CrashingTheGoalie

“I apologize in advance of posting this as I write through blurry eyes (literally because my contacts are drying) and a clouded mind as I try to briefly (it’s past my bedtime) sum up the events of the day . . .

A good man lost his job today. A very good man. It’s a shame that Barry Melrose didn’t get the chance to play out more of his contract because I think it would have been a lot of fun getting to know the man behind the bench. Melrose has a passion for life that just shines through when you talk with him. He has an ego (as anybody that has come from his background to where he is would), but he doesn’t take himself seriously. He always finds a way to share a laugh or a smile. I will already miss his postgame meetings with the media and his press conferences at home, knowing full well that you could ask Melrose any question and you were going to get a response.

Melrose said tonight that he’s already had a couple of job offers (although he didn’t say if it was in hockey, television or selling shoes). No matter where yo u land Barry, good luck to you.

Now, having said that, I think Melrose was away from the game for too long. There was a respect factor that he had to earn, and he had to earn it quickly. There are many of the players in the game today who know Melrose only as a television analyst, not as a former NHL player, not as a junior and AHL championship coach while his days of coaching the L.A. Kings are simply known as the mullet years. Melrose never earned that respect. Whether it’s fair or not is open for plenty of debate. But what was clear was the locker room wasn’t responding.

In the past few days I’ve spoken to plenty of people about what was going on with the team – I think I did three radio shows alone on Thursday – and it was obvious something wasn’t right. I even wrote on an intermission post from Florida that there were a lot of bad vibes ebbing out of the locker room, but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was going on, just a sense of foreboding. I knew there were some clashing going on, but I didn’t think it was going to lead to this.

And in my view, this team just went from being in one of the outer rings of the circus to the center circle. They are going to get bashed by plenty of the same pundits who called the whole thing a sideshow act back in late June and early July when all the restructuring was going on. And, in my opinion, it’s deserved. That was my first reaction when my son’s birthday slumber party was ruined for me when I heard the news that Melrose was fired.

If you read between some of the lines here in some of the comments out of the organization, you can tell that Melrose just never won over the locker room. In the press release, the comment from Brian Lawton spoke of how the team “has a lot of respect for Rick Tocchet’’ which conversely means they didn’t have any for Melrose.

In speaking to some parties in the know, there was talk of a lack of structure. Well, Lawton said one of the key elements Tocchet will bring is more structure. And some others in the know spoke of the number of grey areas that were involved when it came to how things were explained and run. One even said to me that even under John Tortorella, things were very black and white (some might even suggest too black and white), and to me, that’s pretty telling.

But I also think that 16 games into a three year contract is not enough time. This team has already shown an incredible amount of impatience. They traded Shane O’Brien after one game. They’ve used 11 different defenseman. Blink the wrong way, and you never know who might be next.

Think Rick Tocchet feels overly secure with that interim tag on his title? Those with a permanent tag on their title don’t feel safe these days.

I understand the theory that if hiring Melrose was a mistake then the best way to correct that mistake was to end the relationship sooner than later. But I think this was still too soon.

I was hoping to speak to Oren Koules tonight, but he politely declined to talk, citing a rough day. Can’t say I blame him (although I’m sure many of you could care less how rough it might have been on Koules and the Gang today). After all, hiring Melrose was his call and I can’t imagine how much it must be a blow to admit that it might have been a mistake and the convincing that had to be done to get him to agree to allowing this move to take place.

But no matter your opinion of the move, no matter how much criticizing will take place (and there will be plenty) the bottom line here is a good man lost his job and that just stinks.”