While a short coaching stay was predicted in these pages at the season’s opening for Lightening coach Barry Melrose, the coach known more for his mullet than his coaching resume deserved a longer tenure than 16 games to try to resurrect a franchise that just four years ago won the Stanley Cup.
Then again, his players deserved more than their coach blaming them for his demise.
In the coach’s mind he was just too tough, and because of this his players purposely undermined his efforts and went to management, telling them Melrose had to go.
Is it possible he was the victim of prima dona athletes preferring a less-strenuous style of play? Perhaps. Melrose loves to talk about what a tough guy he is and how he demands hitting, passion and other such macho coaching cliches while trying to convince anyone who will listeners of his unique qualities as a head coach.
Melrose wouldn’t be the first coach to be pushed out by his players, but pointing fingers without considering any culpability on his own part for a team that iss last in the NHL in goals scored and points is simply hypocritical if not a flat-out delusional.
Speaking to Ron McLean on Hockey Night in Canada, Melrose portrayed himself as the plain-talking innocent bystander who claimed to have let GM Brian Lawton off the hook, saying he’s not a guy who talks a lot and just told his former boss, “Don’t worry about it [explaining the reasons and] dropped my phone off and went to the dressing room and got my stuff.” McLean continued to lob softballs from the blue line while Melrose discussed the conspiracy.
“Obviously, a lot of guys didn’t want to be held accountable on this team and obviously they went to Lenny and Oren (team owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules) and said they don’t like this style of coaching and would you get rid of him. I don’t think there’s any secret about that,” claimed Melrose.
McLean, showing the unbiased coverage that has made Hockey Night the game’s unabashed purveyor of truth and intelligent discourse, grilled Melrose, saying, “It looks like somebody from the team, and this is a team that won the Stanley Cup, was very close to the previous head coach, and … it looks like somebody went to either Len or Oren or to Brian and said, ‘You know what? This can’t happen. This is not working. Do you feel like you were stabbed?’”
McLean continued his fair and balanced coverage by snorting in agreement when Melrose said, “I don’t think the players wanted to play for me. You don’t have to be Kreskin to figure that out.”
More challenging for the self-proclaimed world’s foremost mentalist would be explaining why Melrose found it necessary to publicly bash his players after losing the first two games of the season, or why he left the locker room in a huff, forcing his team to practice on its own.
Melrose may want people to think that he’s a blood-and-guts coaching Neanderthal bent on bringing some toughness back to the NHL. But Melrose last coached in the 1990s, and not two decades prior when Scottie Bowman, the NHL’s all-time winningest coach, was so disagreeable to play for that the saying went that his players hated him for 364 days and that on day 365 they hoisted the cup.
As Melrose and McLean were passing the blame on everyone but the coach, one of their targets, Lawton, suggested to a Tampa television station that in Melrose’s decade-plus time as a commentator, the game has passed him by.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that the game has changed over the last 14-15 years,” said Lawton, who then offered the political explanation that his former employee refused to employ, saying that the responsibility for the poor play fell on everyone’s shoulders, including his own.
As Lawton suggested, the team’s failures are not the fault of Melrose alone. The Lightening have to take responsibility for bringing aboard a coach who won all of 43 games in his last two years in Los Angeles. The Lightening’s inexperienced ownership made the mistake of copying the NBA in hiring a coach who was more celebrity than chalkboard artist. It’s a mistake they would be smart to learn from.
Former Coyotes’ assistant Rick Tocchet is the coach for the time being. Made famous because of his involvement in a gambling ring that resulted in the longtime NHL veteran receiving two years’ probation and suspension from the league, Tocchet brings in a wealth of on-ice experience, if not a lengthy coaching resume. Whether this translates to better performance from Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal or talented 18-year-old Steven Stamkos, who didn’t get the minutes ownership had wanted, remains to be seen.
