Melrose Bitter; Lightning Struggles Continue
As it turns out the problems in Tampa Bay extend beyond Barry Melrose, what a surprise (sense my sarcasm). In the 16 games Melrose spent as coach the Lightning were 5-7-4 which is not good but was not a terrible start for a team with a new make up on ice and behind the bench. Since Melrose was fired, interim coach Rick Tocchet has lead the Lightning to a record of 1-6-4 resulting in only six points out of a possible 22. Recently on talk radio in Toronto, Melrose continued to voice his bitterness toward being fired by saying he was glad the team has struggled so much since he left and that he hopes they go winless the rest of the year; quite frankly who can blame him? Tamp Bay is in last place in a very poor Southeast Division leaving them in last place in the Eastern Conference and in prime position to duplicate last year’s 15th place conference finish. John Tortorella was fired last year after bringing the franchise a Stanley Cup but perhaps he had overstayed his welcome and it was time to move on. To follow Tortorella they brought in Melrose who had not coached since 1993 but had a reputation for being more of a players’ coach which Tortorella certainly was not. And after only 16 games the team turned on him and now Tampa is on their third coach in less than a full season’s worth of games and they continue to struggle. Even Tocchet has already questioned the players’ work ethic and willingness to work hard every game. It sounds like the problem lies not within Tortorella, Melrose, or Tocchet but the players and the rest of the organization itself.
Lightning Scapegoat Melrose
On Friday (11/14) the Tampa Bay Lightning fired head coach Barry Melrose after only 16 games with the team. Granted, the Lightning posted a less than stellar 5-7-4 record leaving them with 14 points and in 4th place in the Southeast Division. Although the record is not great it is still very early in the season and the newly hired Melrose was not given much of a chance to make any great strides with the team. Tampa Bay is not out of the playoff hunt by any stretch of the imagination after only 16 games and I am not sure that any problems the team may have had are solved by firing the coach. I wrote before about NHL GMs having too quick a trigger and the trend continues. Not every team can win every game and be in first place all at the same time. It is a long season that consists of many good times and bad but the key is to be persistent and to have patience. Tampa Bay spent a lot of money in the off-season putting essentially an entirely new roster together that needs some time to gel as guys get used to playing with one another. No offense to Rick Tocchet but I do not think there is anything he can do that will put the Lightning in a position that is any better than where they already were. Anything short of Tampa Bay winning every game the remainder of the year makes this a boneheaded, not to mention unfair, move on the part of the Lightning management. And this is why Tampa Bay has had little playoff success since winning the Stanley Cup in 2004.
