It’s now official according to ESPN, Barry Melrose is the new Head Coach of our beloved Tampa Bay Lightning. This has been speculated on for a while, and now that the new ownership group has been approved it will be announced today at a press conference. Melrose hasn’t coached since 1995 and only coached in the NHL for 3 seasons. He took the Kings to the Finals in his first season where they lost to Montreal in five games, after which he followed that with two straight losing seasons. Before coaching the Kings he coached the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL to a Memorial Cup Trophy in ‘87-’88. After that he coached the Adirondack Red Wings for three seasons where they won a Calder Cup in the ‘91-’92 season. I hope this move works out for the Bolts despite my skepticism. I understand the thought process in going after a “players coach” to replace Torts but I would think they could get someone with more experience who has coached in this decade. All things considered we should be looking at a big season for Vinny Lecavalier under “The Mullet”.

   Another quick Bolts note here. It’s being reported that Vinny Prospal is all but taken care of. The only reason the contract hasn’t been signed yet is due to him being in Europe still. That’s good news.

Source: ESPN