Barry Melrose fired

[Rivalred 630]

HNIC a few weeks back mentioned that the GM of Tampa's team came into the locker room directing plays. HNIC stated as early as November he would be let go.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

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)

I honestly don't really remember Barry bashing the Wings for years. He's always been a big Forsberg, and therefore Avs fan, but I can't say I remember him badmouthing the Wings.

He actually used to be a Red Wing. Spent the last few years of his career up and down between the Adirondack and Detroit Red Wings. He then coached the Adirondack Wings for three years and led them to a championship before moving on to coach the Kings.

I can't imagine he'd have bad feelings for the place his coaching career basically started.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

HNIC a few weeks back mentioned that the GM of Tampa's team came into the locker room directing plays. HNIC stated as early as November he would be let go.

I thought I also heard them saying something to the effect of a players revolt. That they went to the owners complaining they were frustrated because there was no system. It's got to be frustrating for the Tampa players to have the team fall so far so fast.

Melrose always seemed like an odd choice to coach Tampa. But canning him after 16 games makes it even more ridiculous.

[Rivalred 630]

I thought I also heard them saying something to the effect of a players revolt. That they went to the owners complaining they were frustrated because there was no system. It's got to be frustrating for the Tampa players to have the team fall so far so fast.

Melrose always seemed like an odd choice to coach Tampa. But canning him after 16 games makes it even more ridiculous.

Totally agree. Owners hired Melrose, not the GM. Attached are some interviews, one with Melrose about the firing on HNIC and another with a local FOX station in Tampa.

HNIC:

FOX:

[Doggy 130]

I honestly don't really remember Barry bashing the Wings for years. He's always been a big Forsberg, and therefore Avs fan, but I can't say I remember him badmouthing the Wings.

He actually used to be a Red Wing. Spent the last few years of his career up and down between the Adirondack and Detroit Red Wings. He then coached the Adirondack Wings for three years and led them to a championship before moving on to coach the Kings.

I can't imagine he'd have bad feelings for the place his coaching career basically started.

If you don't constantly praise the Wings, you're bashing them. Duh!

[Rivalred 630]

Just realized there may be some irony there. Melrose was let go after the loss to the Wings. The same team that he played for and coach for their affiliate team with success. Even though his future was written in stone before last Friday night.

[Icesurfer 75]

Lecavalier and St. Louis will now start scoring now that big mouth is gone.

Thank goodness.... my fantasy team was taking a beating.....LOL.

[Wings_Toledo 233]

You do know he scores more when he has less ice time right?

That's no excuse for not playing your best player more. Even if he's not scoring, he can still potentially energize the team. And until I see statistical proof that he scores more when he gets less ice time, I can't really agree with you there.

The reality is: Melrose needed more recent practice at coaching again before taking on an NHL team.

[redwing_sparty 0]

even though i think melrose is an a incredible tool, he got a raw deal. seriously what did the tampa management expect? to do from horrible to incredible in one season? granted they somehow managed to win the cup several years ago (a complete fluke) so i guess they feel that they should be better, but its a lot to expect that fast of a turnaround with a coaching change.

[Doc Holiday 0]

That's no excuse for not playing your best player more. Even if he's not scoring, he can still potentially energize the team. And until I see statistical proof that he scores more when he gets less ice time, I can't really agree with you there.

The reality is: Melrose needed more recent practice at coaching again before taking on an NHL team.

NHL.com had an article about it showing how with less minutes his ppg went up.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Seen Stamkos? Not with Barry as coach.

But is it possible that he's not all that he was hyped up to be? Or has he not been able to do much because of miniscule ice time?

Edited November 17, 2008 by Hockeytown0001

[RockyMountainWingGal 108]

I didn't even know he was fired until today!

I think Barry's is best as an analyst/commentator. Sure, he picked against us alot (Avs over Wings last year ) , but he sure as hell was entertaining.

I liked his hockey coverage on ESPN - at LEAST it was coverage. I hope he goes back to espn - will be hard after getting canned - and maybe won't happen this year because he'd have biased coverage after coaching.

Not sure why everyone rags on the guy so hard. Sure he picked on the Wings some, but he also does give us credit alot too. He has some serious man love for Nick. I like to pick on him too, but all in good fun.

It's a travesty that an organization like this actually put something together one year and won the Cup - doesn't seem like they deserve it. I've said it before: both of those Florida teams could fold and I wouldn't shed a tear....

s*** - I have Avs- Lightning tix in a few weeks too - no mullet.

[puckloo39 5,686]

players got Melrose fired

according to this article, Melrose said player dissatisfaction with his coaching style got him fired.

"And obviously, a lot of guys didn't like to be held accountable with this team, and obviously, they went to (owners) Oren (Koules) and Len (Barrie) and said they don't like this style of coaching and, 'Would you get rid of him?'

"I don't think there was any secret about that."

Koules responded to Melrose's comments in a text message to the St. Petersburg Times on Sunday: "It's absolutely not true."

Melrose said "the players have the power, and they exercised that power" with his firing.

Wow, is he ever bitter about it, too. Maybe it's kharma for dissing the Wings all these years, Barry.

[rick zombo 3,739]

Mutual stupidity.

Tampa were dumb for hiring Melrose. And Barry was just as dumb for accepting a job in that hell-pit of an organization.

[miller76 463]

This morning on xm 204, the show 'The Point', they had the TB GM on the phone. They talked about the firing. He basically said, "you know he was hired before I was hired. I didnt have a chance to interview and sit down at a table and talk about style of coaching and expectations." He went on to say that there wasn't any communication on many levels between him and the players. Whether it was on the ice or in the dressing room. Melrose would be so heated, he wouldn't attend practice. The players basically failed to buy into his ideology. But imo he is much easier to replace then a bunch know it all players, that don't take responsibility for their crappy play and effort. That organization seems to be very unorganized and not ready to compete. I am betting Atlanta finishes with a better record then TB at the end of this season.

