The Lightning coaching drama

Tampa Circus Continues

I wonder how it feels to be the joke of the league – but not because they’ve been losing. The Tampa Bay Lightning have turned into the drama queens of the NHL. Not a very inspiring sports title, if you ask me. But, at least, they’re getting themselves noticed, right?

Let me throw some stats out there. Tocchet is the third coach in six months. There are only seven players left on Tampa Bay that were playing for the team back in February – more specifically, since before last year’s Dallas trade that sent Brad Richards to the Stars for Halpern, Jokinen, and Smith. And they have used 11 different defensemen in the first 16 games of the season.

Does any of that sound like the coaches responsibility? I don’t think so. And yet, the coach is the one blamed for it.

While Lawton may have been the one to gived Melrose the news, this wouldn’t have happened without the full cooperation of the ownership. It’s been well documented that Melrose was friends with Koules, and if any part of the ownership is willing to fire a friend after only 16 games into a season, then everyone’s fair game.

The way I see it, there are only two players right now who are probably untouchable: Mike Smith and Steven Stamkos. Smith because he’s a good goalie and those are very difficult to come by, and Stamkos because he’s the first player the ownership team ever got to draft. To get rid of Stamkos would to admit total and complete failure as knowledgeable hockey people.

Everyone else is expendable because everyone else got there thru the result of another person. Even you, Lecavalier – particularly if Sundin decides to sign up. (Although, why Sundin would want to play for this team right now is beyond me.) Despite the contract guards like no-movement clauses, would Vinny really want to stay with a team if they asked him to waive it?

We all saw the example set by Boyle’s leaving, after all. And Brad Richards as well. Lecavalier wants to finish out his career in Tampa, but he might have to go thru another team or two before he gets back there to do that. Of course, that’s just pure speculation on my part.

Frankly, I wouldn’t even count on Lecavalier still being captain by the end of the season, should he finish up with the Lightning. Just about anything could happen at this point. And, as we’ve all already seen, it’s not always the head coach that’s calling the shots.

While everyone shares in the blame of where the team is right now this season, and Melrose’s firing, I blame the ownership the most. Melrose, while perhaps having coaching issues as well, ended up the fall guy for the bad mistakes the ownership has already made. And they’re not thru tinkering with this team yet, either. Just when things were starting to get better and settle down, they traded Carle to the Flyers for Eminger and Downie.

So don’t expect any kind of stability with this team, and don’t expect any guy to be safe just because he is who he is. Because, in the end, nobody is really safe. Nobody.

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