Mike Chen's Hockey Blog
Next entry: Inside the Russian Sports Machine
Previous entry: If Michael Stipe Sang About The Standings
Tampa Bay’s Total System Failure
by Mike Chen on 12/11/08 at 12:32 PM ET
Comments (6)
Like a train colliding with a Zamboni that’s crashing into a rusty old shack, the Tampa Bay Lightning story is just something I can’t stay away from. All personal bias aside (I always loved Barry Melrose’s enthusiasm on TV, even though I thought he was wrong much of the time; I’ve also been a closet fan of the Bolts since their 1996 Alexander Selivanov-Daren Puppa run), this story just keeps going and going. In summary:
-Barry Melrose thinks he wasn’t given a fair shake, Steven Stamkos isn’t ready for the NHL, and Rick Tocchet is a puppet of the ownership.
-The ownership thinks that Melrose is guilty of gross negligence when it comes to preparation and research and that he should, to steal a phrase from old Bolts coach John Torterella, shut his yap.
-Rick Tocchet thinks that Melrose is sour grapes and sees the team as slowly evolving into using a real system.
The real culprit? I can see why people can point fingers at one guy or another (though Stamkos is absolved of everything other than simply being an 18-year-old rookie learning the ways of the NHL) but when it comes down to it, everyone is at fault here, from the wacky ownership duo of Len Barrie/Oren Koules to Melrose and his then-assistants to veteran leaders like team captain Vincent Lecavalier.
Yep, you’re all guilty, and you should feel bad because the fan base that slowly built up from the early 2000’s is now disintegrating as the team becomes one of the biggest sideshows in pro sports.
The thing that I don’t get is that even though moviemaking (Koules) and real estate (Barrie) are completely separate businesses than running a pro sports franchise, the basic tenants of “get good people/have a plan/work hard” are still in place. Here’s how any organization, pro sports or otherwise, should work: leadership at the top has a vision and a plan. They bring in supervisors (coaches) to create strategy for that plan, then the supervisors motivate the workers (players) to properly execute the plan with a good attitude and strong work ethic while providing feedback about what’s working and what’s not. I don’t see any of this here.
Apparently, Melrose didn’t have a system in place other than a mid-90s neutral zone trap. Ok, he’s at fault there for lack of awareness and preparation—but don’t you think Barrie and Koules should have, you know, asked him about what he planned to do with the team when he took charge? What was the vetting process like? Did they just kick back a few cocktails and have a Saw movie marathon or did they actually say, “Hey, we want to emulate the style of Team X and Team Y with the hustle of Team Z—and here’s how we’re going to do it”? Because while the former option provides short-term laughs, the latter option provides structure, milestones, and goals.
As for assistant coaches Rick Tocchet and Wes Walz? Well, they’re not that far removed from the game—Tocchet as Wayne Gretzky’s assistant in Phoenix and Walz as a player—and they should be able to easily fill in the blanks anywhere Melrose was still stuck in the mid-90s. Why didn’t they say, “Hey Barry, with training camp a few weeks away, why don’t we have a set offensive and defensive scheme yet? We need this!”
What about veteran leaders like Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis? When they saw the locker room was going awry from all of the player turnover, why didn’t they approach GM Brian Lawton and say, “Hey, we really just need a few weeks to settle. Players can’t play well if there’s no stability.” Similarly, there was an apparent divide between Melrose and the veteran players (no names were named but you can read between the lines); isn’t it up to the owners and GM to try and settle those differences so that everyone can make it work rather than drive off the cliff? And don’t the players owe it to the organization to provide feedback about what’s working on the ice and what isn’t?
What you’ve got in Tampa is a total system failure of ownership with enthusiasm but no foresight, headstrong coaches lacking vision and modern sensibilities, and players that are seemingly in it for themselves rather than trying to work their way through a tough situation.
It’s really a shame too, as the Lightning have made strong inroads into being a Tampa-area fixture. Lecavalier was even voted the region’s most popular athlete—ten years ago, who would have thought that was possible?
Koules and Barrie came in with a swagger but they didn’t come with a plan. While the finger-pointing deserves to be aimed at just about everyone from top to bottom, the ultimate blame falls with the organization’s leaders. Bolts fans, there’s your answer.
Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Barry+Melrose, Tampa+Bay+Lightning,
Comments
I feel the same way. It’s like the Blago scandal, it’s so shockingly bad - I want every lurid detail.
At the same time, I’ll echo the sentiment that this gives people another excuse to pile on the SE. TB fans are getting shafted.
Posted by Sunny on 12/11/08 at 03:05 PM ET
Basic princiles of management. When things are good, credit goes to the workers (players). When things are bad, blame goes to the managers.
Always has been this way, always will be. When management does not accept responsibilty, and blames the players or coaches, things will go south very quickly. Oh, wait. Already did.
Posted by Buddha from Saint Paul, MN on 12/11/08 at 03:08 PM ET
1) The biggest culprit in our opinion were team vets/leaders, specifically Lecavalier. We get the impression that the inmates were running the asylum and Melrose his fault or not, wasn’t respected enough to have those “leaders” follow his plan.
2) The result: Chaos. Which is why things got worse afterwards. The players felt embolden and now have even less respect for Tochett who is damaged goods with his recent past.
Posted by Faux Rumors from Globally- Here, there, Everywhere on 12/11/08 at 03:08 PM ET
Where are you Pat Burns!?!
Posted by Faux Rumors from Globally- Here, there, Everywhere on 12/11/08 at 03:09 PM ET
There beith only one answer to this mess… ZENON.
78 support… hut hut.
Posted by Sig from DC on 12/11/08 at 03:11 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Intent To Blow vs. In The Crease
What Do You Expect From A Rookie Season?
About Kukla’s Korner
Kukla’s Korner is updated around the clock with the work of our own talented bloggers, plus links to the best hockey writing around the internet. We strive to bring you all the breaking hockey news as it happens.
The home page allows you to see the latest postings from every blog on the site. Subscribe here. For general inquiries and more, please contact us anytime.
Get the top online sports betting bonuses available to sports betters!
When learning from experts it’s best to learn personally from them, or from their blog. We can provide that with poker lessons blog, your home to learn poker personally.
Do you get shocked from the luck in the game of poker? Stop getting shocked and start being a Poker Shoker.
As well as reading about hockey games, you can also find info about poker like which poker sites accept American Express or which are the best Canadian poker sites and also find the top rakeback sites at rakeback.net.
Kukla’s Korner is always a free service for readers, but it costs some money to maintain. If you’re ever in a position to donate a few dollars to help out, we’d be very appreciative.
Remember when new Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder began turning his new toy into a fantasy football/Madden NFL “dream” squad? (Deion Sanders, anyone?)
The comparisons don’t fit exactly, of course, but there are similarities. New owners wanting to make a splash and grab headlines; said new owners not really knowing how to do anything right; etc etc. Still, maybe they’ll get it right one day. The ‘skins are at least competitive again, and no one accords them joke status anymore. As for Tampa…sadly, it’s giving more fuel to the fire stoked by those who a) think there are too many teams already, and b) hate Southern hockey.
Posted by Archivalist from Maine on 12/11/08 at 12:57 PM ET