Tocchet still may be too poisonous to continue in such a leading role, but after a 22-year NHL career, he should at least be able to relate to his players — which is something Melrose refused to do.
While it may be a bit too early to hand out the NHL hardware and ponder whether Nicklas Lindstrom will win his seventh Norris Trophy, he will, if Alexander Ovechkin will make it back-to-back Hart Trophy victories, yep, or if interest will rise along with on-ice pugilisim, hell yes!, we can still recognize the players and teams with impressive mantle pieces.
The Rocky Balboa Award. Georges Laraque, Montreal.
Given to a one-dimensional goon who cashes in. At 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing in at 255 pounds, the Montreal native may not be the biggest enforcer on the ice, that honor belongs to the Bruin’s 6-foot 9-inch Zdeno Chara, but there ain’t no better scrapper in the league. After spending two seasons as Sidney Crosby’s bodyguard, Laraque has cashed in with a three-year-deal that will net the winger $4.5 million. Not a bad payday for a player who has averaged eight minutes a game and whose skills were so impressive that he did not even suit up for the last five games of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Tony Romo Award. The Detroit Red Wings
Given to the team that has it all (wealth, history) and gets even richer (Jessica Simpson). Missing games because of a broken pinkie notwithstanding. Coming off another Presidents’ Trophy — its fourth in six years — and their 11th cup, the New York Yankees of the National Hockey League lands the biggest free agent on the market — forward Marian Hossa — in a very un-New York way. Hossa took a considerable pay cut to put on the red sweater, which has to make Penguins’ fans even more irate. Declining multi-year offers from Pittsburgh, Montreal, the Rangers, Minnesota and Edmonton, Hossa signed a one-year deal worth $7.45 million for a shot a winning the cup.
The Clint Eastwood Award. Martin Brodeur, New Jersey.
Given to the player who though aged remains at the top of his game. The 36-year-old goaltender is competing for his fifth Venzina Trophy — he’s won four of the last five — and after 14 seasons remains the games most durable netminder, leading all goalies in minutes played over the last three seasons. During those same three years, he has finished first in wins, goals against average and save percentage. Two seasons ago he set the single season record for victories with 48 and next month he will become the all-time leader in career wins. As of this writing he trailed Patrick Roy by eight.
The Simon and Garfunkel Award. Colorado.
Given to the team still looking for Joe Dimaggio. Since Patrick Roy retired following the 2003 season, and in the six months since Roy was suspended by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for instigating a fight between his son Jonathan and two members of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens hockey team, the Avalanche is still trying to find a suitable successor. Over the last three seasons, Colorado has swapped Jose Theodore and Peter Budaj between starter and backup roles with little success evidenced by their combined 2.83 goals against average. The importation of Andrew Raycroft and his two-year total save percentage of .890 is not going to help.
The Randall Tex Cobb Award. Pittsburgh.
Given to the team that gets punched in the mouth and and doesn’t flinch. It would be easy for the Penguins to disappear into a pint of Chunky #### after losing thier loves to other suiters, but Pittsburgh hasn’t let the defection of Hossa and Ryan Malone hamper their plans to be a consistent cup contender. No sooner did Hossa leave then did the team use the extra money to lock up youngsters Marc-Andre Fleury, Hart Trophy finalist Evgeni Malkin and hard-hitting defenseman Brooks Orpik. The addition of Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko adds all around ability if not high scoring opportunities.
The Doug Collins Award. Barry Melrose, Tampa.
Given to the coach most likely to return to TV. At one time Melrose was the young, mullet-domed coach of a L.A. Kings team that lost to the Canadians in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. Two seasons later he was out of a job and he began his long association with ESPN. Melrose takes over a Lightning team that finished 15th in the Eastern Conference and a roster that was completely gutted by the new ownership. Tampa retains Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal and signed free agent Ryan Malone, so the team should be able to light the lamp. Then again Collins had Jordan, Pippen, Grant and Cartwright and still got canned in favor of his assistant.
