Melroses bluntly mouths off about Tampa experience

From TSN:

While he didn't name the people involved, Melrose said that he dealt with constant interference from people in the organization.

"I had guys in Tampa who wanted to run the team and I wouldn't let them. I was hired to coach and I coached," Melrose told the Fan 590. "I wasn't playing the right guys. I was playing certain guys too much, I wasn't playing other guys enough. Every day was a constant battle.

"Finally the guys in charge decided they wanted to coach and they got rid of me. That's what it comes down to. It obviously wasn't a hockey decision, because it's not like they've set the world on fire since they got rid of me...Now they've got guys in charge that let them do what they want and obviously that isn't working out very well either."

Thinks that's great stuff? There's more!

Despite many off-season changes to the roster, the Lightning are the worst team in the NHL, with a 6-13-8 record. In the 11 games they have played since Melrose's demise, the Lightning have won just once.

When Melrose was asked if that statistic gave him any glee, the former coach was very candid.

"I'm not going to lie to you, yeah it does, and any coach who tells you otherwise is a liar," Melrose told the Fan 590, adding, "I hope Tampa Bay doesn't win a game in the next year."

Love it. At least he's honest.
With Radim Vrbata and Chris Gratton already put on waivers, it's goingto be interesting to see what else happens in Tampa this year. In the end, you can't always buy chemistry can you? What a disaster.
There's still more comments from Rick Tocchet and Mike Smith at that article. Check it out.

T Tags: Barry+Melrose+interview+about+being+fired Lightning+coach anger Fan 590

Barry Melrose fired

Associate coach Rick Tocchet will take over as interim coach. This comes after only 16 games into the season, where the Lightning are 5-7-4. Is it really Melrose's fault? Perhaps. But Lightning management threw a whole bunch of new faces onto the team and expected too much as well. You can't always buy chemistry.
Somewhere John Tortorella is laughing.

Here is a clip of an interview with Melrose after his firing. He says it's harder to get guys to compete for 60 minutes than it was back in the early 90's.


T Tags: Lightning+head+coach+Barry+Melrose+fired

Melrose calls Strachan a liar

CBC's analyst Al Strachan made a remark (and claimed he had sources) about Lightning owner Len Barrie coaching the players behind coach Barry Melrose's back. Well Melrose has a few choice words for Strachan.

"Al is sort of like a spaghetti salesman. He just throws so much against the wall and hopes something sticks and it usually doesn't stick," Melrose told the Tampa Tribune Monday. "It's B.S. and Al thrives on B.S. It's total lies."
If it is coming out of the locker-room, then I have some liars in the dressing room," Melrose said. "If that's the case then I am worried about that, but at the same time I can't worry about that. If a guy is a liar, he's a liar. I can't worry about that.
Canada used to be a country where you couldn't lie," Melrose told the St. Petersburg Times. "I was brought up in Saskatchewan, and if I lied, my father would kick my butt. But, obviously, that's not the case in Ontario, where you can say anything you want without repercussions. . . . I guess there's not much journalistic integrity anywhere in Canada."

Wow. Melrose going off on Canadians. He's just blowing off steam and speaking out of anger though. It sounds like he has ventured over to the dark side, which is the USA. (I kid)
He may just be right about Strachan though. I don't like him either.
Actually, I thought Mike Milbury, who was sitting next to Strachan was going to punch the old man out over a different topic (Alan Eagleson).

T Tags: Melrose+vs+Strachan liar Canadian+media Lightning

Canucks trade Krajicek and Simek to Lightning for Ouellet and O'Brien

Alright this comes as a bit of a shock. I'm trying to digest this. I know the Canucks are deep on defence, but I am a huge Krajicek fan.

"They (management) told me that Tampa wanted me for quite some time," Krajicek told CKNW in Vancouver. "They said I would play more minutes there and in every way it should better for me."

