FTS - 11/22/08

TOP STORY

BLACK HOLE

Brendan Morrow's season is over

The Dallas Stars announced today that the left wing Brenden Morrow is out indefinitely with a torn ACL in his right knee that will require surgery. He is expected to miss up to six months. The club also recalled right wing Landon Wilson from Grand Rapids (AHL). “We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about Brenden’s knee,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “As our captain, he will obviously be missed, but we have every assurance that he can and will come back from this injury at 100 percent. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season, and we are confident our team will rally together and keep pushing.”

Morrow has skated in all 18 of the Stars’ games to date, recording five goals and 10 assists for 15 points with 49 penalty minutes. He placed tied for second on the club in assists and points, second in penalty minutes and tied for fourth in goals.

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse in Dallas, they lose their captain. I know we aren't even in December yet, but the way the Stars are playing this year, factoring in that they play in a competitive division in a tough conference, their season is probably over at this point. That's not to say that a turnaround is impossible, but everything has been going wrong for the Stars this season. It will be interesting to see if Mike Modano becomes the captain again and to see how Dallas responds without their leader.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Boston Bruins (13-3-4) over the Florida Panthers (7-11-1) 4-2

TOP PERFORMER = Bruins G Tim Thomas - 30 saves
-Marc Savard (PPG) and Patrice Bergeron each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins. Phil Kessel scored his 10th goal of the season and David Krejci scored the game winner. David Booth and Ville Peltonen scored the two Florida goals. Panthers G Tomas Vokoun made 35 saves in the loss. Bruins left wing Marco Sturm missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. Friday night marked the Bruins' first Friday night home game since Dec. 23, 1977.

Carolina Hurricanes (11-7-2) over the Phoenix Coyotes (8-9-1) 5-2

TOP PERFORMER = Hurricanes C Eric Staal - 3 goals

-The Coyotes would strike first thanks to a PPG from Kevin Porter. Staal would get the first of his 3 goals to tie things up. Shane Doan would score with just under three minutes remaining in the 1st period to give Phoenix the lead heading in to the intermission. Staal would score the next two goals to put the Hurricanes ahead for good. Ray Whitney would add two goals in the 3rd period (one of them an empty-netter) and Joni Pitkanen would chip in with three assists. Cam Ward made 26 saves in the win while Ilya Bryzgalov made 28 saves in the loss. A comforting stat for the Hurricanes is that they are 7-3-1 when their opponent scores first.

New Jersey Devils (10-7-2) over the New York Islanders (7-10-2) 5-2
TOP PERFORMER = Devils LW Zach Parise - 3 assists

-The Devils controlled this game from the beginning despite two short Islanders threats. David Clarkson (PPG), Travis Zajac, Bryce Salvador, Brian Gionta (SHG) and Paul Martin (PPG) would score the Devils goals while Andy Hilbert and Sean Bergenheim scored the 2 Islanders goals. Devils G Kevin Weekes made 25 saves to earn career victory #100. Brendan Witt returned for the Islanders after missing four weeks because of a sprained knee.Barry Tallackson made his season debut for the Devils following surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat, while John Madden sat out with a foot injury

Philadelphia Flyers (8-6-4) over the Buffalo Sabres (9-7-3) 3-0
TOP PERFORMER = Flyers G Martin Biron - 40 saves (shutout)

-Scott Hartnell, Jeff Carter (2 goals - 1 empty netter) would do the offensive damage for the Flyers in the win. Biron's shutout was his first of the season and his 24th in his career. The Flyers are 3-0-1 in their last four road games. After starting the season 6-0-2, the slumping Sabres (9-7-3) dropped their fourth straight to fall to 1-5-1 in their last seven games.

