FanHouse Barry Melrose

The NHL season is almost upon us. That means the weather is getting colder, leaves are falling off trees and coaches are ever closer to getting the proverbial axe. Last year, it took only four games for the Chicago Blackhawks to fire Dennis Savard. The Penguins let Michel Therrien go with 25 games left in the season and it was just what the doctor ordered. The team went 18-3-4 under Dan Bylsma the rest of the season on their way to a Stanley Cup victory. Here, I'll be taking a look at the coaches most likely to end up like Savard -- coaches who are starting the season on the hot seat.

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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.

In this week's power rankings, the New Jersey Devils remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL, holding off the Detroit Red Wings for the top spot thanks to an historic week for goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Vancouver makes a big jump, while the Montreal Canadiens continue to fade at the absolute worst time of the season.

The Clash once posed the question: Should I stay or should I go now? We take a look at the big names surrounding the NHL trade deadline and whether they'll be staying in place or going to finish the season in another city.

The Tampa Bay Lightning haven't lived up to the preseason hype, as they currently sit in the No. 13 spot in the Eastern Conference, 16 points out of a playoff spot. They've already fired Barry Melrose, and have been bombarded with trade rumors surrounding their captain, Vincent Lecavalier, and the possibility of him being shipped to his hometown of Montreal.

Another player that's supposedly on the block is right wing Martin St. Louis -- an exciting player that's still putting up a point per game, even at the age of 33.

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.

Montreal's Andrei Kostitsyn recorded his first career hat trick on Saturday night, while Carey Price stopped 31 shots, including 16 in the third period to lead the Canadien's to a 3-2 victory in Pittsburgh. With the win, Montreal moves ahead of the Penguins in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Penguins failed to win consecutive games yet again -- they haven't won two in a row since November 13-15. Just sayin'.

Kostitsyn scored a pair of goals in the first period before completing the hat trick early in the third period with a quick slap shot that beat Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury through the five-hole.

Following Kostitsyn's goal, Price turned into a brick wall, as the Penguins had a trio of power plays in the final period, and peppered the Montreal netminder. Of course, if you're Pittsburgh, you have to be a tad frustrated you failed to convert on five power plays, after going 0-for-5 one night ago in New Jersey. How a power play that features Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Petr Sykora and Ryan Whitney, among others, can consistently have so many 0-for-5 and 0-for-6 nights seems to defy all logic. Yet, here we are.

Crosby and Pascal Dupuis each finished with a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh.

Since Barry Melrose was canned by the Tampa Bay Lightning a little over a month ago, the team has claimed victory only two times (in 15 games), and interim-head coach Rick Tocchet seems to think it's partly because the team is sloppy, and lacking leadership from within the locker room. And because guys are late for the bus, or something.

On Wednesday, Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times reported on a meeting Tocchet had with his captain, Vincent Lecavalier, discussing what he's looking for from his leader. Basically, he's looking for him to coach the team. Today, Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune expanded on the meeting a touch more.

"You've got to be in a situation where you can't let your team be sloppy," Tocchet said. "What I mean by sloppy is sloppy with your sticks on the ice, taking stupid penalties, little trivial things, late for the bus. It has to come from the room. The coach has to mandate it, but it has to come from the room."

Lecavalier seemed receptive to the challenge, and admitted that he has to do a better job as captain. But is making sure guys are on the bus on time, for example, really going to help turn this thing around? Is this why Tampa Bay is losing hockey games? Seems to me that's simply common sense, while the rest of the areas, such as discipline (ie: taking stupid penalties) are something that needs to come from the head coach.

This has, by far, been one of the oddest weeks that I can remember in the NHL. The Lightning are fighting with Barry Melrose like they're a pair of ex-high school sweethearts. Penguins fans and Capitals fans are, I can't believe I'm typing this, working together. Joe Sakic's career may have been ended by a snow blower. And then there was that whole Sean Avery thing.

Seriously.

When was the last time the NHL was this wacky? But that's the gist of it. All that and more inside your Friday dose of Buys and Sells. It's just what the doctor ordered. That is, if your doctor likes hockey and mildly entertaining hockey bloggers.

Entering Thursday's game against the Islanders, Pittsburgh found itself with a three-game losing streak. Consider the streak over, as the Penguins systematically dismantled New York with a 9-2 thumping at Mellon Arena. The Penguins received hat tricks from both Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis (each player's first ever hat trick) as they never let up, while fans chanted "we want 10" during the final minute of regulation.

The Penguins scored four goals in both the first and second periods, before Dupuis completed his hat trick late in the third period. Defensemen Mark Streit and Andy Sutton scored the only goals for New York, as Penguins goalie John Curry picked up his second NHL win (both against the Islanders) making 24 saves.

The biggest problem for the Islanders was the fact they couldn't stay out of the penalty box, picking up 34 penalty minutes throughout the game, including three separate occasions where they handed Pittsburgh five-on-three advantages.

Pittsburgh had eight different players finish with multiple points, including Evgeni Malkin (goal, assist) and Sidney Crosby (three assists) who continue to distance themselves from the rest of the pack in the NHL scoring race. Amazingly, Jeff Taffe, recently called up from the minors, found a way to finish the game as a -1.

Should you feel sorry for the Islanders after a loss like this? Of course not. This is the big leagues, and as long as they're going to keep playing hard and physical (as they did), you should expect the other team to keep clicking on all cylinders in an effort to score as many goals as possible. You never know when the other team could mount an unexpected, late-game comeback.