This comes down to Gillis wanting even more offence and Tampa needing a top 2 defenceman.
We know Ouellet has a lot of skills and was a victim of the Lightning having way too many forwards. Last season, he missed several games due to a shoulder injury, but he still managed 17 goals and 36 points in 64 games. Best of all? He was a +11 on a lousy Tampa team. He is a right winger by the way. You know what that means..... somebody may not be wearing a Canucks jersey in the near future. Is it Kyle Wellwood? Apparently he was given a vote of confidence from Mike Gillis on some radio station this morning.
I hope it's Taylor Pyatt. God, his lack of skill irks me, and he is pencilled in as a 2nd line winger. He may be hitting the waiver wire soon.
Then again, TSN did say that O'Brien will report to Vancouver immediately and Ouellet will go to Manitoba. That doesn't necessarily mean somebody else is not getting moved.
Shane O'Brien needs no introduction. Especially if you are familiar with goons. The thing is, O'Brien is better than a goon. He had 4 goals and 21 points in 77 games las season. Tack on 154 penalty minutes to that. But he fell out of favor with John Tortorella and was benched for the last 5 games of the season.
Mike Gillis promised he would change the team and he continues to do so. Let's just say he continues to address the "scoring issues" by getting Ouellet. Krajicek will get more playing time in Tampa and now Alex Edler will get more playing time in Vancouver. He has earned that.
Canucks.com has a video up of interviews with Gillis and Vigneault in regards to the trades. Michel Ouellet will start the season in Manitoba and as Gillis puts it: "He will have to earn a spot on the Canucks' roster like everyone else has."

What does this mean for Ohlund and his contract negotiations now? Is management planning on keeping him? He sure as hell was playing great in preseason.

Ouellet on YouTube

- Ouellet highlight video from his days with the W-S and Pittsburgh Penguins. Sweet hands.

- Ouellet on making it to the NHL.

O'Brien on TouTube

- O'Brien vs Scatchard. His first NHL fight.

- O'Brien vs Boogaard. Gets his ass beat in, but he definitely doesn't lack courage, and stands up for his teammates.

- O'Brien vs Ohlund. Not much here.....damned refs.

- A lot more O'Brien fights here.

Fan reactions

we just got tougher to play against, O'Brien's a mean piece of business infront of our net

we've got plenty of D that can carry the offensive load, Edler, Ohlund Salo and Bieksa are all very capable 40+ point D-men

we needed that extra bit of grit, it really bothered me to see Travis Moen ( a legitimate tough guy) drop the gloves with Ohlund -- now we have another deterrent that allows our skilled players to be skilled players
and in the fact of Ohlund, not to be worried about making a big hit from time to time, we've got the guys now to cover his back - 82 Nucksfan

I'm wondering if Gillis might try Oulet wtih the Sedins and, if there's chemistry, maybe moving Bernier to the 2nd line?
This might be the beginning of the end for Pyatt in Vancouver.- babych

I had the same thought actually. Bernier looked a little lost last night. Today, Bernier said: “I need to figure out what they are thinking and when they are doing something,” Bernier, 23, said after Monday’s practice.

“They are very good at getting the puck in the corner, protecting the puck. I used to always be the guy to go get the puck. Now I don’t need to do it all the time. What I have to learn is to go somewhere (and wait to) get the puck and have a good scoring chance.”So he'll need more time to adjust.

This is a terrible trade, we could have picked up Ouellet for free on waivers and O'brien is just another depth defenceman. I really believe Krajicek would have benefited from this counter attacking game we are playing right now. Terrible trade IMO.

At least the Nucks traded him to a team where he'll get more icetime and we got tougher in the process. Remember how badly the Ducks were kicking our asses in the playoffs 2 seasons ago...


T Tags: Canucks+trade+Krajicek+and+Simek+toLightning+for+Shane+O'Brien+and+Michel+Ouellet

Comments on the first 2 regular season games in Europe

In point form:

-Looks like about 35% of each game will be filled with power plays. Unbelievable and pathetic. But it isn't going to change so I must stop complaining about it. All those power plays really exposed a couple of issues however:

1. The Sens need a power play quarterback whose name isn't Kuba.
2. The Penguins are really going to miss Gonchar and Whitney.

-Is Gerber the man? He looked shaky at times. This prompted Mike Milbury to suggest that the Sens should be targeting Nikolai Khabibulin. Kelly Hrudey disagreed because he thinks Khabibulin is no longer the dominant goalie he once was. I would say the Sens need a higher calibre goalie than Alex Auld to push Gerber, but the Bulin Wall is out of their price range.

-Sid Crosby bringing out the hits? Impressive! He made Chris Kelly pay twice. Speaking of Crosby, he was mostly flanked by newcomers Satan and Fedotenko. Like I said in my predictions, those 2 are no Malone and Hossa. Not even close. And that my friends makes me happy, because I hate Pittsburgh.

- I never knew that Spezza coughed up the puck so much. But MacLean, Milbury and Hrudey pointed it out after period 1 and then Spezza delivers the buffoonery in overtime by getting stripped of the puck by Miiiiiiisterrrrr Kennedyyyyy.............................Kennedy. Kennedy storms into the Sens' zone and bags a weak one on Gerber.

