Melrose's refreshing candor

How refreshing it is to hear from a hockey guy who isn't consumed with keeping up appearances, keeping up some mythical decorum which never existed anyway.

Who else but Barry Melrose, long-time Kings coach, short-time Lightning coach?

He was the guy who ESPN smartly kept when the NHL told the leader in sports broadcasting that it wanted to dance with Versus. And why not? At least someone knows how to tell the truth around here, and spare us the corporate talking points, which we receive so often from most of the league's coaches, players and executives.

Melrose, you'll remember, was fired after just 16 regular season games during his inaugural coaching campaign with the Lightning. Now owned by movie mogul Oren Koules and former NHLer Len Barrie (Flyers, Panthers, Penguins, Kings)

On Toronto's Fan 590 radio station Tuesday, Melrose explained that he faced almost constant interference. This is not news to me; I'd heard from a well-placed source that Barrie was drawing up plays and presenting them to players. I'd dismissed it as a rumor, but now, I'm willing to believe it.

"I had guys in Tampa who wanted to run the team and I wouldn't let them. I was hired to coach and I coached," Melrose said on radio today. "I wasn't playing the right guys. I was playing certain guys too much, I wasn't playing other guys enough. Every day was a constant battle."

Despite the fact that Melrose didn't name names, it's obviously not Koules who irritated him.

"I hope Oren Koules does well, I like Oren," said Melrose, who pointed out that he appreciated the Lightning's giving him the chance to coach.

In this day and age where injuries are undisclosed, and too many of the game's figures are too willing to keep things smooth, rather than tell the truth, Melrose should be applauded.

What observer of the game can possibly buy the line of garbage coming out of Tampa regarding Melrose's firing? The club needs a new direction? Puh-lease. Melrose won a Calder Cup (1991) with Adirondack and delivered the LA Kings their first and only Stanley Cup Final appearance in 1993, during his three seasons at the helm.

Slick attorney Brian Lawton (whose claim to fame as a player is that he was one of the biggest draft busts of all time, having been selected number one overall in 1983) can shuck and jive and hire the reputation-deficient Rick Tocchet as coach, but there's no sugarcoating the b.s. coming out of Tampa these days.

The team has won just one game since firing Melrose, and what's even more refreshing about Barry's comments is that he didn't offer the media some P.C. garbage about wishing the organization well. Melrose was asked whether it felt good to see the Lightning struggle in his absence?

"I'm not going to lie to you, yeah it does, and any coach who tells you otherwise is a liar," Melrose told the Fan 590, adding, "I hope Tampa Bay doesn't win a game in the next year."

The "Dirk Diggler" of Hockey

The most interesting question surrounding buffoon Sean Avery is not when he'll return to the ice (the league announced Friday that he's been suspended for six games), but what he'll do when he finally finishes playing hockey.

He interned at Vogue magazine, and he's big into fashion. But make no mistake, that industry will have no use for him once his NHL star/notoriety finally flames out.

Avery's foray into other fields, like fashion, reminds us of the movie, "Boogie Nights." You'll remember when the drug-addled porn star, "Dirk Diggler" in the movie decides to quit his porn gig and record a rock album. Of course, no one needs to hear his music or has any interest in it, and his project is a joke.

Similarly, no one in the fashion industry is interested in Sean Avery unless he's in the NHL. That's something for Avery to consider when he engages in his side gig as fashion expert. He's allowed into the fashion industry solely because of his fame as a hockey player. Now that his career is on the line, he may find out that the fashion industry will cool to him without his calling card, that of pro hockey player.

The Dirk Diggler of Hockey: Sean Avery.

Bizarro World in Net

Tim Thomas, Craig Anderson, Dany Sabourin, Alex Auld and Jonas Hiller are five of the top 6 netminders in terms of goals against average in the league entering Tuesday, December 9th's games. What's more, Anderson, Thomas and Hiller are three of the top four in save percentage.

What an upside down situation, seeing so many big name netminders struggle. While Roberto Luongo has five shutouts to lead the league, and Henrik Lundqvist, Evgeni Nabokov, Nik Backstrom and Mikka Kiprusoff lead the way in wins, it's interesting to see so many up-and-comers pace the field in the goals-against and save percentage categories.

Sold on Versteeg

Rookie Kris Versteeg of the Blackhawks has me sold. Currently playing on a line with Jon Toews and Dustin Byfuglien, Versteeg is a fine playmaker. Against the Ducks Wednesday December 3, he set up Marty Havlat's game-tying goal in a 4-on-4 situation, and also on the winner by Toews. Versteeg was automatically suspended one game for receiving an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of a game vs. Phoenix, but hey, at least he'll mix it up!

Sharks Fans: Regular season matters

Sharks: remember that the Cup winner comes from the top 2 positions in the conference, so don't get too hung up on past playoff failures. Quick fact: The Sharks are 14-0-2 at home as of Dec. 9.

Len Barrie stats courtesy Hockeydb.com