody really thought they were going to make the playoffs with such a weak defensive unit and ownership group…..hey, maybe this means we still have a chance at getting homeboy Vinny in Montreal…….can’t help a guy for wishful thinking!!!
