Barry Melrose fired

[edicius 3,269]

Well, there's one NHL.com commercial that won't be shown anymore...

[1980s24 12]

first burke now this!

hilarious!!!

Tampa does not get it, Rid themselves of the ridiculous St. Louis contact and replace him with two, or three guys that can play the game. He is a serious waste of money for the Lightning.

[glasgowcelticwing 18]

This was gonna happen sooner or later but I thaught it would be a little later. guess they pulled the trigger so they can try save their season a lil earlier and at least make a push for the playoffs. It was very poor miss management by the Lightning anyway. they had all the piece's to the puzzle and just couldn't get it together under Barry. Just think the Wings put the final nail in his coffin with Tampa.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

That's a dumbass move by Tampa's management. WTF did they expect to happen in the first 15 games of their season? Did they honestly think he'd make them into cup contenders overnight?

If you hire a new coach for your bottom feeder team at least give them an actual shot to do something to turn the locker-room culture around.

Like it or not he made them a much more defensively capable team.

I don't like mullet at all, but this is an absolutely retarded move. They hired a guy who hasn't coached in years a big contract then can him after a handful of games? Give him a chance to show what he can do.

[Yellowknife Redwing 57]

I'm honestly a little surprised that everyone thinks that this firing was unwarranted.

Melrose wasn't given "16 games to turn around the league's worst team", nor was he given a ragtag bunch of misfits to turn into a hockey team. Melrose was given a teriffic opportunity to mould a great mix of seasoned pros, young talent, a very capable goalie, and one of the top ten players in the world into a playoff contender and he blew it in catastrophic fashion. The biggest issue without a doubt has been the distribution of ice time and his inability to mix up lines to generate scoring. It doesn't take Mike Babcock to figure out that Lecavalier needs a minimum of 20 minutes a night if their team is going to score goals. The guy has 92 goals and 200 points in his last 2 seasons. The team his the jackpot with Stamkos and melrose plays him sparingly at best. Even the best offensive players aren't going to play to their potential with 10 minutes of icetime per game and limited powerplay time. Team not winning? Last place in the league in goals for? Here's an idea: try Stamkos on the first powerplay unit with Lecavalier!

Barry Melrose is a ******* clown and if a competent coach was in charge of the Lightning from the get-go this year, they'd likely be right in the mix for 8th in the East.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

It was a suspect move by the Tampa management to hire him in the first place, but to fire him after only 16 games is a joke. Didn't the same thing happen with Brian Trottier with the NYR? Granted, he had been an assistant coach for a while before that though.

[RedWingsRox 614]

Melrose did pretty good for himself.

Worked for 16 games and get paid for like 3 years on a contract.

Anyone know what TB gave him?

[sether 5]

Somewhere tonight John Torterella is smiling.

[robat 13]

I was listening to Espo on XM when they said this, and he didn't know what to say. Huge waste of money.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

NVM

Edited November 15, 2008 by CaliWingsNut

[stevie for president 42]

Do you guys think playing stamkos 12 minutes a game has anything to do with this?

Seen Stamkos? could be the biggest epic fail in hockey this year and i believe cost melrose his job.

Edited November 15, 2008 by stevie for president

[jim3033 1]

This is funny after listening to a lot of his podcasts with that lady on ESPN last year.

"Lawton said the organization will honor the remaining years of the pact." He's still getting paid for 3 years of coaching? dang.

[RedWingNut378 0]

Lightnings Head coach - Failed

Panthers Head coach - Failed

Edited November 15, 2008 by RedWingNut378

[Guest Shoreline]

Damn, was he that bad?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

SI.com article regarding this...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...ex.html?eref=T1

Also CBS.Sportsline.com...

http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/story/11106075

Edited November 15, 2008 by SouthernWingsFan

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Tampa now is paying two head coaches who no longer coach the team, and they're current head coach is a guy who was suspended by the league for two years and is still on probation. Way to go guys.

Edited November 15, 2008 by haroldsnepsts

[AtomicPunk 296]

They let go of Richards, signed a goalie who is not lighting it up, let go of Boyle, kept players who are unmotivated, and some who have kicked around the league for a while, and they give him 16 games to put it all together? AND they have to pay him the remainder of his contract? Where do I sign????

[Zion 93]

wow... happened quicker than I thought. But then again... these new owners don't wanna let anything settle. They are running this team like if LGW had control of a team.

SPOT-FREAKING-ON!!!

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

They let go of Richards, signed a goalie who is not lighting it up, let go of Boyle, kept players who are unmotivated, and some who have kicked around the league for a while, and they give him 16 games to put it all together? AND they have to pay him the remainder of his contract? Where do I sign????

No kidding. To boost attendance they might as well pull fans out of the stands and let them coach the team for 10 games or so. Should make for an interesting season.

[jvxp 0]

After all his criticism of the Red Wings over the years, its fitting that we put the final nail in his coaching career's coffin.

My thoughts also!

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

After hearing that, it sounded a bit like the players didn't like to be held accountable and wanted to play under a soft guy who didn't demand the best from them. If that's the case, I'd have to side with Barry at least in that sense.

[ben_usmc 253]

really don't like Barry M but firing is a bit extreme. If anything they should have fired the GM for getting nothing but offense guess he didn't realize that there is a defensive side to hockey. Honestly love him or hate Barry it certainly wasn't enough games to make a proper judgement, I mean look at the Lions and Rod (ok that was a joked) but for real not enough games especially without enough talent to provide enough of a reason.

but it is funny espn hockey PROS had him as coach of the year.

Edited November 16, 2008 by ben_usmc

[DaKineMaui 8]

Melrose did pretty good for himself.

Worked for 16 games and get paid for like 3 years on a contract.

Anyone know what TB gave him?

I believe it was about $6 million for the duration.

[daniel1 32]

I still don't like Barry, but he's dead on about the only power a coach having is ice time and who gets it. In a perfect world the NHL contracts aren't guaranteed and anyone can be cut/fired at any time and replaced (just like the NFL) and people brought in who will give 100% every shift of every game. Too bad for Barry but he's getting a nice paycheck for the next 3 years while he does absolutely nothing.

[FGisGood 0]

So he bashed the wings for years huh? (I live in Canada so I don't have ESPN)

And they put the final nail on his coffin, hahaha. He'll probably go back to ESPN to critisize the wings more. And IMO, Tortorella is a better coach than Melrose

Islanders better watch out, Tampa are in a serious competition from taking the title of "biggest joke of the NHL" away from them (I feel sorry for Lecavalier)