If I had to find a word for the Lightning under Barry Melrose’s tenure as coach, I think the word would be disjointed.

The lack of cohesion was apparent, the lack of passion on the ice… and drive to actually play the game. To enjoy the game. It felt like, from a fan perspective, a much hyped package that just could not deliver anywhere close to the promise that was proposed to the fanbase.

The stigma of the roster anarchy will continue to haunt ownership and Brian Lawton for the rest of the season (if not beyond that) unless a clear sense of direction of what the Lightning franchise wants in players is found.

But what a difference a few games make.

It started with Colorado, and I noted that it was the start of a new season for the Lightning where Rick Tocchet had worked with players during their scheduled time off. The Colorado game results and the lack-of-effort in Atlanta didn’t do as much harm as once was thought… Through the negatives and adversity, it looks like the Lightning have found… well, the Lightning.

Maybe I am speaking too soon on this, but the teamt hat I have watched versus the Penguins and Panthers the past week has not been the same club I’ve watched otehr times this season. There is a drive again, there is a cohesion… There’s emotion and passion…

And there’s a clear desire to win.

Things are not all gravy, don’t get me wrong. Thsi team is not suddenly a bunch of world beaters… But as I watch the closing minutes of this Lightning vs. Panthers matchup at Times Palace, the Lightning are playing like sharks when there is blood in the water. A far cry from the comparisons to the days of Steve Ludzik.

Tocchet’s talks, the return of Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen’s “wakeup call”, Evgeny Artyukhin actually playing like he’s on the North American continent once again… Mike Smith being stellar between the pipes, the return of Ryan Malone… It’s all had a profound effect on this club.

Now will it last?

6-4 the final at Times Palace, the Lightning beat the Panthers for the 2nd straight day. Vincent Lecavalier had two goals, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos and “Artoo” Artyukhin also contributed to scoring. An outstanding effort for a 2nd-game-in-24-hours matchup.

With 11 games until the season midway point, the main news out of Tampa this week was… training camp. Yes, training camp… Coach Rick Tocchet ran the nag that has been the Lightning roster (under performing, non-cohesive and soft) until they dropped.

Quite a difference to what Ryan Malone experienced back in September under Barry Melrose:

“I wasn’t sure how different camps went. We scrimmaged a couple times and then we left, really,” he said of the fall. “It wasn’t much structure and all the other stuff you’re supposed to be learning.”

It would seem Rick is trying to get his house in order and that’s all fine and good. In fact my above remark about “riding that nag…until it dropped” is misquoting and mischaracterizing — this wasn’t a mid-season Camp Torturella — but he still ran the team and ran them hard which is a stark contrast to the laissez faire approach of September’s camp and European Vacation under the Mullet.

Rick also met with Vinny Lecavalier after Tuesday’s practice to talk about the team, leadership and on-ice play. And Vinny’s on board with everything.

The question is, what type of results will we see from this tonight versus the Avs? A more alert team? Or one that is tuckered out from being overworked during their time off the last few days?

Quick sidenotes:

• Gary Roberts will hang them up after this season.
• Kari Ramo has been called up and will serve as backup to Mike Smith tonight due to an injury to Ollie the Goalie
• Ryan Malone and Jeff Halpren return to the lineup tonight
• Tonight’s telecast is in High Definition…

Mike Chen can’t look away at the train wreck here in Tampa, and who can blame him? Ooh, blame… Good subject for an article Mike! Have at it!

The real culprit? I can see why people can point fingers at one guy or another (though Stamkos is absolved of everything other than simply being an 18-year-old rookie learning the ways of the NHL) but when it comes down to it, everyone is at fault here from the wacky ownership duo of Len Barrie and Oren Koules to Melrose and his then-assistants to veteran leaders like team captain Vincent Lecavalier.

Yep, you’re all guilty and you should feel bad because the fan base that slowly built up from the early 2000s is now disintegrating as the team becomes one of the biggest sideshows in professional sports.

Mike goes on to break down the X’s and D’oh’s of the Lightning, post-Palace Sports, like an ESPN analyst without a bone to pick with a former employer. Blame lies from the top down, and from the bottom up. As a fan, I’ve focused on the top-down side instead of looking at the players, the lock room and the atmosphere generated by team leaders…

Just to tickle my fancy on the blame heirachy, lemme highlight the one paragraph that stands out for me:

The thing that I don’t get is that even though moviemaking (Koules) and real estate (Barrie) are completely separate businesses than running a pro-sports franchise, the basic tenants of “get good people/have a plan/work hard” are still in place. Here’s how any organization, pro sports or otherwise, should work: leadership at the top has a vision and a plan. They bring in supervisors (coaches) to create strategy for that plan, then the supervisors motivate the workers (players) to properly execute the plan with a good attitude and strong work ethic while providing feedback about what’s working and what’s not. I don’t see any of this here.

