shrader Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=239261&...s=secStory_main I can't stop laughing at this one. In order to better sell hockey to the Florida market, they're going to fire a very good coach and replace him with a guy who has been in the media for 12 years? How does hiring some guy who gets about 2 minutes of air time a week help sell the game? I'm sure someone will pick up Tortorella pretty quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=239261&...s=secStory_main I can't stop laughing at this one. In order to better sell hockey to the Florida market, they're going to fire a very good coach and replace him with a guy who has been in the media for 12 years? How does hiring some guy who gets about 2 minutes of air time a week help sell the game? I'm sure someone will pick up Tortorella pretty quickly. Totorella won't be looking long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Wings Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 "incoming team owner" is all it takes. Too bad for Tortorella....but watch the Leafs him right up. This might be ESPN's excuse to quit covering hockey altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=239261&...s=secStory_main I can't stop laughing at this one. In order to better sell hockey to the Florida market, they're going to fire a very good coach and replace him with a guy who has been in the media for 12 years? How does hiring some guy who gets about 2 minutes of air time a week help sell the game? I'm sure someone will pick up Tortorella pretty quickly. LOL this is way too funny. Barry Melrose. I think this is bad for hockey that a team is so desperate they name Melrose as coach. You can't tell me they truly believe he is 120% the right choice. It's got something to do with a PR move as well as they thinking he could have success as coach. But theres no better options in the league? Colorado re-hires Granato. Tampa hires Melrose. WTF.... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 how many Tampa players do you think are screaming at their agents right now to get them the hell out of there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 how many Tampa players do you think are screaming at their agents right now to get them the hell out of there? I don't know. It would probably be fun to play for Melrose. Not that I think he's a great coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sloth Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Tortorella will be in San Jose. Now they'll, San Jose, be able to act as if they made the smart move. Dumbasses... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 First off, Melrose has a Memorial Cup, a Calder Cup and a Stanley Cup Final on his coaching resume. Second, if it happens quick enough, Torts will be coaching Ottawa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=239261&...s=secStory_main I can't stop laughing at this one. In order to better sell hockey to the Florida market, they're going to fire a very good coach and replace him with a guy who has been in the media for 12 years? How does hiring some guy who gets about 2 minutes of air time a week help sell the game? I'm sure someone will pick up Tortorella pretty quickly. Sell the sport in Florida? Awesome. They played to 94.6% capacity this year, averaging 18,912/game; averaged 19,876 per night last year and 20,509 the year before. The have one Cup in this decade, have two of the league's top players in Vinny L and St. Louis, and might finally have found a goalie to replace Khabibulin. "Selling the sport in Florida" would be just a BS excuse to get rid of a successful but fiery coach. First off, Melrose has a Memorial Cup, a Calder Cup and a Stanley Cup Final on his coaching resume. Second, if it happens quick enough, Torts will be coaching Ottawa. And Torts has a Calder Cup and a Stanley Cup, which trumps Melrose's SCF appearance and Memorial Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Sell the sport in Florida? Awesome. They played to 94.6% capacity this year, averaging 18,912/game; averaged 19,876 per night last year and 20,509 the year before. The have one Cup in this decade, have two of the league's top players in Vinny L and St. Louis, and might finally have found a goalie to replace Khabibulin. "Selling the sport in Florida" would be just a BS excuse to get rid of a successful but fiery coach. And Torts has a Calder Cup and a Stanley Cup, which trumps Melrose's SCF appearance and Memorial Cup. I was merely pointing out that Melrose isn't the joke of a candidate that he was being made out ot be. Also, Torts may benefit fomr a change of scenery, although with Smith on board and the first pick overall, Tampa does seem poised for a comeback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I was merely pointing out that Melrose isn't the joke of a candidate that he was being made out ot be. Also, Torts may benefit fomr a change of scenery, although with Smith on board and the first pick overall, Tampa does seem poised for a comeback. Point taken. I think the lack of an actual NHL starting goaltender hurt Tampa far more than anything Torts did this season. They haven't had reliable goaltending since Khabibulin left for