-All those new faces in Tampa Bay are going to take time to click as a team.

-I know Lightning coach Barry Melrose was bragging about the Lightning being a fun team to watch this year, but by being more entertaining they allowed 41 shots on goal. And they lost.

-Markus Naslund scores the Rangers' first goal of the season? Oh no...please don't make me look like a fool Markus. He looks pretty happy out there doesn't he?

-Scott Gomez is everywhere. What a player. He reminds me of a bee stuck in a jar.

T Tags: Rangers Lightning Senators Penguins Regular+Season+Game+1 Sweden Czech+Republic

Jagr says he will regret moving to Russia if Rangers land Sundin

Jagr basically told Hockeyexpressen that he is "cursed" if Sundin plays for the Rangers. He would regret that he moved here (Russia). He also said that he promises he'll be "pissed off" if Mats signs there. Run the article through a translator if you don't believe me.
I don't know how serious Jagr was being in that interview. One thing is for sure: Jagr doesn't know where the Rangers sit in cap space.
Jagr also encouraged Sundin to keep playing.

"Whatever you do Mats, do not stop playing hockey. You are too good to stop now. You can go on for many years."

Oh gee whiz. How sweet. Golly. The article also states that the paper's sources claim that Tampa Bay is in the mix for Sundin. Huh.... That makes no sense economically.
The original Hockeyexpressen article can be found here.

**EDIT**
I did some more news-searching about Jagr and found another Hockeyexpressen interview with Jagr. This was more about his decision to play with Omsk in the KHL.

It is clear I had a good bid from here, but I am drawn to something new. I wanted to do something different. KHL has become an alternative to the NHL. If five to ten years, many European players to choose to move here, instead of the NHL then I am pleased to be part of the development.

The reporter said Jagr looked happy.

And speaking of the KHL: they are now accusing an NHL team of poaching players. From John Wawrow at Yahoo Sports:

A newly formed Russian hockey league accused the NHL of poaching two of its players when the Los Angeles Kings agreed to terms with two draft prospects last week.

As a result, the Continental Hockey League (KHL), announced Thursday that it was no longer obligated to abide by a moratorium reached in July, when the leagues agreed against signing players that were under contract.

In a news release, the KHL said the NHL violated that agreement when the Kings signed 2008 second-round draft pick, defenseman Vjateslav Voinov, and 2008 fifth-round pick, center Andrei Loktionov, on Aug. 27. The KHL said Voinov is currently under contract with Chelyabinsk while Loktionov is under contract with Yaroslavl.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly disputed the KHL’s claims in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press. Daly said the league approved both contracts “on the basis of evidence that the two players were free of contractual obligations elsewhere.

The song "Communication Breakdown" by Led Zep is playing in my head right now. This is a finger-pointing war. Who's telling the truth and who's lying? Crazy.



T Tags: Jaromir+Jagr+will+regret+moving+to+Russia+if+Sundin+plays+for+Rangers encouragement

Senators trade Meszaros to Lightning for Kuba and Picard

The Senators just couldn't reach a deal with Meszaros. He is expected to sign a 6-year deal worth about $4 million per season with the Bolts. That's probably about $500,000 more than the Sens were offering.
So Ottawa saves $1 million, as Kuba makes $3 million this season until he becomes a free agent in the summer.
Kuba scored 6 goals and 31 points in 75 games last season.
Meszaros scored 9 goals and 36 points in 82 games.
So the points output is about the same. Skill-wise I suppose Meszaros is better.
Hence, defenceman Alexandre Picard was thrown in the mix to Ottawa as well. He has 28 points in 92 NHL games. Probably fair to say he's the 6th or 7th d-man in Ottawa.
Meszaros' reported $4 million contract will put the Lightning just under the cap. They could still use another defenceman though.

T Tags: Senators+trade+Andrej+Meszaros+to+Lightning+for+Filip+Kuba

Lightning will offer Stamkos incentive-laden deal. Announcement coming soon. **UPDATE: Done**

According to Sportsnet via the St. Petersburg Times:

The St. Petersburg Times reported Tuesday that Stamkos, the No. 1 pick in June's National Hockey League Entry Draft, will sign a standard rookie deal worth $875,000 for three years with performance bonuses that could elevate his earnings to $11.175 million over the course of the deal.

We'll see about the exact numbers when the announcement is made sometime today out of beautiful Victoria BC where Stamkos is attending a development camp.
Rumors have it that it's a 3-year deal at $875,00 base rate perseason plus up to $8.55 million in bonuses over the 3 years span. That seems like a lot of bonuses, considering Crosby signed initially with the Pens for a 3-year deal that paid $850,000 with $4 million in bonus incentives in 2005. But, there's more money floating around these days.

