Posted by  Ex oiler, Sarasota on 05/31  at  10:52 AM

What a wonderful day! Torts is gone! Or at least going. Come on Eric keep up! Its the worst kept secret in the NHL.

Posted by  TampaRob, Tampa on 05/30  at  08:01 PM

Dan.. the new ownership is not complete yet and the NHL commmish has asked to OK to keep a lid on it until then.

Posted by  dan, sarasota on 05/30  at  02:51 PM

ERIC,if new ownership plans to keep feaster and torts, why wouldn’t they just come out and say it? or have they?

Posted by  Seth C, Georgia on 05/28  at  06:18 PM

It only says that “talk won’t go away” that he’ll sign that. That’s talk in the Canadian media, the same media who have been certain multiple times that Vinny was going to get traded to Montreal. Their word is worth about as much as a Mexican food stamp.

Posted by  matt, odessa on 05/28  at  08:45 AM

Caught this searching for Bolt news this morniong. Intresting to say the least.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Ottawa/2008/05/27/5679391-sun.html

Actually says Melrose all but has a 3yr 6 million dollar deal and it will be final once OK takes control.

Posted by  vince, tampa on 05/22  at  07:31 PM

the world championships once again proved torts’ soft defense can not work in hockey,having defensemen defend space with their sticks is ridiculous,torts’ five offensive players in the zone burned the bolts all year with the breakaways allowed,not to mention the fact vinny4 never got the “c” put on his chest,instead torts opted for a player,who never played all season and was elected by him to where it,i guess you forgot how vinny4 got the “c” at the allstar game,voted by his peers,the roy issue is the least of our concerns in tampa,how about the lack of physical play...lets get san jose’s coach and see how real hockey is played…

Posted by  fanofbolts, tampa on 05/22  at  02:27 PM

AJ, Judging by your statements you are either A.) A realitive of Tortorella or B.) Only watch Lightning games.

Maybe you should go back and watch other teams and then comment on how great your “coach” is. Nobody here is disputing Torts had a huge hand in helping win the Cup but like I said he had a GREAT goalie and a Great defense. So by using your own arguements Tortorella should have been able to at the least get the Bolts into the playoffs or past the first round, if he is such a “GREAT” coach without a good goalie or a good defense, right?

But hey, what do I know I’m just one of those Bolt fans who thinks Torts needs to go, so that means I know “Nothing” about hockey, period!

Posted by  AJ Johnson, Wesley Chapel on 05/22  at  12:52 AM

who the HELL was going to win ANYTHING with marc denis and even worse johan holmqvist in net?  seriously.  are any of you people missing out on that obvious dilemma.  the team lost Kubina (although he was overpaid by Toronto), Sarich, Pratt, Cullimore, and Sydor.  no goalie + no stay at home defenseman = no winning.  its not rocket science.  2 stay at home defenseman + 1 or 2 scoring wingers and this team is instantly top 3 in the eastern conference again - no doubt.

Posted by  AJ Johnson, Wesley Chapel on 05/22  at  12:49 AM

don’t question you guys hockey knowledge?  if you think Torts should go you either A) have NO hockey knowledge or B) are not a fan of the Lightning and don’t want them to do well.  period.  Torts and Andreychuk singlehandedly brought this team not only out of the dumps but into championship status.  Torts made Lecavalier into the games most complete player that he is today.  the only thing i question about him is maybe how he handled the most recent situation with Andre Roy.

Posted by  matt, ODESSA on 05/21  at  09:49 PM

AJ:

NEWS FLASH: It’s 2008 not 2004. One and done 2 years in a row in the play-offs, then the worst record in hockey. That’s what Tortorella has done since coaching an extremely talented team to the Stanley Cup, with a world class goalie, before the 2 line pass was removed. DaveA was the scapegoat after the strike year and Ramsey the goat after last season, the ownership situation to blame for thisa year; it’s time that Tortorella be held accountable!!

Like Vince stated, coaches with better resume’s and who had better teams this season are being fired.

Posted by  vince, tampa on 05/20  at  04:19 PM

torts time here is over,there has to be accountability for the last place season..

Posted by  Ex Oiler, Sarasota on 05/20  at  07:40 AM

Hey AJ How did your hero do at the World Championships? And please DO NOT underestimate the knowledge some of us have of the game!

Posted by  TampaRob, Tampa on 05/20  at  02:07 AM

That’s real mature AJ.. resort to name calling because someone disagrees with you.. grow up and leave.

Posted by  AJ Johnson, Wesley Chapel on 05/19  at  11:45 PM

i’m tired of reading Torts must go in EVERY THREAD.  all you posters who say that are, in short, BRAINLESS MORONS who should stick to talking about “sports” you know something about like horse and dog racing and shuffleboard. 

NEWS FLASH:  TORTS WON US A CUP.  he pressed a lot of right buttons in that run and if he missed on any one of them WE DON’T HAVE A CHAMPIONSHIP.

Torts isn’t just good HE’S GREAT.  you don’t win a Cup by accident and people don’t forget how to coach.  obviously you imbeciles didn’t learn that in grade school.

