Paging Barry Melrose, welcome to the Beach!

[mrusse01 0]

Has to really hurt Melrose's career as well...he's out so long, comes back and lasts 15 games. I don't think his phone is going to be ringing off the hook with job offers.

I guess that's the risk you take when you work for a couple of idiots.

[Steve_v3 289]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=255866&lid...os=topStory_nhl

That lasted long. What a joke of an organization, using Barry as a scapegoat because they built a shit team.

It takes time to build chemistry when you have so many changes. Then factor in the really bad defense he had to deal with and an "active" ownership group and it was a recipe for disaster. Rarely do I feel bad for anyone making six or seven figures a year but Melrose got hosed on this one.

Owners that are too involved in the day to day operations in any pro sports team is indeed a "recipe for disaster".

Melrose got screwed. Talk about not getting a chance. I not saying he was getting them to the playoffs but really.

[Chadd 916]

Has to really hurt Melrose's career as well...he's out so long, comes back and lasts 15 games. I don't think his phone is going to be ringing off the hook with job offers.

I guess that's the risk you take when you work for a couple of idiots.

Unless he was doing something significantly wrong behind closed doors, I don't think it will hurt him as much as his 15 year hiatus at ESPN did. On the plus side, we may see him on Versus now.

[Master P 0]

I'm surprised he lasted this long.

[larrivee 3]

His players hated him. He didn't know how to coach these guys. There was talk he'd lost the locker room in pre-season. Certain marquee players lost respect for him right away and he never tried to get it back.

[Chadd 916]

His players hated him. He didn't know how to coach these guys. There was talk he'd lost the locker room in pre-season. Certain marquee players lost respect for him right away and he never tried to get it back.

The same players who hated the last coach? The same players who had to be told the last coach was going nowhere before they started to perform? The same players whose motivation has been questioned for years? You let the inmates run the asylum and things get even worse.

[larrivee 3]

His players hated him. He didn't know how to coach these guys. There was talk he'd lost the locker room in pre-season. Certain marquee players lost respect for him right away and he never tried to get it back.

The same players who hated the last coach? The same players who had to be told the last coach was going nowhere before they started to perform? The same players whose motivation has been questioned for years? You let the inmates run the asylum and things get even worse.

You bring in a different coach to bring a different feel. If all he ends up doing is screaming at the players like the last one did, do you really expect a difference in performance?

As far as motivation goes- these guys are almost all vets. Which guys are you talking about? Whos left from the last few years? Vincent and Martin work hard.

[chippa13 1844]

This firing was a simple case of "you can't fire 23 players". It seems there are some guys who are letting their paychecks clog their ears when coach is talking.

[tdjb 0]

His players hated him. He didn't know how to coach these guys. There was talk he'd lost the locker room in pre-season. Certain marquee players lost respect for him right away and he never tried to get it back.

The same players who hated the last coach? The same players who had to be told the last coach was going nowhere before they started to perform? The same players whose motivation has been questioned for years? You let the inmates run the asylum and things get even worse.

Isn't that one of the roles of a coach though? To reign the players in and not let them run the show?

With that being said, the owners might not have given him "full" control (I'm not familiar with the situation down there).

[Jarick 5]

My gut says he wasn't capable of taking the reins, but they didn't give him much of a chance. Too bad for the guys who signed long term. The owners look like absolute idiots though.

[chippa13 1844]

The problem is that these guys apparently didn't want to be reined in by their coach so they layed down until management did something.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Got this from a co-worker:

NHL Melrose Fired TAMPA, Fla. -

Barry Melrose's latest go-around as an NHL coach has come to an abrupt end.

`This was a tough decision to make,' general manager Brian Lawton said in a statement.

`Barry is a good man and we have a great deal of respect for him. We wish him nothing

but success.

`However, the results were unacceptable and the players have to understand that we need

to be better. Hopefully this change helps push them.'

Now, the re-write:

`This was a decision,' general manager Brian Lawton said in a statement.

`Barry is a man and we have a deal . We wish him nothing .

`The players need to be better.

I LOL'd

[Smitty34 0]

I knew he wouldn't see the end of the season, but I didn't think that he wouldn't make it to game number 20.

Btw, that re-write statement is great Radio, lol.

[shooter27 116]

There is pretty obviously something that happened behind the scenes here. I mean Tampa isn't really a very good team after Lecavlier and St. Louis and their defensemen are terrible, yet as of today they are only 4 (from my count) points out of the last playoff spot in the East, that doesn't sound to me like an underachieving team, that sounds to me like a team that is right about where its talent level would dictate. So either management has deluded themselves into thinking they really have good personnel, or, as I already said, something else went down in this case.

[Keith 0]

He was basically screwed. Scotty Bowman couldn't make that team win consistently.....

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the Oakland Raiders of the NHL.

[Chadd 916]

There is pretty obviously something that happened behind the scenes here.

Here you go.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=17880

There is the common belief throughout the NHL that assistant coach Rick Tocchet was after Melrose’s job from the day he was hired.

I am told by very reliable sources that Tocchet along with other assistant coach Wes Walz would rarely even socialize with Melrose, instead they would hang with their buddies who happen to be the owners of the team.

Both Tocchet and Walz were hand picked by Lightning Ownership.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Then again, Melrose was hand-picked too :)

But obviously socializing with the brass gets you brownie points. Sounds like Melrose may have tried to keep it professional, who knows.

I had heard when the season started that he had already lost the room.

[mack 44]

At least the Super Bowl is in Tampa this year and there's no way Tocchet resists the urge to lay some money on it. Opens the door for Walz, who seems to be a head case anyway. Good team that Tampa.

[larrivee 3]

That blogger is a terrible writer, but he seems to be pretty dialed in.

[larrivee 3]

NHNIC guys said someone went behind melroses back to ownership.

I bet it was St Louis, talk is hes had a problem with melrose from day 1

[skeeter14 0]

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the Oakland Raiders of the NHL.

How dare you insult the raiders like that;-)

[troy 12]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3745431

Looks like Barry lands with ESPN again.

[kosydar 0]

No need to start another thread about the Lightning falling apart. Vrbata going home, Gratton on waivers.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=258958&lid...os=topStory_nhl

[chippa13 1844]

Sounds like some addition by subtraction going on there.