FanHouse LenBarrie

Somewhere Barry Melrose is smiling, perhaps even laughing maniacally, at the news that Tampa Bay Lightning co-owners Oren Koules (pictured right) and Len Barrie are meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday to determine which individual has the authority to make decisions for the team.

Quick refresher course: The Lightning were, by far, the busiest team last offseason (and during the season itself) acquiring every player they could get their hands on, and, in some cases, badly overpaying them. A season that started with playoff predictions from ownership ended with the second-worst record in the league, and Melrose, hired on June 27, was ultimately fired after just 16 regular season games, sparking a public feud between he and the two owners. While Melrose didn't exactly get his wish of Tampa Bay not winning another game the rest of the season, he was relatively close.

Thanks to the lottery on Tuesday night, we now know the order of selection for the draft. The Islanders will lead off from the pole position and, as I discussed earlier in the week, they've got an awful lot on their plate. But what about the other teams that sent representatives to TSN studios on Tuesday night?

Well, today we have an inside look at the war room of the Tampa Bay Lightning*. Since Oren Koules and Len Barrie took over the franchise last year, the Lightning have made some interesting personnel decisions. They hired and fired Barry Melrose as coach, shipped out Dan Boyle and Matt Carle, leaving the team almost devoid of defense, and had Lecavalier trade rumors swirl around them faster than a tornado. After the jump, I'll give you a little more insight into what is going on behind the scenes.

* - May not actually be the what the Lightning are planning.

It's kind of a shame to see Gary Roberts, after 20 years and 438 career goals, leave the NHL this way. Waived by the Tampa Bay Lightning and unwanted by the other 29 teams in the league, the 42-year-old announced his retirement on Friday afternoon.

One of the best power forwards in the NHL during the late 1980's and early 1990's, his skills had obviously diminished in recent years, but he was still a valuable role player on a Pittsburgh team that played in the Stanley Cup Final a season ago.

I think it would be fair to say that Steven Stamkos, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft, has been somewhat of a disappointment for the Tampa Bay Lightning during his rookie season.

After Lightning management hyped the stuffing out of him before he was even a member of the organization, the 18-year-old has registered just four goals and 10 assists through his first 40 games. Probably not what Oren Koules and Len Barrie had in mind when they plastered his name all over billboards this summer.

The soap opera in Tampa Bay is in the process of taking yet another turn, it would seem, as TSN's Darren Dreger is reporting the Lightning have begun to investigate whether or not they can withhold payments to former head coach Barry Melrose.

Melrose has been extremely vocal in his criticism of the team since he was unceremoniously dumped after just 16 games, and recently has been involved in a back-and-forth with co-owner Len Barrie. We're all enjoying it -- well, I am, anyway -- and the latest twist seems to be quite a head-scratcher, as in, "they can't be serious, can they?"

According to Dreger, the Lightning are a little honked off about Melrose's statements that No. 1 overall pick Steven Stamkos is not ready for the NHL, and this is the reason they would like to consider not paying Melrose the remainder of his contract. I don't know, but it would seem to me their chances of winning such a fight -- should they decide to go through with it -- would be about the same as a snowball winning in hell.

There were plenty of wonderful sound bites during Barry Melrose's marvelous appearance on Toronto's Fan590 this week, chief among them was Melrose, essentially, saying that he hated co-owner Len Barrie's guts, without actually saying it. If you'll recall, when the former Tampa Bay coach was asked how he felt about Barrie, he rambled on about how Oren Koules (Tampa Bay's other co-owner) was a great guy, great for the NHL, and that he hoped he did well, never mentioning Barrie, the guy he was asked about. It's not hard to figure out what Melrose was doing there.

Well, prior to Wednesday's game in Buffalo -- which the Lightning lost, of course -- Barrie decided to fire back in what is a strong contender for hockey cat fight of the year. Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times has all of Barrie's verbal punches, including an allegation that Melrose was "negligent" in his preparation for the season.

"I knew we were in trouble when we went to Prague," Barrie said Wednesday of the season-opening trip with the Rangers, "and Barry wanted to play the (defensive) left wing lock.

Things are starting to get hilarious when the topic of the Tampa Bay Lightning comes up. Unless, of course, you're a fan of the Lightning, in which case, it's probably not a laughing matter at all. But for the rest of us, man, it just keeps getting better.

After cornering the market on free agents this summer -- and dumping them two months into the season -- the Lightning find themselves in the basement of the NHL, having won just twice in their past 17 games.

They've already fired head coach Barry Melrose -- who lasted just 16 games -- and have won only once since naming Rick Tocchet as his replacement. And you know who finds all of this funny, and is taking great delight in it? Melrose himself.

There was a time when Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco was among the best in the National Hockey League. It appears as if those days are over, at least for this year, as the 33-year old netminder was lifted for the third time this season, after giving up five goals on just 19 shots Friday night. In the end, the Stars fell to the runaway locomotive that is the San Jose Sharks, 6-2.

Honestly, San Jose may never lose again, as it now has a league-best 39 points.

Turco's save percentage is just about ready to drop below the .870 mark, which is pretty hard to comprehend for an NHL goalie, and Stars head coach Dave Tippett sort of agrees, saying "our goaltender has to be better." Indeed he does. And while he wouldn't announce anything after the game, Tippett left open the possibility that Tobias Stephan could start Sunday's game against Edmonton. I guess the question is: could he really be any worse?

San Jose received a pair of goals from Dan Boyle, while Joe Pavelski, Milan Michalek and Rob Blake slipped shots behind the struggling Turco before he was lifted following the second period.

Evgeni Nabokov, making his second start since returning to the lineup, turned aside 25 of 27 shots in the win.

4:30 PM on a Friday. In terms of employee terminations, there are usually two main reasons to fire someone on a Friday: One, because that person and/or the company will need the whole weekend to cool off and get over the decision or two, because in an organization that is a focal point for the media, Friday afternoon is the best time to fire someone and keep it as quite as possible. That way, the person getting fired can keep their dignity while the organization tries to avoid a media circus going into the weekend. Need proof? Just ask the New York Mets how firing manager Willie Randolph at 1 AM worked out for them.

The Lightning, who don't play tonight but have lost three straight and five of six, fired Melrose at 4:30 PM this afternoon. His termination becoming a crystal clear admission that their brand new ownership had made a major mistake. What was also clear, was that Friday afternoon was a good time to let him go and try to garner as little media attention as possible, a 180 degree turn in philosophy for owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules. Their first and not nearly only noise making action as owners was to bring in the former ESPN analyst. Barely five weeks into the season, it was clear things were not going to work out.

Thursday night's 4-3 loss to Detroit probably wasn't even the final straw. It likely came on Wednesday night when the Bolts got embarrassed 4-0 in Miami against the equally troubled Panthers. The Detroit loss dropped the Bolts to a 5-7-4 record and the cellar of the conference right next to the Islanders and Panthers. Only four points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and 66 games to go, the Lightning are clearly still in the playoff hunt. That leads me to believe -- and this is pure speculation -- that there may be more to this situation than poor play on the ice. There may have been gears grinding in the front office and in the dressing room that we don't know about and may never hear about.

Well that didn't take long. The Tampa Lightning, off to a disappointing start -- disappointing considering the absurd amount of money they spent this offseason -- have already decided to part ways with head coach Barry Melrose. Assistant coach Rick Tocchet will take over behind the bench, as reported by TSN.

General Manager Brian Lawton on the move:

"This was a tough decision to make," Lawton said. "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. "As for Rick Tocchet, we think this is a great opportunity for him and we believe he's the type of coach who can take the team to the next level. Our players have a great deal of respect for him."