NOT MUCH GOING RIGHT: Tampa Bay began the season with two losses to the New York Rangers in Prague, Czech Republic. (Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images)
Ohio State at USC, mixed martial arts fighter Kimbo Slice, and the latest Robert DeNiro–Al Pacino flick, “Righteous Kill” were all letdowns according to many, and while it’s early in the NHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are falling short too.
A mere four years removed from a Stanley Cup, the Lightning have fallen from grace, and fallen hard.
After that dream 2003–04 season, where Tampa Bay had the best record in the entire Eastern Conference and the second best record—46 wins, 22 losses, 8 ties, and 6 overtime losses for 106 points—in the entire league, the team has been declining.
The Lightning finished with 92 points and lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals 4–1 to the Ottawa Senators in 2005–06. In 2006–07, the team did slightly better in the regular season racking up 93 points, but had similar results in the postseason, this time losing to the New Jersey Devils in the quarters 4–2.
Last season the team missed the playoffs altogether, tying the L.A. Kings for a league-worst 71 regular season points.
A new ownership group, consisting of former NHL journeyman Len Barrie and movie producer Oren Koules, came in and they shook things up. They jettisoned Stanley Cup winning GM Jay Feaster and coach John Tortorella and reshuffled the front office and coaching staff by bringing in player agent Brian Lawton as VP of hockey operations and ESPN analyst Barry Melrose as bench boss.
The team also struck gold, earning the first pick overall in last year’s draft, and they spent it on Sarnia Sting center Steve Stamkos.
The Hockey News referred to Stamkos as the next Steve Yzerman and the team took advantage of this with its draft time marketing campaign “Seen Stamkos?”
Already with the likes of Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, and super rookie Stamkos, the team proceeded to add veteran goalie Olaf Kolzig and power forward Ryan Malone—who helped the Pittsburgh Penguins make the Stanley Cup last season—to the roster over the summer.
At the press conference to announce Melrose’s hiring, the former Kings coach said, “We’re going to win by wanting it more and paying a bigger price.” But the Bolts have yet to pay “that” price, at least so far.
Tampa Bay became the second last team in the league to win its first game of the season Tuesday night.
While the Lightning have yet to find a solid, dependable goalie since Nikolai Khabibulin left after the year they won the Cup, goals against doesn’t seem to be the problem.
It’s the goals for department where the Florida-based hockey team is struggling. The club ranks near the bottom of the league in offense.
St. Louis and Lecavalier only have five and four points respectively, and if they continue on this pace they’ll finish the campaign with 68 and 55 points respectively, well below their 93 and 100 point averages over the past two seasons.
Malone, who only has one goal so far, is projected to finish with 16, well below his career average of 22. And Stamkos has yet to record a point but is only getting about 10 minutes of ice time a game, which is appropriate for an 18-year-old.
It didn’t help that the team started the regular season in the Czech Republic either.
It is still early but questions are already being asked about Melrose’s coaching chops. “Will Melrose Follow [Denis] Savard to the Chopping Block?” asked Stu Hackel of the New York Times.
Fortunately for Melrose, scribes in the Tampa Bay area are probably focusing more on baseball right now.
