Yes, more Melrose op/ed

Lightning forward Chris Gratton shows confidence in his former coach.

A terrific opinion piece by SI's Jim Kelley provides a darker tone to the Melrose Mauling. Not piling on to the Lightning (not right now, anyway) but simply really agreed - ultimately - with the article and found the following to be rather applicable to anyone building a team with a Playstation3:

"To improve a team -- especially a team put together by "thinking outside the box" -- you need, in addition to patience, a coach who is part teacher, part taskmaster, part preacher with a healthy dose of success attached to his name. The idea should be to have someone who has enough of a reputation to convince all the bright new faces and at least a line's worth of the craggy old ones that there is one person in the room who knows what he's doing."

True Dat.

Seen Melrose?

Friends Forever.

What a way to usher in the weekend, no matter your feelings toward the guy. Always in the public service, TLB presents some links - a scorecard, if you will - to enlightened blogger commentary on the day's Big News from (gulp) Hockey Bay. Ed. Note: Can't believe I just typed that.

Barry Melrose Rocks
Puck Daddy
From the Rink
Melt Your Face Off
Going Five Hole
AOL Fanhouse


I really believed the team was never going to achieve anything this this year, and if I have to recount the reasons than you're new to the anything-goes NHL. But I did think he'd be given at least one season, if only to display some semblance of stability within the club (cuz they sure don't have it on the ice). Kinda feel bad for the dude.

Failed headlines:

- Bored from Mixing Power Play Lines, Koules Saws Melrose

- Tough Economy in Tampa/St. Pete Forces Hockey Team to Fire Coach; Will Trade for Forward to Fill Position

- Betting the Farm, Bolts Roll Dice on Tocchet (obligated here, kids)

- Lightning Hack Melrose, Sales of LA Looks, Super-Orgasmic-Uber-Hold Plummet in TB

I'm open to suggestions at this point. Got a game to watch.

Lightning Bolt Melrose, All Odds On Tocchet

WOW. Just cruisin' the webs, looking for content, and bang: Mirtle drops the big one. Good thing I held on to my ticket from the other night...how many other folks can PROVE they attended the second-to-last game of The Mullett's comeback? The only surprise I see in this move is that it came a bit earlier than I had imagined. This speaks volumes for Tampa Bay's new ownership. Like a severe lack of patience. Melrose didn't assemble this squad, and presumably had no input, guessing from the steadily increasing egos who run their show. Is any one person in charge? Pathetic. This is beginning to parallel Leafs' territory: ownership- or management-by-committee. Who would dare apply for that deal now? I called it a circus in August and stand by it today. Rick Tocchet will apparently be the full-timer in a gig that delivers him his first head-man position. I shall refrain from the obligatory gambling puns.

But How Were the Restrooms?

"Among the stops I’m not crazy about, in no particular order:

Sunrise, especially the building there, nothing good about it.


Detroit, just not crazy about it.

Raleigh, no atmosphere in the area the team stays in, nothing around the rink.

Edmonton - Chris Pronger’s wife had it right.

Ottawa - the downtown area is nice, but since the rink is 30 minutes (in good traffic) outside of downtown, I’m just not crazy about going.

New Jersey - nice new rink, but it’s in New Jersey."



Thus spake the Tampa Tribune's Erik Erlendsson in his blog on Monday. The above comments were a short follow-up to his opinion on the top 10 NHL cities.

I really like when the local writers get a bit loose and let their hair down more than usual when covering their assignment. Kinda blurs the line a bit between MSM and blogging as a fan.

I doubt Mr. Erlendsson will find anyone to debate him on his thoughts about Sunrise; there truly isn't much there, though I see no obvious reason to bash the BAC. We're not talking about the Nassau Coliseum, here:




Can't imagine the kind of reception he might receive in some of these cities, especially the moment he sets foot in Newark. After the grief Barry Melrose took last year, it's difficult to conceive one of the guys now covering him would make a similar comment. Irony is so ironic sometimes.