“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

He’s gone. It can’t be so… But it is?

The last few months I have not been comfortable with the direction of the Lightning. Seeing Brad Richards go was painful – though I am told it was a done deal for a while. Now this.

John Tortorella may have lost the players at one point or another but I believed in his style and how he handled things. Though there was resentment and bitterness at times between the players adn their coach — he wasn’t paid to be Mr. Popular, he was paid to get results. And for a long time he was doign just that.

The rumors have Barry Melrose taking over here in Tampa… Which I took for a joke the first time the rumor surfaced months ago. I still find it a joke, and Oren Koules will not be investing wisely in his purchase if he has already settled on this choice.

As for John, I wish him only the best as he has brought only the best out of the players here in Tampa. His name being engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup is proof of that. And I don’t think it will be the last time it occurs either.

My frustration from last night (and recently) is chronicled. We’ll leave it at that. I’m not a sell out though. I’m a Lightning fan. I’ve endured the Lightning through expansion mediocrity, to first-time-playoff mediocrity, to sub-abysmal status during the late 1990’s… I’ve seen the lows, I’ve blogged the highs. Accepting the 2007-08 team as a bitter pill to swallow isn’t something I am proud of, yet it’s something that has to be done.

The being said, this is just pathetic:

…If you’re like me you probably have no desire to see this mess of a team in person anymore. I’m headed back home for New Years and I was planning to go to a Lightning game and catch the Bucs finale. Now? Neither. And if you are a season-ticket holder, my condolences. Sell your tickets if you can, but I would stop going all together if I were you.

…I’ve had it with this team. They are getting what they deserve – and that’s being among the worst teams in the NHL. Who’s to blame? Everyone but the fans, as far as I can tell. The players appear to be quitting on the coach. The coach can’t get even halfway decent productivity with the players he’s got. The GM is responsible for this roster that has his coach so hamstrung, but his hands are tied by lame-duck, apathetic ownership. Wheee!

Everybody but the fans until the fans make declarations like this. The post is titled “Stop going to games, stop showing up”…

You can agree about Torts (and it’s a renown fact the hockey world doesn’t seem to care for John Tortorella’s style), and know the Jay Feaster situation is a truism… Ownership isn’t so much apathetic (this charge always comes out when a team doesn’t spend the cap on players – be they garbage or good) as dealing with a business transaction that has frozen what it can pay for the on-ice product. Yeah, it’s a shit sandwich and we all have to take a bite…

But taking your ball and going home…?

There’s a name for someone who throws his/her hands up in disgust when his or her team lose or go through a rough patch. Bandwagon Fan. Yeah, there are plenty of reasons to be disgusted with the Lightning. Yes, the ownership-in-limbo status doesn’t give much hope for the future or the current. That being said, do you put the team you hold dear to your heart in a bind by trying to syndicate apathy to the rest of the fanbase, inspired by your own despair? Have the Lightning fans, those enveloped in their disgust, forgotten about the poor times this team has gone through in the past that we suffered and triumphed through? Or have we just grown so soft that we’re going to throw a fit and walk away in a knee-jerk reaction because the team isn’t playing like it’s 2004 again?

That was four year ago. Get over it.

October 5th, 2005 was when you were supposed to stop living on the coattails of a championship (I told you as much on opening night that year). The bad times go with the good times — it’s what endears us to our pro sport teams. We may not like them, but that’s what engraves our teams into our souls.

And for the record, anyone who wants to give up on this team and dump off their tickets — I’ll take them, and I’m sure there are plenty of others who would too.

I watched parts of the Lightning game last night… Parts. Oddly it was always the parts where the Lightning stood around and couldn’t move the puck up ice. They played a poor mans dump-and-chase and had no desire to do much more than give the Capitals what amounted to even-strength power play opportunities.

John Tortorella is pissed and wants “no excuses” for the loss. Of course, he wouldn’t flat out call his team pathetic or inept… But that’s exactly how they are playing. There’s a lack of passion once you get below Lecavalier, St. Louis, Richards and Prospal. Jan Hlavac is doing so poorly he’s been demoted to the fourth line (note to my friend Jes Golbez — it appears you were right when you scorned the addition of Hlavac this summer).

I feel flat out sorry for Karri Ramo who has played his ass off the last few games. Here’s a 21 year old goaltender standing toe-to-toe with one of the NHL’s elite netminders in Olaf Kolzig and what’s happening? His team gives up in front of him.

Read that again: his team gives up in front of him.

That’s the only way to term last night. They flat out gave up. I won’t say that everyone on ice didn’t try or put an effort out there. They did, however, fail to look like they were competing in the end. And the lame duck season will continue unless the ownership situation solidifies soon (meaning don’t expect cavalry to swoop in via a trade or management change any time soon).

Meanwhile, Caps land is rejoicing a new found glory in their new coach… Oh, and the win. RJ can find two positives — and only two and that’s not surprising. Ramo, Lecavalier, and then suckage… that was last night.