**UPDATE**

The deal is officially a 3-year entry level contract where Stamkos will earn $875,000 per season. The most he can make in performance bonuses is $2 million per year.


T Tags: Lightning+offer+Steve+Stamkos+incentives+deal signing

Sunday hits: Vandenbussche, Vinnie, Sundin, God

From Sportsnet:

Former NHL enforcer Ryan VandenBussche was cleared of assault charges Friday stemming from a brawl outside a bar in which he admittedly punched a police officer in the face, threatened to kill another, and was Tasered three times and pepper-sprayed before being subdued.
VandenBussche's lawyer successfully argued that his client's history of concussions and a hard shove against a wall during the altercation legally rendered him a "non-insane automaton" that cleared him of criminal responsibility for his actions -- including a punch that broke a police officer's nose and orbital bone.

It's been 2 days since this news broke out, I know. But don't you smell the foul stench of bullshit from this ruling? Now a history of concussions can get you off the hook for beating on cops. Whatever happened to accepting responsibility for your actions? Oh right, lawyers who get paid huge dollars can take care of it.

---

The Lightning have signed Vinnie Lecavalier to an 11-year contract extension worth $85 million.The deal begins in the 2009-10 season and will pay Lecavalier $10 million in salary and bonuses for the first six seasons of the deal, then $8.5-million in 2016-2017, $4-million in 2017-2018, $1.5-million in 2018-2019 and $1-million and 2019-2020.
This deal will kick in after next season, as Lecavalier will make $7.167 milion this coming season in what would have been the final year of his contract.
I'm not sure I've seen a descending-scale contract quite like that before. "$1 million in 2019-20"? Well, I guess Vinnie will be about 40 years old by then. But what if he's a 40-year-old who can still score 25-30 goals? He'll be a steal!

---

According to our favorite guessing guru:

...I am being told more and more that Mats is going to return to the NHL and a source this morning told me that, "He will be Canadien by week's end, and the Habs know it. It is being kept quiet so the team can make the needed moves to clear cap space without teams being able to completely take advantage"

Anybody want to wager that this is NOT going to happen?

---

The guys at Holy Taco couldn't have put description of the clip below any better:

Since it’s Sunday we should all be reminded that our God is a vengeful God who will strike us down whenever he feels like it. As we all know, he doesn’t like coveting, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, murdering, working on the Sabbath (blogging isn’t work, right?), or gays. But now it looks like we can also add “filming rain storms” to the list of things that pisses God off.

The woman was fine. Apparently she said the lightning went through her left hand that was holding the camera, across her back and through her right hand that was holding a metal railing. No wounds suffered, she said, just a big zap. I'm not believing this story. If you get hit by lightning, you're going to feel more than just a zap.
But who gives a shit what I think, check out the clip. Pretty insane footage.


http://view.break.com/536314 - Watch more free videos

T Tags: Ryan+Vandenbussche+cleared+of+charges Lecavalier+massive+contract+extension Mats+Sundin+to+Canadiens Woman+hit+by+lightning+video

Lightning's massive changes aren't on defence

CURRENT LIGHTNING ROSTER

FORWARDS

Brandon Bochenski
Ryan Craig
Adam Hall
Jeff Halpern
Jussi Jokinen
Vincent Lecavalier
Ryan Malone
Michel Ouellet
Vaclav Prospal
Mark Recchi
Gary Roberts
Wyatt Smith
Martin St. Louis
Nick Tarnasky
Radim Vrbata
Jason Ward
Evgeny Artyhukin

DEFENCEMEN

Matthew Carle
Filip Kuba
Mike Lundin
Shane O'Brien
Alexandre Picard
Paul Ranger
Matt Smaby
Ty Wishart

GOALIES

Olaf Kolzig
Karri Ramo
Mike Smith

LAST YEAR'S LIGHTNING ROSTER

FORWARDS

Michel Ouellet
Jussi Jokinen
Jason Ward
Mathieu Darche
Martin St. Louis
Craig MacDonald
Ryan Craig
Andre Roy
Junior Lessard
Kyle Wanvig
Nick Tarnasky
Vincent Lecavalier
Jeff Halpern
Andreas Karlsson
Tim Taylor
Blair Jones
Chris Gratton

DEFENCEMEN

Alexandre Picard
Doug Janik
Dan Boyle
Matt Smaby
Brad Lukowich
Mike Lundin
Paul Ranger
Shane O'Brien
Filip Kuba

GOALIES

Marc Denis
Karri Ramo
Mike Smith

Insane additions by Tampa this summer. But 2 major questions will remain going in 2008-09:

1. How are the defence going to perform? There were no upgrades there at all. Remember, the Lightning's 267 goals against last season was 2nd-worst in the NHL. Their 227 goals for ranked them about 17th in the League. 23 of the 27 players were in the minus category. That is skewed a bit because Jeff Halpern came over late at the trade deadline in the Richards deal. Jussi Jokinen, also acquired in the Richards deal, finished in the minus category.