Tampa Bay Lightning (6-7-6) over the Nashville Predators (9-9-1) 4-1
TOP PERFORMER = Lightning C Vinny Lecavalier (2 goals - 1PPG)
-Lecavalier would score the first two goals for Tampa within a 2:30 span in the first period and that would be all the Lightning would need. Mark Recchi and Vinny Prospal would score the other goals for Tampa and Ryan Malone contributed three assists. G Mike Smith made 34 saves to earn the win. Jordin Tootoo scored the only Predators goal and Dan Ellis made 20 saves in the loss. Rick Tocchet got his first career victory in three tries as a head coach for the Lightning. Tampa Bay C Chris Gratton (lower body) and LW Gary Roberts (upper body) didn't play. D Lukas Krajicek left the game with a lower body injury

St. Louis Blues (7-8-2) over the Anaheim Ducks (10-8-3) 3-2 OT
TOP PERFORMER = Blues RW Lee Stempniak - 1 goal (GW)
-Blues RW David Backes would get St. Louis on the board with a PPG in the 1st period. Ducks winger Chris Kunitz would tie things up in the 3rd period, but Steve Regier would give St. Louis back the lead on the power play. Devils D Scott Niedermayer would scored on the power play with just :01 remaining to force OT. In the OT, Lee Stempniak broke in on Jean-Sebastian Giguere and used Ducks D Chris Pronger as a screen to light the lamp. Manny Legace made 26 saves in the win. Ducks D Bret Hedican became the 14th U.S.-born player to reach 1,000 games. Kariya missed his sixth game with a hip flexor injury and is also not expected to play Saturday at Minnesota.

RUMOR MILL

-We could be getting very close to Michael Nylander heading to Chicago. The Capitals would probably get back D Brent Sopel as well as some others. This could happen this weekend, so stay tuned.

AROUND THE BOARDS

- Mike Komisarek will be out for another four to five weeks. The blue-liner was injured during a fierce fight with the Bruins’ Milan Lucic on Nov. 13 in Boston. The injury is an "upper-body injury" according to the team

-After foot surgery in the summer, three months of rehab and a month of skating, Penguins D Ryan Whitney rejoined his teammates for practice for the first time since the Stanley Cup Final yesterday. He skated on his own and with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar for the past month, but is still only in the early stages of a complete return. his return to the lineup is still unknown.

-The Atlanta Thrashers on Friday placed goaltender Kari Lehtonen on the IR, retroactive to October 31. Lehtonen has been sidelined since a 3-2 setback to the Rangers on October 30, first because of illness, and then because of a back ailment. He has struggled this season, going 2-5-2 with a 3.44 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. Atlanta recalled forward Joey Crabb from Chicago (AHL) to take the roster spot.

GAME OF THE NIGHT
Boston Bruins (13-3-4) @ Montreal Canadiens (11-5-2) - 7:30PM

Talk about loads of storylines. First off, legendary goalie Patrick Roy will get his #33 raised to the rafters in Montreal before the game. Secondly, this will be a chance for the Canadiens to gain some ground in the Northeast Division on the Bruins, who currently have a 6 point edge. The Canadiens defeated Boston (13-3-4) for the 12th straight time in the regular season with a 4-3 shootout win on Oct. 15. The Bruins, though, snapped that skid on Nov. 13 by getting two goals each from Marco Sturm and Stephane Yelle in a 6-1 victory. The Bruins are coming off a 4-2 home win over the Panthers while the Canadiens are coming off a 3-2 SO win over Ottawa on Thursday night.

Other Action:
Vancouver (12-6-2) @ Pittsburgh (12-4-3) - 2PM

NY Rangers (14-6-2) @ Ottawa (6-9-4) - 3PM

NY Islanders (7-10-2) @ Buffalo (9-7-3) - 7PM

Phoenix (8-9-1) @ Philadelphia (8-6-4) - 7PM

Chicago (9-4-5) @ Toronto (7-8-4) - 7PM

Columbus (8-8-3) @ Atlanta (7-9-2) - 7PM

Anaheim (10-8-3) @ Dallas (6-9-3) - 8PM

St. Louis (7-8-2) @ Minnesota (11-5-1) - 8PM

Detroit (13-2-3) @ Calgary (11-8-1) - 10PM

Colorado (8-10-0) @ Los Angeles (8-8-2) - 10:30PM

Washington (11-5-3) @ San Jose (16-3-1) - 10:30PM (This is the other Game of the Night)

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Monday evenings

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes our on Wednesday evenings

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT OR EMAIL ANYTIME HERE OR AT FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

FTS - 11/21/08

TOP STORY

THE SCRAMBLE FOR THE NORTWEST LEAD...

