A not-so-graceful stint for notorious mullet wearer Barry Melrose cam to a merciful conclusion last week, as Melrose was shit-canned by fantasy hockey league players/Tampa Bay Lightning owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules. Clearly, this franchise is a total state of disarray, and now hands over the coaching reigns to Rick “The Gambler” Tocchet. Let’s take a look in the rear view mirror at the many strange moves by this club in the last 6 months:
a) Emasculating Jay Feaster – Say what you will about some of Feaster’s moves, but he does have a Cup on his resume and grabbed a solid return in the Brad Richards deal. This firing was probably a little unfair to say the least.
b) Hiring Barry Melrose- 15 years is a long time, and Melrose was clearly outmatch as evidenced by his short stint.
c) Resigning Dan Boyle to a long-term deal and then trading him – Boyle is prospering in San Jose, and it is pretty clear the Lightning currently lack the transition game necessary to thrive in today’s game. Oh wait, they have Steve Eminger, so it’s going to be okay now.
d) Signing 47 free agent forwards – Clearly, all those forwards have yet to glue for the Lightning and I don’t think some of them ever will (yes, I’m looking at you Radim Vrbata).
e) Trading Matt Carle – To say you’re trading the prime piece of the Dan Boyle trade to clear salary cap space is either a) disingenuous or b) reflective of how fucking confused team management is. Take your pick.
There you have it. This team looks like a club somebody puts together in a fantasy pool; lots of recognizable names, but no real fit. We’ll see if they’ve got enough character in their room to pull it together. I have a hard time believing this group is last in the league in scoring, but it is what it is. This could be a long season in Tampa.
I predict:
a) About 7 more trades
b) The resurface of Lecavalier to Montreal rumors
c) Team bankruptcy.
Oh well, at least the Bucs and the Rays are good.
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