TAMPA, Fla. — It wasn’t exactly the best kept secret in the hockey world. Then again, Barry Melrose has never been considered a quiet, subtle kind of guy.
Tuesday afternoon, the new ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning made public what most hockey insiders had known since June 3, introducing former Los Angeles Kings coach and ESPN analyst Melrose as the sixth head coach in the franchise’s history. It was the culmination of a busy week in which OK Hockey, led by movie/television producer Oren Koules and former player now real estate developer Len Barrie, was approved by the NHL Board of Governors to take over the team and drafted Steven Stamkos with the number one pick in the entry draft.
“I wanted the challenge again. I wanted to find out if I could still do it. I miss it. I‘ve missed it since I left,” Melrose said. “I miss, the term I used is having a dog in the fight. I’m not a bystander. I’ve never been a bystander in my life and I hate being a guy on the outside looking in. I want to be on the inside again.”
photo courtesy of nhl.lightning.com
The 51 year old native of Kelvington, Saskatchewan has not been behind the bench since being released by the Kings in 1995, following a three year run that saw the Kings (with Wayne Gretzky) get to the Stanley Cup finals in 1993 before bowing to the Montreal Canadiens. In his three seasons with the Kings, Melrose’s record was 82-103-31.
“This group (OK Hockey) and this team has really rekindled my passion about getting back into coaching,” Melrose said when asked why return now. “It was the perfect time for me in my life right now with my family.”
The relationship between Koules and Melrose dates back to those years in Los Angeles. Barrie and Melrose go back even further, back to when Barrie was playing junior hockey and Melrose was coaching. For the pair, it didn’t take much convincing that Melrose was the man for the job.
“I think one of the things that Barry was talking about, talked about earlier was teams need to be more afraid and more respectful playing in our rink and I think we lost a little bit of that last year,” Koules said. “And I think if anyone knows – whether it be junior, whether it be American League, whether it be NHL – Barry Melrose teams, you know you’re in a hockey game with them and I think that’s one of the things we thought was one of the most important things for us.”
All Barrie had to do was put in a call to Rob Blake, who played for Melrose, and listen to Blake’s glowing endorsement.
“I said (to Blake) ‘What do you think about Barry Melrose?’ and he starts to laugh and I’m like oh, —-. I let him finish and he goes ‘Len, Barry Melrose is the best coach I had in 17 years played, but the other thing is he was the best person I played for’. And that’s what really excites me,” Barrie said. “I think we’ve got a good person first, and he’ll be a good coach second and I think in today’s game, and what our organization wants to be about, is that.”
Melrose takes over for John Tortorella, who had guided the Lightning to the Stanley Cup championship in 2004. Last season, the Bolts finished dead last in the league, which earned them the right to select Stamkos number one in the draft. When Melrose was asked to make an assessment of last season’s performance and what he wants to work on, he was quick to jump on defense and attitude.
“I think, what I want to change is I want to become better defensively,” he said. “I think what happened here is just a group that lost their passion in the second part of the season and lost the fire in the second part of the season. When a team does that, that’s why you win. You out-work other teams, you out-want other teams and when you lose that fire and you lose that passion, it’s very hard to compete in the NHL. I think that’s a little bit what happened to Tampa Bay in the latter parts of the season.”
Melrose announced that he is already two-thirds of the way through putting his coaching staff together as Phoenix Coyotes assistant Rick Tocchet and former Minnesota Wild forward Wes Walz have signed on. Walz retired from the Wild in 2007 following a 13 year NHL career with stops in Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit and Minnesota. Tocchet played 18 seasons in the NHL but may be best remembered for having to serve a two year suspension for involvement in a gambling investigation. Tocchet’s contract with Phoenix ends on June 30.
“I’m very excited about this staff. I wanted someone who had just left the game and Wes is perfect. I don’t agree with everything Minnesota does but certainly their defensive style is as good as anybody in the NHL so that’s something that I certainly want around our group,” Melrose said. “Tocchet played for me in L.A. He’s a symbol of how you should play the game. A guy that wasn’t the most skilled guy in the world but he’s a borderline Hall of Famer. How hard he plays, his intensity, his work ethic, the price he paid, that’s who I want our young players like Stamkos around. I want them around role models.”
Melrose promised that his Lightning team will be just as aggressive as the new ownership has promised it will be when the free agent signing period begins July 1.
“We’ll be aggressive every possible chance we can be on the puck,” he said. “You’re going to see a Bolt jersey on the puck every foot race, every loose puck. Every chance at a loose puck, you’re going to see one of our players going after it with great speed.”
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