(Photo Credit: Jim Mone - AP)

...and Vancouver would give themselves a 3 point cushion for it.

Vancouver Canucks (12-6-2) over the Minnesota Wild (11-5-1) 3-2

When the Canucks and Wild get together, it's always a game I pay attention two. Just like the Wild's game against the Penguins on Tuesday, these two teams have very contrasting styles of play. Vancouver likes to move the puck a lot and take chances, knowing they have won of the best goalies in the world to protect any mistakes. Minnesota likes to pin team's down and wait for a mistake to come their way to capitalize off of. We had an exhibition in both last night.

The first period looked like Minnesota had made Vancouver play their style of hockey. In the 2nd period, the teams broke even, as Mikko Koivu would score both goals (one of them shorthanded) for the Wild. Steve Bernier and Pavol Demitra (PPG) would get both of Vancouver's goals. This was Demitra's first game back at the Xcel Energy Center (he also had an assist on the game winning goal). In the 3rd period, Daniel Sedin would score the winner halfway through the period and Curtis Sanford would make 28 saves to protect the win. Wild G Nicklas Backstrom made 24 saves in the loss. Henrik Sedin would add two assists for the Canucks.

This was a big win for Vancouver for many reasons. Roberto Luongo started the last 14 games in goal for Vancouver, so to get a solid win with Sanford in net gives the team confidence. Secondly, this was head coach Alain Vigneault's 100th win as Vancouver head coach (100-65-19). Thirdly (if that's a word), it was the 2nd win over Minnesota this season. The Canucks have been playing very good hockey after a rocky start and will close their four game road trip (2-0-1) on Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Minnesota had a three game winning streak snapped. Coincidentally, their last loss came against the Canucks. Minnesota lost for the first time in nine games that Koivu scored a point.The Wild will get a good chance to rebound when they host St. Louis on Saturday night.

RUMOR MILL

-It's no secret that the Senators could use help on the blueline. It looks like they are talking to Calgary to make a deal. Keep your eyes out for that.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

New Jersey Devils (9-7-2) over the Florida Panthers (7-10-1) 3-1

TOP PERFORMER = Devils G Scott Clemmensen - 23 saves

-Devils LW Patrick Elias and RW Brian Gionta both played well to earn a goal and an assist each in the win. Paul Martin would add the other Devils goal and Michael Frolik scored the lone Panthers goal on the power play. Panthers D Jassen Cullimore, re-signed about three weeks ago, had to be helped off the ice in the second period after hurting his right knee. He will be evaluated today.

Pittsburgh Penguins (12-4-3) over the Atlanta Trashers (7-9-2) 3-2
TOP PERFORMER = Penguins C Sidney Crosby - 1G 2A

-The Penguins would get the game winner on a Petr Syrkora deflection on the power play off the shot of Sidney Crosby. Miroslav Satan would get the other Penguins goal. Slava Kovlov (PP) and Jim Slater would score the two Atlanta goals. Dany Sabourin made 21 saves in his 2nd straight start while Ondrej Pavelec made 28 saves in the win. The Thrashers are 0-5-2 when scoring two or fewer goals.

Montreal Canadiens (11-5-2) over the Ottawa Senators (6-9-4) 3-2 (SO)

TOP PERFORMER = Carey Price - 23 Saves
-Dany Heatley and Saku Koivu (PPG) would get each of their teams on the board in the 1st period. The teams would remain scoreless in the 2nd period. In the 3rd, Nick Foligno (PPG) and Andrei Markov would trade goals again. In the shootout, Andrei Markov and Alex Tanguay would score in the shootout to get the win. Montreal won for just the third time in its last eight games (3-4-1) since getting off to an 8-1-1 start while Ottawa's losing streak is at six games. Senators center Cody Bass made his season debut on a line with Foligno and Ilya Zubov. Veteran defenseman Luke Richardson did not play for Ottawa.

