Lightning Coach Melrose Fired

Jesse Marshall | National Hockey League

Nov 14, 05:58 PM | Hype this story!

Following a blown lead against the Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay management has fired head coach Barry Melrose, according to NHL.com.

General Manage Brian Lawton had the following to say, courtesy of NHL.com:

“This was a tough decision to make, 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.”

Assistant coach Rick Tocchet will take over the interim head coaching duties.

It’s a shame the fans in Tampa cannot fire Lawton, who recklessly signed offensive stars with no regard for chemistry or defense. The front office antics of the new Tampa management doomed the team before the year began.

However, that being said, Melroses’ use of Steven Stamkos (9:00 of ice time last night) was criticized by many.

One can only wonder if Melrose will return to his gig at ESPN.

Comments

  1. Dave W

    Nov 14, 06:11 PM

    not hard to believe that he was fired…it’s been how long since he’s been behind the bench? Look at Ted Nolan in New York….that experiment didn’t last long either…I think Melrose was set up to fail anyway…realistically, how good of a coach was he 15 years ago? I’m sure anyone with Gretzky would do OK, but it still wasn’t enough to keep his job in LA…he’ll resurface as an analyst…that’s where his strength is now a days anyway….it’s a shame too…with so many ex-pens down there, I was kind of hoping they would do well

  2. Eric

    Nov 14, 06:18 PM

    I knew he was destined for failure (he missed the playoffs 2 out of 3 years even with Gretzky in LA), but I thought that TB would have at least 2 years of paitence. I guess not. I think TB is in complete shambles. Their management thinks you can buy a championship. And while money helps sweeten the pot, if you don’t have a solid core already, then spending money doesn’t do much. I don’t think Tocchet will make much of a difference. I can only hope the players on Tampa Bay enjoy playing for money, because they sure as hell aren’t going to be bringing home any silverwear this year.

    This TB ship is going down in flames, and is going to be interesting for the rest of the year..

  3. S. Miller

    Nov 14, 07:35 PM

    of course they blame the coach?????? They over paid for many players including malone and the they have no CHEMISTRY!!!

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