the Windy City, evidenced by giving up the 3rd-most goals in the Eastern Conference this year....if Mike Smith is anywhere near solid, if not spectacular, they could climb back into contention pretty quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Tortorella will be in San Jose. Now they'll, San Jose, be able to act as if they made the smart move. Dumbasses... For San Jose, I think that would be a very smart move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresFan526 Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Point taken. I think the lack of an actual NHL starting goaltender hurt Tampa far more than anything Torts did this season. They haven't had reliable goaltending since Khabibulin left for the Windy City, evidenced by giving up the 3rd-most goals in the Eastern Conference this year....if Mike Smith is anywhere near solid, if not spectacular, they could climb back into contention pretty quickly. All true, but they did make the playoffs last season with Holmqvist, and I think Mike Smith is an upgrade over Holmqvist. Stamkos will really help. Signing Vinny long term will be great, but this still does not solve the chronic problem they have continued to have over the last 2-3 seasons. They are a top heavy team with very little secondary scoring. This past season, it was Vinny L, St. Louis, and Prospal while Richards struggled for most of the year and subsequently got traded to Dallas. Then, on the blueline, it was blatantly obvious how bad they missed Boyle. Stamkos and Boyle coming in next year will make a difference, and a full year with Smith will help, but at the end of the day, now that Prospal and Richards are gone, aside from Vinny L, St. Louis, and presumably Stamkos, who is going to step up on that team? Certainly not Chris Gratton. They have zero depth. When they won the Cup, they had a very good team with solid secondary scoring and grit from guys like Fedetenko, Stillman, Andreychuk, Modin, Tim Taylor, and Afanasenkov. They also had a really good blueline in Boyle, Kubina, Sarich, Lukowich, Clymer, Sydor, and Pratt. They had a very good team with a lot of good players and of course Khabibulin. Coaching is not the problem, there is no talent on that team aside from Lecavelier, St. Louis, Boyle, and presumably Stamkos. People talk about the Sabres losing star players, but the Lightning basically lost their entire Stanley Cup team. I think Melrose could have coached that team to a Cup. Torts is a good coach, no doubt, and very fiery. But, I think more than coaching, the lack of secondary scoring and talent is the biggest problem. And, we don't know the situation, but it's not outside the realm of possibility for the team siding with Lecavelier and firing Torts because they don't get along, but who knows? Maybe management has made it a priority to keep Vinny happy by firing the coach and doing whatever it takes to keep him as the face of the franchise. Torts will get picked up very quickly, and I have my doubts of Melrose's success after more than 10 years away from coaching. But, we'll see. It will certainly make for an interesting situation in Tampa, that's for sure, especially with a guy who has a background of being a player's coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 The lack of secondary scoring is a huge concern, no doubt. Moving Richards and his ridiculous contract for some payroll flexibility will help, and Mike Smith should be a huge upgrade over Holmqvist. But no matter how bad the secondary scoring has been, I believe the goaltending (and defense) has been worse. Tampa was 16th in the league in GF per game - 2.70 - but 29th in GAA - 3.24. The kicker is they only allowed 28.2 SOG/game - 11th in the leagie, and one spot ahead of the Sabres. So on the surface you can guess that they are giving up a lot of primo scoring ops, the goaltending is bad, or both. Over the last two years the 'Ning have had four different goalies man the nets, and only two - Holmqvist's 2.85 last year and Smith's 2.79 this year (in only 13 games) had GAA's under 3. None of the four have broken the 90% barrier in terms of save percentage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted May 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 [/b] I was merely pointing out that Melrose isn't the joke of a candidate that he was being made out ot be. The big thing is that he's been in the media for the last 12 years. Enough has changed in the game over that time. If he's going to get back into coaching, he should work his way back up and not be handed an NHL team right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 If you read the NY Post and find Larry Brooks (their head NHL writer) annoying, for something you might appreciate from Tortorella. (the NSFW audio part is about 1 min. in). I think Brooks is totally FOS, so I liked it. BTW, Tom's suggestion about Tortorella coaching Ottawa makes me nervous about the Senators developing a bit of heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sloth Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 For San Jose, I think that would be a very smart move. There is no way San Jose could've known he'd be on the market. I have high hopes he'll stay state side. He did coach team USA. I dread the idea of him coaching Ottawa. