(AP/NY Daily News Photo)
Former head coach Barry Melrose let loose in an interview with a Toronto radio station about his brief return to the National Hockey League with the Tampa Bay Lightning, with thoughts on the team, #1 overall draft pick Steven Stamkos and owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie.
“I had guys in Tampa that wanted to run the team and I wouldn’t let them,” he said. “I was hired to coach and I coached. (They said) I was not playing the right guys. I was playing certain players too much and others not enough. Every day was a constant battle. I talked to the guys in charge and they wanted to coach so they got rid of me. That’s what it came down to; it was not a hockey decision.”
Melrose made a point that the Lightning haven’t exactly set the world afire, winning just one game since his departure. The former ESPN hockey analyst claims he was running the show and there were individuals that did not like it.
“They have guys in charge (now) and they can do what they want. Obviously that’s not working out very well either.”
Asked if he was happy to see his former team struggling, Melrose did not pull his punches.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it does,” he said. “And any coach who says it doesn’t is a liar. I hope Tampa Bay doesn’t win a game the rest of the year.”
Melrose did not specifically talk about those behind his ouster and had had some pretty nice things to say about owner and CEO Oren Koules.
“I think Oren is a good guy and good for the NHL,” he said. “He’s putting his heart and soul into this team. I actually hope he does well but, I never really had a chance to get close to any of the players. The other teams I’ve coached I was always a player’s coach and I really cared about them. In Tampa there were only a couple of players I cared about.”
Melrose was thankful the team gave him another chance to coach but his compliments ended when the subject of another owner, Len Barrie, came up only repeating his hope that Koules has success, leaving the Barrie thought open for speculation.
There was a major overhaul of the team’s personnel when the new ownership group took over and the revolving door still continues with center Chris Gratton and winger Radim Vrbata being dropped from the roster. Melrose said the Lightning were not his kind of team although he would not elaborate on what constituted a “Meltose-type” team.
Steven Stamkos was another hot button topic because in Melrose’s mind the youngster did not belong in the NHL at this stage of his career, admitting he was over his head as far as size and skill level.
The front office wanted to see more of the 6-foot-1, 195-pound rookie center but Melrose was quick tom point out he played just 12-minutes in the loss to the Bruins and he was playing the Ontario native more than that when he was behind the bench.
“Obviously that’s gone out the window. He’s not ready. He’s going to be a good player but he’s not ready physically to play against defensemen who are 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 or skate against them. I think he’s a minus ten or eleven. He can’t get into his own zone well enough. Right now he is not a great NHL player by any stretch of the imagination.”
Melrose believes Stamkos will become a winger when he becomes that good player because the 18-year old is a shooter who has a great shot from what most saw while he was in the juniors.
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