The Tampa Bay Lightning seem to be caught in a whirlwind of strange crap right now. The new ownership group headed by Oren Koules are giving a weird vibe with some of the stuff they’re doing. They apparently orchestrated the questionable Brad Richards/Mike Smith swap. Now there are rumors flying (out of Canada first again) that Barry Melrose will replace John Tortorella as head coach. Things are just strange with the Bolts now. First they trade Richards for a goalie that may or may not be good and the first to crack the story was the media in Canada. Now they are rumored to be replacing our Stanley Cup winning head coach with an ugly suit wearing mullet head who hasn’t coached in 13+ years. And they are doing all of this before they actually own the team. I heard something else today too. Apparently they don’t have enough money so they’re getting half of the money from the group they are buying the team from. Huh??!?! This is all just weird. I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised by strange behavior from the guy who does the Saw movies, but damn! Torts may be wearing on this team now but do we really want a guy who has never won more than a Memorial Cup, sports a MULLET and wears the most hideous pin striped suits you’ll ever see? Mr. Tortorella will not be on the market long as he’ll probably go from one screwed up franchise to another in Toronto. The Leafs don’t currently have a coach, GM or President. Perfect fit! I’ll try to pull my finger out of my eye now and sort this out later.

Scott Brannelly

Sources: Damian Cristodero, Damian Cox