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 There is no way San Jose could've known he'd be on the market. I have high hopes he'll stay state side. He did coach team USA. I dread the idea of him coaching Ottawa. :unsure: I was wondering what you meant. I would much rather see him out of conference as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomad Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 The big thing is that he's been in the media for the last 12 years. Enough has changed in the game over that time. If he's going to get back into coaching, he should work his way back up and not be handed an NHL team right away. Worked out pretty good for Dick Vermeil, he had a 15 year layoff between coaching the Eagles and Rams. Not saying it is going to work out as good for Melrose, but some of you guys have him failing before he gets behind the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresFan526 Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Worked out pretty good for Dick Vermeil, he had a 15 year layoff between coaching the Eagles and Rams. Not saying it is going to work out as good for Melrose, but some of you guys have him failing before he gets behind the bench. I agree with you. While Melrose has not coached for a long time, I wouldn't say he has been out of the game say like a Joe Gibbs was. Barry Melrose gets paid to watch every single hockey game every night for the last 12 years. He has probably seen and analyzed more hockey games than any film coach/film editor for a team has seen. He's seen the game evolve and he understands the salary cap. Now, is it technically different behind the bench? Absolutely. But, to say he's been away from the game for too long is a bit inaccurate. Gibbs, on the other hand, was actually away from the game for a really long time working in NASCAR before he came back to football. Melrose gets paid to watch every single hockey game played in the NHL, so I wouldn't say he's been away from the game, just not behind the bench. I'm not sure what impact this will have on his coaching, but I wouldn't say he's been away from the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stenbaro Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I think Melrose was pretty overated when he coached...He had Half the Oilers on that team that lost to the Habs in the FInals..Great talent always seem to make a great coach..Lindy when he has talent is a great coach...Didnt see him in the Jack Adams voting this yr though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresFan526 Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I think Melrose was pretty overated when he coached...He had Half the Oilers on that team that lost to the Habs in the FInals..Great talent always seem to make a great coach..Lindy when he has talent is a great coach...Didnt see him in the Jack Adams voting this yr though... Actually, if the Sabres somehow made the playoffs, I think he would have definitely deserved Jack Adams consideration to take a team that was decimated this offseason into the playoffs. I think similarly, Barry Trotz absolutely deserves to be considered for the Jack Adams as his team all went to Philadelphia and he still got Nashville into the playoffs. Unfortunately he's not up for the award, but definitely deserves to be a finalist. Either way, if Boudreau doesn't win it, then it's a total sham of an award for turning around a last place team into a division winner. I think you're right about Melrose with the 1993 Kings. I think he was a bit overrated as a coach. But, I think the really good coaches are the ones that can take mediocre talent and make them into contenders like Trotz did and like Lindy has done. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Worked out pretty good for Dick Vermeil, he had a 15 year layoff between coaching the Eagles and Rams. Not saying it is going to work out as good for Melrose, but some of you guys have him failing before he gets behind the bench. I think the main difference there is the age. Melrose was out in the middle of his prime age for coaching. No one wanted him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresFan526 Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I think the main difference there is the age. Melrose was out in the middle of his prime age for coaching. No one wanted him. Actually, I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. His name had come up in a lot of job openings over the years. From what I understand and what I have read and heard him say, I think Melrose did not like the situation and did not actively pursue some of the openings even though I believe he has been asked to interview. And, let's not forget Ted Nolan was out of the NHL for about 10 years before he came back. Granted he was coaching in juniors, but he was away from the NHL for a very long time, and in his first year got the Islanders to the playoffs. It can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Ted Nolan was still coaching during his layoff from the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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