FanHouse NHL Coach Firings

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.

As if often the case, one or two assistant coaches have to take the fall when a head coach is fired. In this instance, the LA Kings fired both Mike Johnston and Dave Lewis (pictured), letting new coach Terry Murray pick new assistants that will do his bidding and fetch his slippers.

Make no mistake, Johnston and Lewis are two of the brightest coaching minds in the business, and won't be out of work long. This firing wasn't about them or their coaching abilities, it was simply because Marc Crawford was a lousy coach.

Yes, Crawford led the Kings down the road of despair, and his two assistants paid the price because of it. Crawford made the Kings look so bad that Lewis and Johnston looked bad just by association.

I do kinda feel sorry for Dave Lewis, given that it has been a tough few years for him. After a brief stint as the Wings' head coach, Lewis was the head coach in Boston for ONE season before getting canned. Then, he goes to the Kings and gets canned after ONE season. At least he's got to be good at packing dishes and books into boxes.

As for the replacements, the Kings' went out and got Mark Hardy, a long time Kings player, and Nelson Emerson, whose coaching experience is rather limited. Certainly, this can't be seen as anything but a downgrade.

Of all of the NHL coaches who we could consider on the Hot Seat, Ted Nolan wasn't one I expected to be fired any day soon. The Isles seemed to love the guy enough to bring him out of his blacklisted exile, and he was a key component of their five-headed management strategy.

So, I was rather shocked to see that Ted Nolan is no longer employed by the Isles. The team made the announcement this morning on their official website.

New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow announced today that Ted Nolan will not return next season as the team's head coach. Nolan had one season remaining on his contract.

"Ted has helped us achieve some success over the last two seasons, however it has become clear that we have philosophical differences and have decided together to part ways," said Snow. "Since last season and continuing into the summer, I have realized we do not share the same philosophies. I would like to thank Ted for his two years with the team and wish him the best.

Nolan was the darling of the NHL after leading his rag-tag bunch to a 40-30-12 record in 2006-07, and a rare playoff birth. Last season wasn't so good, however, as the Isles fell to 35-38-9 record.

It's a shame that Nolan is taking the fall for Garth Snow's poor management moves, but it's not as if Nolan is completely blameless.

Yes, the Isles don't have a great roster, but how can you explain the exceptionally poor performances from scoring threats such as Miro Satan, Mike Comrie, and Bill Guerin? The Isles Power Play finished 29th and their PK was also in the bottom half of the league.

In the end, Nolan simply didn't have his troops playing hard enough or tight enough, and Snow put together a roster full of defensive liabilities. As is almost always the case, the coach takes the fall.