Saturday Night CBC Hockey Night in Canada rumored that John Tortarella will be fired by new Owner Oren Koules and replaced with ESPN Analyst and former Los Angeles Kings Coach Barry Melrose once his ownership of the team is approved by the NHL Board of Governors. The rumors have been out there for most of the off-season that the team maybe looking to replace Tort’s and start fresh.. If Tortarella is fired there will no doubt be outrage by fans and some players alike. Is it totally Tortarella’s fault that the team has regressed from Stanley Cup Champions to worst record in the NHL in three short seasons? The answer is No, sort of. The Bolts decline can be traced back to the departure of goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin via free-agency and the subsequent failures of the team to address the goaltending situation after the failed Marc Denis trade. The team has seen the departure of several key players from that Cup winning team, culminating in the trade of Brad Richards. But it was Tortarella who has refused to change the style his team plays along with his changing roster. He no longer had the talent defensively or in goal that allows his philosophy and style of play to be successful. Then there’s the thought that his demeanor has grown tiresome in the locker room. This isn’t a new revelation as Tortarella and Superstar Vinny Lecalvier, along with several other players,have a well documented history of not always seeing eye-to-eye.
Normally I would dismiss the notion of Tort’s being fired as another rumor being sowed in a place that thousands of miles from Tampa and is just fodder to be debated. Not this time. The funny thing was when I heard the rumor that Tortarella was destined for the door sooner rather than later it didn’t come from a Canadian Broadcaster, it wasn’t from the internet. It was Friday and the source was a former Lightning player, and the analogy he used to describe why it was time for Tort’s to go was the best explanation I’ve heard. “Imagine you’re a senior in high school and you have the same teacher for eight years.” Said the former player, “You’ve heard all the speeches dozens of times, the message gets lost.” He also stated that Tortarella will have no problem finding a job and that it would be in the best interest of both the team and Tortarella to go their separate ways.
Have you seen the seenstamkos.com ads in the local papers, especially the cover of the TBT? The Bolt’s created the web site for their future #1 draft pick, Steve Stamkos, in an attempt to get fans excited for the coming season. The sight has everything you could want to know, and watch, about him.