Chicago Blackhawks (9-4-5) over the Dallas Stars (6-9-3) 6-3

TOP PERFORMER = Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane - 2 goals

-This was the definition of a see-saw game. Dallas would get on the board first in the 1st period thanks to Brendan Morrow. Patrick Kane would get his first goal of the game with a minute to go in the 1st period. In the 2nd period, Chicago and Dallas would alternate goals with the Blackhawks leading 4-3 at the intermission. In the 3rd period, Chicago would pull away with two more goals. Chicago rookie RW Kris Veerstag had a goal and two assists and Nikolai Khabibulin made 31 saves in the win. The Stars have yet to win consecutive games this season and have lost 6 of their past 8. By this date last season, they had done so three times already.

Detroit Red Wings (13-2-3) over the Edmonton Oilers (9-9-2) 4-3

TOP PERFORMER = Red Wings RW Jiri Hudler - 2 goals (one on the PP)

-Detroit would score three goals in the 1st period (Jiri Hudler, Pavel Datsyuk-PP, Tomas Kopecky-PP) and never look back. Andrew Cogliano (PP), Lubomir Visnovsky, and Sheldon Souray(PP) would score the three Edmonton goals. Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom would chip in w/ 2 assists each. Chris Osgood would make 31 saves while Dwayne Roloson would be pulled from the game after giving up three goals midway through the 1st period. After winning four of their first six games in the month of November, the Oilers have won just once in their last five games. Shawn Horcoff played in his 500th game for the Oilers.

Calgary Flames (11-8-1) over the Colorado Avalanche (8-10-0) 1-0

TOP PERFORMER = Flames G Miika Kiprusoff - 18 Saves (Shutout)

-Daymond Langkow would get his 5th goal of the season on a set up from Mark Giordano and Jarome Iginla (400th career assist) for the game's lone goal midway through the 2nd period. Peter Budaj would make an impressive 32 saves in the loss. All four of Calgary's wins in the Northwest division have come against Colorado. Colorado lost a one-goal game for the first time since Oct. 14. Avs winger Marek Svatos sustained an abdominal injury in the 2nd period and didn't play in the third. Head Coach Tony Granato said he didn't know the severity of the injury. Avalanche C Joe Sakic missed his fourth straight game and fifth in the last six with a back injury. He could return to the lineup Saturday at Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Kings (8-8-2) over the Washington Capitals (11-5-3) 5-2

TOP PERFORMER = Kings RW Dustin Brown - 1 goal (PPG & GW goal) and 1 assist

-This game was a lot closer than the score indicates because the last two goals were empty-netters. Los Angeles keep the pressure on Caps G Brent Johnson all night long, firing 31 shots on net. Kings C Michael Handzus also had a goal and an assist in the win. New Kings G Erik Ersberg, has been impressive. He has made eight straight starts and has allowed an average of 2 goals a game during that stretch. Alexander Semin, the Capitals' leading scorer, missed his third consecutive game because of an undisclosed upper-body injury, and Sergei Fedorov missed his seventh straight with a sprained ankle. Alex Ovechkin still has yet to score a goal against the Los Angeles Kings in his career. The other teams he hasn't scored against are the San Jose Sharks and the Minnesota Wild, which happen to be Washington's next two opponents.

AROUND THE BOARDS

- Anaheim Ducks D Francois Beauchemin underwent surgery Thursday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He is expected to be sidelined about six months. Beauchemin was injured during a 4-3 overtime loss to Nashville on Nov. 14. He will be placed on long-term IR. Beauchemin had four goals and one assist in 18 games this season and was tied for the second-most playing time on the team.

- St. Louis Blues D Erik Johnson, out for the season after injuring his knee during a pre-season team golf outing in September, had surgery to repair a damaged ligament. Johnson, the first overall pick of the 2006 draft, is expected to be ready for training camp next season. He tore two ligaments when his foot got stuck in a golf cart.