Some people really hated Palace Sports ownership… I mean, seriously despised “Dollar” Bill Davidson and outside-the-area ownership. They didn’t care for Rick Dudley or the types of players he brought in at the get-go of Palace Sports tenure of ownership.

But — this is inarguable — Davidson, Tom Wilson, Bill Campbell and the rest of Palace Sports had a plan and a vision of all facets of the operation. On ice, the venue, the administrative organization… They assigned a well-versed individual into a role and let them work.

With OK Hockey? It’s been anarchy without a general MO of the moves, without a definition of the how or why.

Mike goes on to dissect coaching and then throwing some blame the players ways… Not everyone, just the C and A’s of the team. The article is certainly worth a read and a thought or three.

In essence, it comes back to the volatility of the off season as a foreshadowing of the season so far. A new administration does indeed have a right to put who they want in positions of power… But these people need to know what the plan is, spread the plan down the chain of command and get everyone on message and in sync on that.

Right now, we’re still devoid of that vision / message from any level of command.

…which has contributed to the Bolts being run straight into the ground.

“Steven is not ready for the NHL,” Melrose stated on the Fan 590. “Steven is going to be a good player…right now he’s just not strong enough physically to play against defencemen who are 6′3″ or 6′4″ that can skate as good as him.”
– Barry Melrose

You are an 18 year old hot prospect that is thrust into a team that is making a volatile transition of it’s roster, from speed and an offense-driven-defensive system to… well, to Fantasy Hockey. You’re paired up with big names and you’re listed as a big addition to a club that is in transition and changing chemistry.

Do you thrive under that as you learn the NHL game? Do you reach the high expectations?

Lemme throw you another what-if: What if ownership hadn’t changed? If Palace Sports were still calling the shots, if Jay Feaster were still in the front office (or Bill Barber for that matter, or someone else picked out by Ron Campbell or Tom Wilson) and John Tortorella was still behind the bench… What if that Lightning franchise drafted Stamkos #1 overall? Where would Steve be playing right now?

Odds are, back in the CHL for another year of maturing.

That is not pissing on Steven Stamkos or his game. This is not an attempt to undermine the kid or his future. The point is that, in a different scenario or situation, Steven would not be in the NHL this season or not pressed in the way he has been. Of course, in the aforementioned scenario, this would be a very different Lightning team.

As for the rest of Melrose comments (and Len Barrie’s retorts) — I’m just going to take the high road and dismiss this pissing match. Barrie has a track record of mouthing off and bad blood is being spread from somewhere in this organization… Tortorella, Dan Boyle and now Barry Melrose have expressed displeasure with their departures from the club. This is a very different atmosphere than what this fan is used to – where a transaction for the club did not generate such hostility.

Yes, bad blood and hurt feelings happens in sports or the business world when there is an abrupt change, but this is a grand departure from a classy face the Lightning used to operate under.

As for the rest of the Lightning roster… Maybe this is all playing out in order to light a fire under the players? A fictional drama? One can dream, right?

The Tampa Bay Lightning have fired head coach Barry Melrose; Associate Coach Rick Tocchet has been elevated to interim head coach.

Is there anyone, anyone at all, at OK Hockey interested in stability? Cohesion? I can understand a sense of urgency, but when urgency and immediate dividends are all that’s looked upon with a sports franchise… well, it becomes just a fantasy-sports-franchise, playing in reality.

Dan Boyle? Given a big contract and long term commitment last spring. Traded for Carle and more last summer…
Carle? Trade for spare parts.
Tortorella? Fired in favor of Melrose and his old school style (and mullet).
Melrose? Fired two months into his return to NHL coaching. 2 months that were preceded by a short and volatile training camp that took place on two continents and in an extremely short duration.

People have joked about the idea of Melrose being the new head coach when the rumors started swirling last spring. So maybe this should be looked at as the correction of a mistake. But honestly, it looks more like a continuing guessing game at Times Palace… Where no one is sure of the next move; what it should be and what it should bring