We  hate to say we told you so, but we told you so.  Anytime you take a guy who has spent 13 years in the broadcast booth and sit him back beside a bench, there is a good chance the guy will fail.  Of course, we thought Barry Melrose would get more than 16 games to see if he could still coach.

What they say is the team's performance wasn't there, yet the Lightning had been improving a bit lately.  There must be some serious problems in the locker room that caused Barry's quick demise. Perhaps the players didn't take Barry seriously, many of them growing up watching him on TV.  Or maybe he's old school and that style rubs today's players the wrong way.  Barry was much better off staying with ESPN.  Many of their coaches have never returned to coaching after making the move including Dick Vitale, Mike Gottfried and Bob Davie.

In fairness, we did point out in June that Barry minus Wayne Gretzky is not much of a coach to begin with.  He certainly is a great broadcaster.  One wonders though if his quick failure as a coach hurts his cred as a broadcaster.

To make it a double downer, convicted felon Rick Tochet takes over the team.  I wonder if he's allowed to leave the country.  One thing is for sure.  Pete Rose should hire his lawyer.