-Minnesota reassigned goalie Nolan Schaefer to Houston(AHL). He was recalled on an emergency basis after Josh Harding missed Tuesday's pre-game skate because of a lower-body injury.

-An excellent article in the Globe & Mail about the affect of the economy on the NHL Players Salaries: http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081119.wspt_shoalts20/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home

-Top pospect John Tavares could be traded within the OHL:

http://fans.nhl.com/groups/NHLcoms_2009_NHL_Entry_Draft_Prospect_Blog/blogs/24264

GAME OF THE NIGHT

New York Islanders (7-9-2) @ New Jersey Devils (9-7-2) - 7PM

Lets face it, there are no real BIG match-ups tonight. However, Islanders-Devils is an intriguing one. Both teams are without their starting goaltenders (Rick DiPietro for the Islanders, Martin Brodeur for the Devils). Joey MacDonald has done very well for the Islanders in DiPietro's absence while the Devils replacements struggled in net (Kevin Weekes and Scott Clemmensen, but Clemmensen is beginning to come on). The Isles have surged a bit lately while the Devils have struggled. Oh, and they are division rivals, too. The Islanders will get their most physical defenseman back Friday as Brendan Witt returns after missing four weeks with a sprained knee. Witt will keep close watch on New Jersey's Zach Parise, who has four goals and three assists in his last six games against the Islanders. New York is 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings, but both regulation losses have come at New Jersey. (See, now it's intriguing)

Other Action:

Florida (7-10-1) @ Boston (12-3-4) - 7PM
Phoenix (8-8-1) @ Carolina (10-7-2) - 7PM
Philadelphia (7-6-4) @ Buffalo (9-6-3) - 7:30PM
Nashville (9-8-1) @ Tampa Bay (5-7-6) - 7:30PM
Anaheim (10-8-2) @ St. Louis (6-8-2) - 8:30PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Monday evenings

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes our on Wednesday evenings

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT OR EMAIL ANYTIME HERE OR AT FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

FTS - 11/20/08

TOP STORY

SABRES MAULED IN BEANTOWN

(Photo Credit: Boston Globe)

Bruins pull away late in their 2nd home win over Buffalo this season

Boston Bruins (12-3-4) over the Buffalo Sabres (9-6-3) 7-4

Going in to the 2008-09 season, the talk of the Northeast was the powerhouse Montreal Canadiens and the young and speedy Buffalo Sabres. Fans, experts, bloggers (including myself) forgot how well Boston played Montreal in the 7 game-1st round series last year, and we're getting a big reminder of it now. The Bruins have been making their case for being the best team in the division since the beginning of the season, and they are doing it well right now.

Buffalo played very well in the first period of this game. Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, and Thomas Vanek (2 goals - one on the PP) got on Manny Fernandez early in the game to give the Sabres a 4-3 lead after the 1st period. Chuck Kobasew, David Krejci and Marc Savard would all score to keep Boston in the game. Buffalo wouldn't score another goal for the rest of the game. Zdeno Chara scored two PP goals and Chuck Kobasew added his 2nd goal of the game to give Boston a 6-4 lead after the 2nd period. Phil Kessel would give the Bruins a three-goal cushion early in the 3rd period to give Boston a 2-0-1 record against the Sabres this season.

After a hot start, the Sabres have lost three in a row and five of their past six. They have allowed at least three goals in all of those games (their only win being a 4-3 home win over the lowly Blues) and Ryan Miller has allowed 22 goals in the last five games he has started (he's 1-3-1 during that stretch) after recording back-to-back shutouts in his previous two starts. The lone bright spot for Buffalo right now is that Jason Pominville is heating up with a goal scored in four straight games. The Sabres have a four game homestand coming up to right the ship. First up is the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night.