[vladdy16 2,154]

Here's Barry's HNIC interview:

I don't know what's in store for Tampa, but this can only be a good move, no matter how unfair it may seem after only 16 games. Tocchet has much to prove and will probably crawl over hot coals to do it at this point.

[Opie 308]

Oddly enough in all of this Mullet seems like the logical sensible person. Weird huh?

[egroen 384]

Oddly enough in all of this Mullet seems like the logical sensible person. Weird huh?

And he was full of compliments to the Red Wings and had nothing but great things to say about the team and organization! And then of course he gets fired immediately after a loss to the Wings... be interesting if he gets a job in the booth again and how his attitude towards the Wings will be.

[AtomicPunk 296]

I loved Don Cherry's comment about this...how he was coach of the Bruins his first 5 years his equipment bag said "Coach Don Cherry" and the last year it just said "Coach", he knew the end was near.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

How much was his contract?? I think I remember someone previously saying 6mil? I'll do 6 weeks of work for 6 mil... anyone have a contact number to Lightning HR?

[Opie 308]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_dadd...p;cp=2#comments

This guy actually thinks Melrose is out of his mind. I love how some posters in the comments just start ripping into Mullett, because he is Mullett, and then people start posting all kinds of stats like the fact that Stamkos is -8 with one + game, and the Haters still just say "YEAH MELROSE IS DUMB"!

Made me miss this place for the couple of hours since I had logged off at work.

Listen I think the guy is the biggest tool, however you cannot expect the guy to win in 16 games with that much turnover.

One poster brings up a great point are a new ownership group and new GM going to be able to judge a coach in 16 games?

Edited November 17, 2008 by Opie

[Badlands 0]

Hiring Melrose was an abysmal mistake from the very beginning, and although the owners are responsible for it, at least they corrected the mistake earlier rather than later.

Did the players have something to do with Melrose getting dismissed. Yes, it seems like they did. But it does NOT sound like they did so because he was being too tough on them. How soon people forget that a number of these guys played for Tortorella and did so for quite some time. Torts gave them all the tough love they could handle and they did handle it - although in Tort's final year it started to fall on deaf ears. The difference between Melrose and Torts appears to be that Torts had a a clear-cut black and white system to go with the hammer, while Melrose had no structured system to speak of with lots of meandering grey area.

Melrose's one apparent message? 'Play hard and earn your ice time.' That's it. Nothing of more substance like how to go about learning the supposed "system", no communication of what to do in a particular situation. Just basically wing it out there but of course play with courage - no rules (because 'he is not a rules guy' or direction). Care to elaborate once, Barry? One player basically equated it to shinny hockey - the team has looked confused and frustrated and it doesn't seem far-fetched that they would be given the circumstances. The Melrose philosophy wasn't helping a new roster mesh with each other and play as a unit - they have been playing like individuals and it shows - big time.

In a Lawton interview, he said that the players were adamant that they wanted/needed a system, wanted the coaching staff to provide direction on positioning and roles - hence, the decision to replace Melrose with Tocchet. This wasn't , in my opinion, about not wanting to play with a hardnosed work ethic but everything to do with not wanting a mere figurehead coach who wasted no time throwing them under the bus. Calling the players out after one game after a shortened training camp when he didn't have any words of wisdom- and here I thought he had been hired to be the counterpart to Torts - the players coach who treated his guys like men (Melrose's synopsis of what Tortorella did not do). Not sure how he was supposed to earn the respect in the locker room when he apparently delivered nothing but hollow words.

In one game under Tocchet, the team already looks to be heading in the right direction - small things like limiting the # of shots against to the fewest this year, a PP that actually set up in their zone, although didn't convert when they needed it in OT, actually running the bench and showing some emotion - Melrose hadn't done that in those 16 games - it was always Tocchet talking to the players. The players actually respect Tocchet.

And to those pointing out the record could be worse (like Melrose had actually done something right) - it would be if not for the outstanding play of Smith and Kolzig. Those two get shelled nightly yet keep the team in the game. Goaltending is the absolute LAST issue Tampa has. If the rest of the team could get on track (as the potential is there), then this team could be quite good.

As far as Stamkos is concerned, he will be just fine. The instability in Tampa hasn't helped him one bit. The lack of any real 'teaching' from the coaching staff and cohesion on the bench are not ideal lessons for Stamkos to be exposed to while trying to make the transition to the NHL level. Management of Stamkos' ice time has been mishandled up to this point - I don't think the # of minutes he has been logging has had to do with him not working hard or trying to give his best. Melrose, in my opinion, had been mishandling many player's ice time and not taking advantage of players' strengths (i.e. not playing Lecavalier or St. Louis on the PK unit when they are actually pretty efficient at it and present a threat short-handed).

The best thing for Stamkos is the firing of Melrose. The entire team, especially Steven, needed a structured system - one that is still based upon hard work ethic and now speed. With Tocchet at the helm, Tampa is moving in the right direction.

And to the poster that suggested St. Louis contract is horrible - you couldn't be more wrong. He actually has one of the best contracts in the league for all that he brings and is also what makes him invaluable. St. louis' cap hit is 5.25M. He is due to make 5M this year and 4M for the 2 seasons following this one.

Anyway, Melrose belongs behind a TV booth and the owners should have left him there instead of asking friends Blake and Robitaille who they recommended and running with it.