2. With the massive change in the forward lines, how will the chemistry be? That's the risk of buying a team. Maybe the addition of veterans like Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi will help with that.

The team will have to pull together defensively to cut back on the goals against, because Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig can't do it all by themselves.

T Tags: Tampa+Bay+Lightning+roster acquisitions signings improvement no+defence

Sharks finally address offensive-defencemen issues

The Sharks are making all the right moves to pushing the team in to Cup position. Today they acquired defencemen Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich from the Lightning in exchange for Matt Carle (he's pretty good too, and Tampa needed to clear cap space) as well as prospect Ty Wishart, a first round pick in 2009, and a 4th round pick in 2010. Keep in mind that sure, the Sabres let Brian Campbell go to free agency (and he recieved a deal worth over $7 million with the Hawks) and Boyle signed a 6-year deal last season that pays him $6.67 million per season.
On top of that, the Sharks signed UFA Rob Blake to a 1-year $5 million deal yesterday. While Blake had his worst points-per-game totals last year with the Kings, I think the 38 year-old can put up more points than that in San Jose because he's not playing with an atrocious Kings team anymore.

Boyle, Lukowich and Blake have all won Stanley Cups.

To give you an idea on how long it's been since the Sharks have had 1 or 2 serious offensive defencemen check out the scoring from their over the past several years:

-2007-08 (Campbell was acquired at the deadline, so cross him off) Beyond him, the D only scored 18 goals combined.
-2006-07: Carle and Erhoff have good seasons yet only score 21 goals combined while the rest of the D combined for 19 goals.
-2005-06: Tom Preissing suprises everyone scoring 11 goals, while the rest of the D combines for 17 goals.
-2003-04: Brad Stuart leads the D with 9 goals and the rest of the D combines for 14 goals.
-2002-03: Mike Rathje leads the Sharks D with 7 goals and the rest of them combined for 9 goals.
-2001-02: Gary Suter and company combine for 31 goals total.
-2000-01: Gary Suter scores 10 goals and the rest of the D combines for 23 goals.

So you see my point. It's been a long time coming since San Jose had a superstar defenceman, if ever. Suter was in the latter stages of his career in the early 2000's.

The Sharks have lost 2 D-men today in Matt Carle and now Craig Rivet, who along with the San Jose's seventh-round selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft has been traded to the Sabres in exchange for second-round selections in the 2009 and 2010 drafts.
So not only are the Sharks getting immediate help (because they need to win NOW), they are also securing their future with higher picks that they lost in the Boyle deal. Doug Wilson is somewhat of a genius. He just needs his team to go over the top this year, or his ass is on the line.

So now the Shark squad looks like this:

Forwards

Joe Thornton
Jonathan Cheechoo
Ryane Clowe
Marcel Goc
Mike Grier
Patrick Marleau
Milan Michalek
Torrey Mitchell
Joe Pavelski
Tomas Plihal
Jeremy Roenick
Devin Setoguchi
Jody Shelley
Tom Cavanagh

Defensemen

Dan Boyle
Rob Blake
Brad Lukowich
Christian Ehrhoff
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Kyle McLaren
Derek Joslin
Douglas Murray
Brad Norton

Goalies

Brian Boucher
Thomas Greiss
Evgeni Nabokov

Not too bad, huh? You gotta love the goaltending and defence core. Solid.
A revamped and more offensive defensive unit combined with a new coach in Todd McClellan provides the Sharks with a new look and attitude. Yet one question remains...will Joe Thornton become a dominant player in the playoffs? 2 goals and 10 points in the playoffs in 13 games last season was not good enough.
It would also help if Cheechoo's stats stopped going down like the Titanic as well. The same can be said about Patrick Marleau.
Even when these guys are not going 100% you still gotta fear those Sharks. So just imagine how much better the team just got in the last 2 days.