The Bruins have now won six straight at home and won for the seventh time in the past eight games. Their last regulation loss was Oct. 30 in Calgary and they'vescored 31 goals in their last eight games. C Marc Savard had a 1G 3A night and registered career point #600 in the process while Patrice Bergeron earned career point #200 with his first of two assists in the game. Up next for the Bruins is the Panthers at home tomorrow night. After that, they go on a two game road trip at Montreal and Buffalo. If they win those two games, they've officially taken the title of Northeast Division favorites. (BTW, I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but how great would it be to have a Sharks-Bruins Stanley Cup Finals with Joe Thornton going against his old team?)

For more on this, NHL/AP Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008020268

RUMOR MILL

-Mats Sundin could be back and playing as early as the first week in December. Toronto, the Rangers, Montreal and Washington appear to be the contenders for his services.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Vancouver Canucks (11-6-2) over the New York Rangers (14-6-2) 6-3

TOP PERFORMER = Canucks LW Andrew Burrows - 2G (1 of them was shorthanded)

-The Rangers were never in this game from the start. Kyle Wellwood scored a sweet goal on Henrik Lundqvist early in the game, Andrew Burrows would score four minutes later, and Vancouver would never look back. Pavol Demitra would add a PPG, Mattias Ohlund added 3 assists, and Roberto Luongo made a season-high 39 saves in the road win. Ranger fans got a rare sight when Henrik Lundqvist was pulled from the game in the 2nd period. He gave up more than two goals in a start for the first time since Oct. 18 against Detroit. The Burrows SH goal was the 7th SH goal the Rangers have allowed this season. They allowed six all of last season.

Washington Capitals (11-4-3) over the Anaheim Ducks (10-8-2) 6-4

TOP PERFORMER = Capitals LW Alexander Ovechkin (1G, 3A)

-Washington would jump out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st period (Fleischmann & Green on the PP and Backstrom), but Anaheim would battle right back to cut it to a 3-2 lead by the end of the 1st period. Washington would add two more in the 2nd period and 1 more in the 3rd period. Ducks RW Bobby Ryan would score two goals and an assist in the loss. The Caps are 15-0-1 in the last 16 games in which Ovechkin has scored.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-The Columbus Blue Jackets placed D Rostislav Klesla on the IR yesterday. Klesla injured his wrist in last Friday's 6-1 win at Buffalo and is expected to be sidelined at least one week. Klesla has one goal and two assists with eight penalty minutes in 11 games with the Blue Jackets this season.

-The Ottawa Senators recalled Cody Bass from Binghamton (AHL). Bass, who began the 2008-09 season with Ottawa, has one goal and an assist in 16 games with Binghamton this season. He is in his second NHL season and third pro.

GAME OF THE NIGHT
Vancouver Canucks (11-6-2) @ Minnesota Wild (11-4-1) - 8PM

Tonight is the 2nd meeting between the two Northwest Division favorites. They met earlier this month in Vancouver and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves to earn the 2-0 shutout win. Luongo stopped a season-high 39 shots in a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers. In the other net, Nicklas Backstrom has helped Minnesota to shootout wins in each of his last two starts. On Saturday, he stopped both shooters he faced to help the Wild notch a 3-2 victory over Columbus. Tonight will also be Pavol Demitra's first game against his former club. He played with Minnesota from 2006-08, totaling 40 goals and 78 assists, but also missed 25 games with various injuries. Demitra didn't play against the Wild earlier this month due to a rib contusion that sidelined him for 10 games.

Other Action:
Florida (7-9-1) @ New Jersey (8-7-2) - 7PM

Pittsburgh (11-4-3) @ Atlanta (7-8-2) - 7PM

Montreal (10-5-2) @ Ottawa (6-9-3) - 7:30PM

Chicago (8-4-5) @ Dallas (6-8-3) - 8:30PM

Detroit (12-2-3) @ Edmonton (9-8-2) - 9PM

Calgary (10-8-1) @ Colorado (8-9-0) - 9PM

Washington (11-4-3) @ Los Angeles (7-8-2) - 10:30PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Monday evenings

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out tonight!