Posted by  skp, tampa on 05/12  at  11:43 AM

if toronto wants to make one more dumb move and trade us their 1st and another pick in this year’s draft, let the guys go...scotty bowman lives in the area, think we could convince him to come back to coach one of the game’s current greats (VL4) and the hottest prospect since sid the kid?

Posted by  matt,  on 05/12  at  10:54 AM

Great, now Tortorella is ok with Dustin Brown “cheap shotting” Jussi Jokiken in last nights game. I don’t care what happened to the US team, Torts should not have stuck up for that punk Brown for taking out Jussi. Or maybe Torts knows he isn’t going to be here so he just doesn’t care. I would like to see the US team win as much as anyone but not at the expense of our own Lightning players health!!!

Posted by  Ex Oiler, Sarasota on 05/12  at  09:30 AM

Yes Torts has to go!  Where have all you people been all season?  Some of us have been saying that for a very long time!  The most wins for an American born coach, Who cares look how many games it took him to get there!

Posted by  vince, tampa on 05/11  at  11:46 AM

you cant take last place and not fire the coach,i dont care who he is,teams are firing their coaches after making the playoffs,torts has to go,if not what does that say about accountability to the players on the team…

Posted by  matt, ODESSA on 05/10  at  08:16 AM

Does anyone besides me think ESPN hiring Don Cherry is indicative of Barry Melrose leaving? I would think if ESPN wanted 2 analysts for hockey they would have debuted him when the playoffs started and not last night.I think he’s Melrose’s replacement.....

Posted by  B.Otten, Largo on 05/09  at  09:09 AM

Sacrilege! As if Toronto would even ALLOW an American born coach (I’m using that term very loosely here) to head their team? One look at the past year is enough to convince Toronto that Torts knows NOTHING about coaching and getting his team motivated. He de-motivates, goalies are only as good as their last game, doesn’t allow physical play, encourages dump-the-puck-in-as-you-cross-the-blue-line ,which is dumb, benches good players (Roy, O’Brien come to mind easy) and plays musical chairs with productive lines like the Vinny-Marty-Vinny line that did well until Torts started toying with it. Nope...Torts has to go,Toronto won’t want him. They want a coach. Feaster will go anywhere there’s an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant nearby.

Posted by  TampaRob, Tampa on 05/08  at  08:26 PM

Feaster/Torts need to go: Torts never adapted his system to the rule changes made during lockout year until very late this last season.. plus the players are not responding to his style anymore.. they need a new voice to guide them.. Feaster hasn’t done all that bad with some trades but overall he blew it with his goaltending trades (notwithstanding Smith) including losing Khabibulin.. who knows what OK will do? buying out the contracts of Feaster & Torts may be prohibitive unless they both get jobs right away in which case OK would be off the hook.. BTW: Torts in Toronto would be a joke.

Very disappointed to hear about Halpern’s injury.. he was one of the best players traded to Bolts recently and will be sorely missed.

Posted by  Seth C, Georgia on 05/08  at  05:25 PM

I’m inclined to believe that Tort’s effectiveness has run it’s course in Tampa. It’s possible to be a good coach but not the RIGHT coach. He made a lot of boneheaded decisions based on personal squabbles instead of doing what was best for the team (see: Roy, O’Brien, playing Richards 25+ minutes a game and wearing him out). In pro sports, you can’t afford to say “well, he one that ONE time” to justify keeping someone who isn’t getting the job done NOW around.

Let him and Feaster go, I say. OK can bring in some new blood, or maybe look within the organization for potential replacements (Andreychuk’s got to be getting tired of just being a “community rep” by now, I’d think ;D. He certainly knows how to motivate the troops).

Posted by  Billy Charlebois, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on 05/08  at  12:53 PM

Tortorella to Toronto???? Don’t make me laugh.  First of all, Tortorella is a miserable sonofabitch after a loss, and in Tampa, his post game press conferences lasted on the average 2 to 3 minutes after a loss.  That won’t cut it with the Toronto Press Corps. Secondly, whenever questioned about a decision he made, he goes into a tirade and tries to have the reporter thrown out of the locker room. Toronto is a hockey city and the people are too savy to put up with his BS.

Posted by  matt, odessa on 05/08  at  09:55 AM

TC, Feaster never drafted Vinny4. Granted he’s made mistakes but giving Tortorella a break is plain stupid. IMO, they both need to go, but with a new owner coming in it would be near impossible to find a competent enough GM before the draft, so Feaster sticks around.

As far as Torts goes, yea its time for him to go. His rants and bitching about this and that are wearing thin in this town. And you can blame Feaster for the players he brought in but remember, he had a budget and it’s up to the coach to coach the players he has, not complain about it after the fact and use it as an excuse to a crappy season. Feaste never told Torts to bench Oulett. mix up lines more than anyone and flip goalies back and forth constantly.

Posted by  Hy Jyljyj,  on 05/08  at  08:12 AM

Just for the sake of accuracy, the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is not a tendon. Ligaments connect bone to bone, tendons muscle to bone.