T Tags: Sharks+acquire+Dan+Boyle+and+Brad+Lukowich trade Sharks+acquire+Rob+Blake free agent

How the hell is Tampa Bay snagging all these players?

Oh...wait a minute...





















T Tags: Tampa+Bay+Lightning signing+Roberts+Rolston+Malone
unrestricted+free agents St.+Pete+Times+Forum girls Photoshop

What type of style will Barry Melrose coach?

As reported by Melanie Formentin at the Lightning's site: Last Thursday, Steven Stamkos and Barry Melrose were introduced to Lightning fans during a season ticket holder meet and greet. Melrose, in true salesman fashion said:

“Skating and speed is used defensively, it’s used offensively,” Melrose said. “We’re going to be physical. You’re going to see a lot of hitting. And again, this is not going to be a nice place to play. When teams land in Tampa they’ll say ‘We’ll take tonight off and get two (points) in Florida tomorrow.”

I didn't see the whole press conference, but one Lightning fan mentioned:

“The style of game we’re going to see from him is something I’m really intrigued about,” Eric DuBose, a 4-year season ticket holder said of Melrose. “It sounds like more of an up-tempo style that we’re used to playing, but on top of that we’re going to turn ourselves into a hard-hitting defensive team with a run-and-gun system. It’s exciting.”

Right. "Run and gun". Know what that reminds me of? The Maple Leafs. That style of play isn't the winning way in today's NHL. Last time I checked, the 2 teams in the Finals were very responsible defensively. Are the Lightning going to try win games 5-4? I know this type of hockey is exciting, and sure, I miss the 80's style of hockey, but it doesn't work when most of the other teams don't play that way. Hey Barry, this isn't Los Angeles in 1993 anymore! The game has evolved since then!
Jeez, new Bolts goalie Mark Smith may be seeing a lot of rubber this coming season. This will be a massive change from what he was seeing in defensive Dallas.
There's no doubt the superstar players will like his style of coaching as well. But will it win? Stay tuned I guess. The Bolts are bolstering their attack lines. It seems they have contracts set for both Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone. 2 great acquisitions. Oh yeah, they have Prospal back as well.
Fine and dandy, but check out their defence core. There are rumors out there that Tampa is trying to shop Dan Boyle, further depleting their D.

**UPDATE**
I guess you can add Brian Rolston to that list of forwards in Tampa now! Yeesh! Thanks for the tip, GZ Expat.

T Tags: Lightning Barry+Melrose+Steve+Stamkos+greet+fans Lightning+sign+Roberts+and+Malone

Flyers trade rights to Vaclav Prospal back to the Lightning

Lightning strikes twice. The Flyers have traded the rights to scoring enigma Vaclav Prospal to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for the 7th overall pick in the upcoming 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

"Vinny really didn't express much of an interest in coming back and playing for us next season," said General Manager Holmgren in making the announcement. "His heart is elsewhere."

Since the Flyers acquired him at the trade deadline, Prospal scored 4 goals and 18 points in 18 regular season games for the Flyers, and added 3 goals and 13 points in 17 games for Philly in the playoffs.I guess Vinnie likes the babes on silicone beach too much down in Florida.

T Tags: Flyers+trade+Vaclav+Prospal+to+Lightning draft pick

John Tortorella fired

"This has been a very difficult decision because of everything that John Tortorella has meant to and done for this organization," general manager Jay Feaster said in a statement. "Torts came to Tampa and not only built the foundation under our club but he also changed the culture and raised the expectations, eventually leading us to the Stanley Cup in 2004. What he accomplished during his tenure in Tampa was nothing short of remarkable and our organization will always owe him our thanks, gratitude and deep respect."

This firing comes on the heels of the Lightning finishing last in the NHL this season, tied with the Kings. With all of the talent on the Lightning, this was inexcusable.
Tortorella was well-known for his temper and you just have to wonder if the players had finally tuned him out. Hey, it worked in 2004 when the Bolts won the Cup. John won the Jack Adams trophy that year as well. But it has been a downward spiral since then, and a lot of it originated when Nicolai Khabibulin left and a suitable replacement has not really been found since.
Tortorella's record with the Lightning: 239-222-36-38 over 8 years as coach.
The rumors have been running rampant over the past several hours that former Kings coach Barry Melrose will replace Tortorella. Sounds good to me, as long as he sports a mullet!

Tortorella memorable quotes

"And I hope he (Sean Burke) plays well," Tortorella said. "And if he plays well, he's going to go again. This is what we have. And I'm not up here trying to rip anybody apart, but let's be fucking honest about what's going on here. And it's getting old. We're going nowhere, nowhere until that (goaltending) situation is straightened out."