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT OR EMAIL ANYTIME HERE OR AT FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

DROPPING THE GLOVES w/ ANDREW BOGUSCH - 11/19/08

Lightning co-owner Oren Koules knows a thing or two about movies, but even he wouldn’t green-light the comedy that’s being shot in Tampa Bay as we speak.

Willy-nilly offseason spending. Hiring a coach who hadn’t coached since the mid-90s, then firing him after less than two months. An owner possibly diagramming plays in the locker room. Unfairly making a teenaged rookie the new face of the franchise. It could be called “Dumb and Dumbererer”, but even those guys were smarter than this.

Last Friday, Barry Melrose was made the scapegoat for the team’s 5-7-4 start. And while he surely deserves some of the blame, this is mostly about Koules and partner Len Barrie, a former player who made his fortune in real estate. It was them who bought Melrose from ESPN in the first place – BEFORE hiring a general manager (Brian Lawton, who had no previous front office experience, did not come aboard until June 25th). It was them who wanted to move stud defensemen Dan Boyle because of his contract. It was them who OK’d big money deals for Ryan Malone and Radim Vrbata, plus the addition of Gary Roberts.

Those three have combined for six goals, four assists, a minus-7, and over $7.5 million dollars against the salary cap. It was Koules and Barrie who approved all of those free agent acquisitions while ignoring the team’s most glaring weakness, even before moving Boyle to San Jose – the blueline. Paul Ranger and Andrej Meszaros are quality, but there is little further down the depth chart. As any Ranger fan will tell you, Marek Malik is not the answer.

Many consider Matt Carle a future star, but he was inexplicably traded earlier this month (and has proceeded to play very strong hockey in Philadelphia). The Lightning have now essentially traded Boyle and a serviceable Brad Lukowich for the enigmatic Steve Eminger, the hot-headed Steve Downie, prospect Ty Wishart and two draft picks.

The offseason overhaul was meant to give Melrose a competitive roster. The in-season one has tried to address the summer mistakes. Neither is working – and that can’t be all on Melrose. Lawton told NHL Radio’s NHL Live Monday that playing style was the main issue with Melrose. The club wanted the Lightning to play more of an up-tempo game. Did Melrose’s philosophy not come up during his interview(s)? Shouldn’t Koules and/or Barrie have double-checked that Melrose’s on-ice product would match their hopes for their club?

It has been reported that Vinny Lecavalier went to management and asked for Melrose’s dismissal. It is believed some players never considered Melrose more than a TV guy taking a silly stab at coaching again. If that’s all true, in particular the clout Lecavalier has in the front office, why wasn’t he consulted on the head coaching search in the first place? The players certainly had their misgivings about Melrose long before his training camp practice.

In the end, Melrose is lucky to be out of this mess. It’s likely only to get worse as Lawton and his owners continue to haphazardly tweak a now mediocre roster. Good luck, Rick Tocchet. If only someone could yell cut...

* * *

The Shootout…The Rangers and Senators will play in Ottawa Saturday afternoon. Certain members of the Blueshirts will be out for blood from Jarkko Ruutu. He’s been on the franchise’s hit list since the last Olympics for a hit-from-behind on Jaromir Jagr. Most recently, Ruutu took runs at Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal Monday night at MSG. He also shot the puck at Henrik Lundqvist after missing during the shootout. The unfortunate thing is, Ruutu will not oblige Colton Orr, Aaron Voros or Paul Mara with a fight. He’s never felt the need to drop the gloves to validate his style of play. If you’re going to run around the rink recklessly, have the pucks to take a punch.

The Senators, meanwhile, need a change. We’ve been talking for too long about a lack of secondary scoring. Free agency and player development have yet to produce support for Spezza-Heatley-Alfredsson. It’s time to pull the trigger on a Jason Spezza trade. He’s the easiest of the Big 3 to move. Chicago, for instance, wants another center and has some attractive pieces up front. Sure, Spezza could explode playing with Patrick Kane or Patrick Sharp or whomever, but it is simply not working now in Ottawa. Management already made its coaching change, now it’s time for a roster overhaul.