Lightning Fire Head Coach Tocchet, GM Lawton

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced on Monday that they have fired head coach Rick Tocchet and general manager Brian Lawton after missing the playoffs for the third straight year. Tocchet took over as head coach of the Lightning in November 2008 after then coach Barry Melrose was fired. Lawton, whose contract was up at the end of June, was hired by the team in July 2008 and took over as general manager in October 2008. Despite the controversial hire of Tocchet as head coach, he has been largely credited with improving the play of phenom Steven Stamkos, who tied Sidney Crosby for the Rocket Richard Trophy this past season with 51 goals. The Lightning went 53-69-12 under Tocchet, who still had one more year remaining on a two-year deal. No replacements for Tocchet or Lawton have been named yet, but assistant general manager Tom Kurvers will assume responsibility for hockey operations until a new general manager is hired. I can't say I didn't see these moves coming, as new team owner Jeff Vinik needs to clean up the mess that previous owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie made of the the team. Lawton really messed up the team during the summer of 2008 when he signed a glut of free agent forwards and neglected the defense after trading away Dan Boyle, resulting in a last place finish in the league. More attention was paid to the defense last summer, but the additions of Mattias Ohlund, Matt Walker, and Kurtis Foster did not help the team much in the standings. Despite great seasons from forwards Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Steve Downie, the Lightning's offense was disappointing at best, with Vincent Lecavalier and newcomer Alex Tanguay struggling to score at times. Tocchet was not a bad coach for the team and really brought out the best in Stamkos, but with team ownership looking for change, he was bound to get fired. Hopefully Vinik will be able to find a general manager who can turn the team around quickly and give the fans in Tampa Bay something to cheer for again.

Lightning Fire Head Coach Melrose

I apologize for not posting this sooner. The Tampa Bay Lightning announced on Friday that they have fired head coach Barry Melrose. Associate coach Rick Tocchet will replace Melrose as head coach. Under Melrose, the Lightning were 5-7-4. Melrose, who had previously been a hockey analyst with ESPN, was hired by the Lightning as their new head coach on June 24, replacing John Tortorella. The last time Melrose coached in the NHL was during the mid 1990s, during which time he coached the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. He was fired by the Kings in 1995 after a six-game losing streak. The Lightning's hiring of Melrose was a bit of a surprise, as there were more experienced coaches available when he was hired by the team. It would have been hard to imagine that he would have had a successful season in Tampa Bay for a couple reasons: 1.) he had not coached in any level of hockey over the last 13 years, and 2.) he has no coaching experience under the new, faster paced NHL created by the players' strike in 2004. Right now, it appears that Tocchet will be the new head coach for the foreseeable future, as the team claims they are not searching for a new coach right now. If Tocchet has a successful season, he will more than likely return as Lightning coach next season. If the team cannot pull out of their current slump and struggle the rest of the way through the season, Lightning management will definitely be aggressive in their search for a new head coach next summer.