FanHouse RadimVrbata

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.

The revolving door that is the Tampa Bay Lightning organization took a few more turns on Monday, as they placed forwards Radim Vrbata and Chris Gratton on waivers, as reported by TSN. Once Vrbata clears waivers, he's going back to the Czech Republic for the remainder of this season, supposedly, because he's lost confidence playing in the NHL this season.

From Bob McKenzie:

"Radim is a great guy and he came into our office on Sunday morning and just told us his confidence is low and he would like to head home to the Czech Republic to finish the season," Lightning owner Oren Koules told TSN. "He just wants to take the rest of the year off (from the NHL) and try to get his game back over there. If he wants to come back next season, great. That's his call. This is all very amicable. He's a great guy who's really struggling right now."

Vrbata was part of Tampa Bay's summer of spending, inking a three-year, $9 million deal after a career year with the Coyotes a season ago. He scored 27 goals for Phoenix, but hit a wall in the final two months, not scoring over the final 22 games of the season. He had three goals for the Lightning in 18 games this season.

New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus entered play on Sunday with just two goals in his first 19 games this season. He had no trouble blowing that total out of the water during the Devils' 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, as he scored four goals on eight shots, while New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

During the current winning streak, the Devils have scored 21 goals after scoring just 22 in their previous nine games. As for the four-goal effort, it was the first such performance by a Devil since October 29, 2000, when John Madden and Randy McKay each scored four goals in a 9-0 win over the Penguins.

Zubrus scored a pair of goals in the second and third periods, while New Jersey also received tallies from Zach Parise, Brian Gionta and Mike Rupp. Scott Clemmensen earned the start in goal, turning aside 26 shots to pick up the win.

Olaf Kolzig started for Tampa Bay, in place of the injured Mike Smith, and surrendered five goals on 28 shots before being yanked in the second period in favor of Karri Ramo. I'm guessing it wasn't the result Rick Tocchet was looking for following his first NHL win behind the bench, as Tampa Bay has now won just three times its past eight games.

Martin St. Louis and Radim Vrbata picked up goals for the Lightning, while Ryan Malone scored on a penalty shot, his fourth goal of the season.

Tuesday night's game against Edmonton is probably one that Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire would like to permanently erase from his memory, seeing as how it's probably the worst game he's ever played in the NHL. Leclaire gave up seven goals on just 19 shots, as the Oilers rolled to a 7-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Columbus finished with a commanding edge in the shots department, firing 39 shots at Dwayne Roloson -- he stopped 37 of them -- and still managed to skate away losing by five goals.

Seven different players scored for Edmonton, including Dustin Penner, who returned to the ice after being banished to the press box for the past two games for, well, not being fit enough to help the club. Penner was also a factor on Edmonton's first goal, as he parked his massive frame in front of Leclaire, providing a screen on Sheldon Souray's blast from the point. Andrew Cogliano, Tom Gilbert, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Shawn Horcoff and Lubomir Visnovsky also scored for the Oilers.

Kristian Huselius and Rick Nash scored the only goals for the Blue Jackets.

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."

Wayne Gretzky and those pesky Phoenix Coyotes just continue to pile up the wings, and now find themselves sitting in that precious eighth place in the Western Conference. Is anyone else here just in total and utter shock? How can THAT team be doing so well?

One big reason for the Coyotes' success has been rookie Peter Mueller (drafted 8th overall in 2006), the 19-year old forward who is playing like a 10-year veteran, and was just named the NHL's rookie of the month.

[Mueller] led all rookies in scoring with 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 14 games to help the Coyotes to a 9-4-1 record last month.

Mueller edged Washington Capitals centre Nicklas Backstrom, Chicago Blackhawks right-winger Patrick Kane and New York Rangers centre Brandon Dubinsky for the award.

With his January outburst, Mueller now sits pretty with 34 points in 52 games, and has crawled into the Calder Trophy discussion with his fine 2-way play.

Of course, Mueller hasn't been the only pleasant surprise for the desert dogs this season.

The Chicago Blackhawks were one of the worst offensive teams in the NHL last year (2nd worst with 201 goals for), so they go out and trade a skilled winger in Radim Vrbata for a fourth-line grinder in Kevin Adams.

Make sense to anyone?

"In Kevyn Adams we're getting a veteran player who is extremely versatile, is a good skater and is a very good face-off man," said Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon. "Kevyn has won a Stanley Cup and is a proven leader."

Kevin may very well have heart, but he has very little offensive skill. Adams had just 12 points in 68 games last season, compared to Vrbata's 41 in 77 games.

I realize that Vrbata is a frustrating player that won't carry a team to the higher echelons of the NHL, but how do the Hawks benefit by trading one of the few players on their team that can score a goal for a dime-a-dozen grinder?

The Coyotes are in a similar boat than the Hawks, lacking offense and talent of any sort. They get a pretty good player in return for somebody who wasn't doing much for them.

For fantasy leaguers, expect about the same production out of Vrbata this season. He'll get just as much Power Play time in the desert, with the same (low) quality of line-mates. He remains a good bargain, but needs a good sniping forward to play alongside.

(Post Edited: 3:18PM)