After a disappointing loss to the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals, Tortorella was mad at then-Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock for barking at Lightning players. In a classic interview the Tampa coach said:

"Last time I looked, he's wearing a suit back there, the same type of suit I'm wearing," Tortorella said. "He's not in the battle. There are two quality teams here. He should shut his yap. It's not about him. It's about two quality teams.
We understand how Philly works as far as the dialogue that goes on with all this stuff here, but when it comes to a coach and an opposing player, it's disrespectful and it's wrong. That's got to stop. Park your ego. Shove it in your pocket."

That was awesome stuff. But nothing beat this tirade:




T Tags: John+Tortorella+fired Lightning famous+quotes anger interviews

Trade Deadline Day shaping up to be a bore

Ah this is the time where rumors become exposed as fake. With all of the Sundin trade talk officially over, and Mats giving his reasons today, another big name was pulled off the trade list. Alex Tanguay. Darryl Sutter likes the makeup of his team and thinks Tanguay will be a great player down the stretch for the Flames. Sutter officially said today: "I am not trading Tanguay."
Tanguay has been rumored to go to Montreal in exchange for Michael Ryder for quite some time now. You know, french boy returns home bullshit...... That is over now.
But all is not lost, rumor fans. There are still some big names that could be moved by tomorrow.
Brad Richards- can't be part of the Lightning's plans with that $7 million-plus contract. The Lightning are committed to the big 3 right now: Vinny, St. Louis, and Boyle. A lot of money tied up there. They could also spend some money acquiring a goaltender. But money would have to be freed up. I can see Roloson going there and Richards moved to make room for Roli. How about Richards traded to the Oilers in exchange for Roloson and a couple of picks? See? I can make shit up too! I'll give that trade an e4 possibility.
Marian Hossa. I don't know who is foolish enough to take on this guy at $7 million. He is a gutless twerp. But he appears very likely to be moved because a contract agreement with the Thrashers cannot be met.
Is Olli Jokinen going anywhere? He is signed through to 2010 and has been rumored to be traded for years now. I can't see him being moved just because there is a bit of tension between him and coach Jacques Martin.
Brian Campbell would be well suited in San Jose. He is exactly what they need: a go-to goal-scoring defenceman.
Jaromir Jagr is not going anywhere. Sure, he's slumping and not true to form, but the Rangers are cookin' now and Jagr is going along for the ride deep into the playoffs this year.....bank on it.
Patrick Marleau remains an enormous enigma. 10 goals and 29 points in 58 games this season and a -21! Wow. It seems like he doesn't really want to be in San Jose anymore. At $4.5 million per season, who's going to take such a risk on this guy? His stats don't even suggest rental status!
Same applies to Michael Ryder, who can't seem to get it done offensively this year. In 53 games this year, Ryder has 12 goals and 23 points. He just came off back-to-back 30 goal seasons. He is making $2.95 million per season. An affordable gamble? I think so.
Too many rumors, too little time. I'm a tad perplexed with all this "Canucks trying to acquire Brad Richards" bullshit as well. It's not happening on my clock. Why the hell would Nonis mess with the team now? The Canucks are rolling AND I don't think Nonis will give Tampa what they want in exchange. High draft picks? Nope. Top prospects? Nope. Only way Richards comes here is through free agency.
Check out this TSN interview with Bryan McCabe. What a dumbass. He says the Leafs are not far off and are 1-2 players away from being a great team. Wha??? He's not seeing the whole picture. The last thing the Leafs need to do is ADD players. McCabe stated he hasn't discussed teams to be traded to...blah blah.
But we'll find out tomorrow. Cross your fingers...because I don't see a lot of big deals going down.

T Tags: NHL+trade+deadline Mats+Sundin Jagr Tanguay+not+getting+traded Brad+Richards+to+Canucks Marleau

Salo gets his groove back / Marc Denis put on waivers

A great story behind the Canucks' 5-3 beating of the Flames last night was the re-emergence of Sami Salo. With Mattias Ohlund out with neck spasms, Salo had to step it up as Vancouver's go-to guy offensively and he delivered, with 24:37 icetime, 1 goal, 5 shots and a +1 rating.
Yeah we saw more of his shot, finally. That was only his 1st goal and 3rd point in 21 games this season. It has been a tough year for Salo. The oft-injured D-man broke his nose after taking a puck in the face in November and missed a considerable amount of time, only to come back wearing a full cage over his face. He was not on his game at all. He was almost a ghost out there.
Until last night. THAT is the Salo we are used to seeing, and want to see more of. It just took an injury to Ohlund to bring it out in him.
Salo may never play a full season, but his his totals of last year (67 games played, 14 goals and 23 assists and a +21) should be his target at his pricetag ($3.5 million per season through 2011). Let's hope he keeps rolling now.

