Holy Moly! The Butcher Bolts to Tampa

by Jes

I know my blogmate, Czechmate, an Ottawa resident, was already seething over the lack of CzechoSlovak content on the Ottawa Senators. I'm sure, then, that he'll be crying in his All Bran over the fact that Andrej Meszároš was dealt to the Lightning for some prospect assets. Now, Meszaros can have his surname butchered in whole new ways.

In typical Tampa Bay circus fashion, the Bolts made an offer sheet to the young Slovak, only to find out that *DUH* they don't have the necessary draft picks as compensation. Cue the circus music and annoying clowns.

Ottawa clearly didn't mind the fact that the Bolts wanted Meszaros, so the clubs came up with a rather quick trade to get the deal done.

Tampa Bay gave up defensemen Filip Kuba, Alex Picard, and a 2009 first-round draft pick for the Butcher, and then signed him to a six-year, $24-million dealio.

Kuba is no longer all that great, so it's basically a warm body, a lottery ticket, and Picard for a prime young D-man. Good deal of bad deal for Ottawa? I guess it depends on what Ottawa does with this new salary cap room they have.

Over at FanHouse, JP notes that Tampa, famous for comparing Lecavalier to Michael Jordan, turned on the hyperbole machine to proclaim Meszaros an 'elite' defenseman. JP isn't impressed.

Senators GM Bryan Murray referred to Meszaros' play over the past two seasons as "[leaving] a lot to be desired" (not something you typically hear of the game's top defensemen), and the numbers certainly represent something a lot closer to "pretty good player" than "time to adjust the game plan, we're facing Andrej Meszaros tonight" -- Meszaros finished last season 25th among the League's defensemen in scoring and 68th in that group in plus/minus. He was 80th in ice time, 35th in power-play scoring and 100th in shooting percentage.

I'll play the Devil's advocate and come to the defense of Tampa. Yes, Andy is not an elite defenseman, but he's one of the better young d-men in the game and ought to get better.

Remember Meszaros' rookie season? D00d was only 20 years old and put up 39 points and went +39 in 82 games. How many 20-year old d-men ever do that much?

Then, something went sour for Meszaros in Ottawa and he's been on the Martin Skoula path to stagnation. Perhaps Ray Emery's influence made Meszaros into a party animal, perhaps the Sens' new anti-Slovak policy hurt Andy's feelings ... we'll likely never know. What we do know, however, is that Meszaros' relationship with the club was quit sour, and he needed to get the hell out of that rathole.

I believe Butcher will become one of the league's better defensemen, and the Bolts will end up getting good value for this deal. Yes, they paid a high price, but good young defensemen are worth a premium. This is a far better deal than some of the other odd signings the Bolts have made.

Of course, it's easy to be nervous if you are a Bolts fan, especially when Meszaros is commenting on how much was given up for him.

"I was surprised they gave up that much for me," he said of the Lightning. "They gave up some good players. I really appreciate that. I'm excited and happy to be in Tampa. Now it's a great challenge for me to step up and play as hard as I can."

Barry Melrose is Back

I don't get American ESPN up here in Vancouver, so I rarely get to experience the 'experience' that is "The Mullet" Barry Melrose.

He seems to be a popular figure among American hockey fans, although I don't know if it is just the hair, rather than his hockey knowledge.

I figured doing TV was a comfortable gig, and that Melrose had been out of the game so long he'd never be an NHL head coach again.

Yet, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have a thin team that even Scotty Bowman couldn't do much with, hired Mullet Man to be their head coach.

ORLY?

Per TSN.ca

The Toronto Star reports that ESPN hockey analyst and former Los Angeles Kings head coach Barry Melrose is set to return behind the bench for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Melrose, who coached the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, would replace John Tortorella, who still holds the post.

According to the Star, incoming team owner Oren Koules has pushed for the hiring of Melrose in an effort to further sell the team and the sport in Florida. His group is awaiting approval from the NHL's Board Of Governors to take over the team, with the vote set to take place on June 18.

What sells hockey tickets? WINS!!! Even if Melrose a minor celeb in hockey circles, how will his hiring help sell tickets for a team that is obviously short on depth, defence, and goaltending?

Now, I shouldn't rag on Melrose too much, although I wonder if he's way too stale at this point.

Melrose had a good track record of success as a head coach, including taking the LA Kings to the Cup Finals in 1993, a Memorial Cup in his first year of CHL coaching, and an AHL Calder Cup in his third year of AHL coaching.

Some Melrose Facts, per Wikipedia.

Melrose is cousin to former NHL players Wendel Clark and Joe Kocur.

Melrose guest starred in a season 5 episode of the ABC sitcom Spin City ("Hey Judith," January 17th, 2001).

In the video game Mutant League Hockey, Melrose is portrayed as Coach Smellnose. (haha!)

He was in a scene of the second Slapshot movie Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice

Had a small role in movie Mystery Alaska with Russell Crowe.

An NHL blog (unaffiliated with Melrose) entitled "Barry Melrose Rocks" bears his name as a tribute. (hmm, who could that be?)