CANUCKS-FLAMES HIGHLIGHTS

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The Lightning have placed goalie Marc Denis on waivers today. At a pricetag of nearly $3.0 million dollars, this could be the end of the road for Denis, who showed so much promise in Columbus, yet never materialized in Tampa. As TSN puts it:

Denis has one win in 10 starts this season with a 4.05 goals against average. He has not played in nine of the last 13 games and was a healthy scratch in three of the last four, losing his spot to rookie netminder Kari Ramo.

Keep in mind that Ramo struggled yesterday AND that Tampa's defence is ASS. Tampa's world could fall apart if they can't play better team D.

T Tags: Canucks Flames Sami+Salo improvementLightning+place+Marc+Denis+on+waivers

Lightning unveil their new jersey

From Tampa Bay.com:

The Lightning unveiled its new logo and jerseys today at the team's annual IceFest, choosing to modernize the long-standing existing logo instead of opting for an entirely different look.
The new Lightning logo looks very similar to the old one, only with a more vibrant bolt, the "Tampa Bay" script more readable and the removal of the repetitive word "Lightning" from the logo.
Several Lightning players, including All-Star Martin St. Louis, walked down the red carpet to a stage the West Plaza of The St. Pete Times Forum, along with local TV personalities. Behind them a 50-foot jersey was unrolled from the top of the parking garage.

The footage of it is already on YouTube. Interesting how only the road jerseys have the players' number on the front upper right corner.

T Tags: Tampa+Bay+Lightning new logo jersey

New Modified Lightning Logo

Courtesy of Mod Squad Hockey: (click image to enlarge.)




It looks more clean, sharp, crisp and modern. I like it.



T Tags: New+Lightning+Logo

Canucks sign Curtis Sanford / other signings

It is a 1-year, $600,000 contract. So it's not Schneider backing Luongo it's Sanford then? The 28-year old goalie has 73 games of NHL experience, in 3 seasons, all with the St. Louis Blues. He has a 26 win-26 loss record with a 2.79 GAA, .901 save percentage, and 4 shutouts.
Sanford's NHL, AHL, ECHL stats can be seen here.

I think I'm missing something with this signing. Is Cory Schneider not ready for the NHL yet, or is Nonis working on a big trade? Maybe Wade Flaherty is retiring from the Moose. I have no clue.
Sanford is a major upgrade from Sabourin though. Maybe Luongo will get more nights off now so he can mentally rest for a long playoff run.

Dammit! The Wild have re-signed Wes Walz. So much for my Walz-to-Vancouver thinking patterns. Oh well. It's impossible to predict what Nonis does anyways!

The Wild have signed goalie Nolan Shaefer away from the Sharks. I guess the Wild needed to fill the gap with the Houston Aeros left by Josh Harding this coming season. That or Shaefer, who has more NHL experience, will back up Backstrom.

Rumors are swirling that Slava Kozlov, probably the best leftover UFA (already) is in Dallas hammering out a deal with the Stars.

The Lightning have signed Brad Lukowich to a 3-year deal.

When it rains, it shits in Edmonton. The Oilers are crying foul play by Michael Nylander, saying they had a deal with him completed and then Nylander signed with the Capitals instead.

"On Sunday, July 1, 2007, Kevin Lowe, Oilers general manager, and Mr. Mike Gillis, certified agent for Michael Nylander, negotiated and agreed to a multi-year NHL Standard Players Contract, starting in 2007-08. Mr. Gillis confirmed same to the Oilers in writing," the Oilers' statement read Tuesday.

"However, while the Oilers were expecting the returned signed agreements from Mr. Nylander and Mr. Gillis, the Oilers discovered through public announcements made mid-afternoon on July 2, that Mr. Nylander had subsequently entered into a long-term contract with the Capitals.

"The Oilers can find no precedent for such conduct in our history. The Oilers are examining and pursuing every course of action available in the best interest of the team and our fans.

"For legal reasons, the Edmonton Oilers hockey club will not be discussing the details any further at this time."

The Kings have just signed Brad Stuart to a 1-year $3.5 million deal. (5:16 PM)


T Tags: Canucks+sign+Curtis+Sanford Kozlov+to+Dallas Wild+sign+Nolan+Schaefer