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Bolts Coach, GM Are Safe For Now

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 31, 2007

Updated: 12/30/2007 11:22 pm

TAMPA - While sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference at nearly the halfway point of the season is something Lightning president Ron Campbell never expected, he is not entertaining thoughts of changing personnel in the team's front office.

Reached on Sunday, Campbell said there is no consideration on the team's part of firing General Manager Jay Feaster or Coach John Tortorella anytime soon.

"Not only is it knee-jerk to suggest a change should be made, but it is not even close to being on the radar screen," Campbell said in an e-mail. "You want your leadership to always be thinking and strategizing on how to improve results, but plans must be well thought out considering short-term success and the long-term effect on the franchise."

Campbell noted that while not all of the decisions made by the hockey operations staff have worked out, the track record has been solid enough that there remains a trust in the leadership that Feaster and Tortorella have provided in the years they have worked together.

"Over the years, we have been very happy with most of Jay's management decisions, including player trades," Campbell said. "The best in the business don't bat 100 percent ... but his overall results, and especially how Jay goes about his job, we have little to complain about. The NHL's salary cap world has greatly impacted the depth of our team. I believe our players that won the 2004 Cup are currently making approximately $60 million as a group playing around the NHL or wherever."

Since winning the Stanley Cup, the Lightning have lost almost their entire defensive corps, mainly through free agency. That includes Pavel Kubina (Toronto), Cory Sarich (Calgary), Nolan Pratt (free agent), Jassen Cullimore (Chicago and Florida) and Darryl Sydor (traded to Dallas now with Pittsburgh), and some front-line offense in Cory Stillman (Carolina) and Fredrik Modin (traded to Columbus). The team also has not recovered from the loss of goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who signed a lucrative contract with Chicago as a free agent before the 2005-06 season. They have tried a patchwork approach to filling the position, with John Grahame, Sean Burke and Marc Denis - all of whom could not get the job done - and now are relying on 21-year-old Karri Ramo and Johan Holmqvist.

This year's team is struggling with a defense that is missing the injured Dan Boyle, leaving a largely inexperienced group that is learning on the job. And outside of Vinny Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Marty St. Louis and Vinny Prospal, there are not many offensive threats, as evidenced by the team scoring two or fewer goals in 10 of the past 11 games.

Despite the current struggles - Tampa Bay is six games under .500 and carries a four-game losing streak into a four-game road trip that begins in Toronto on Tuesday - Campbell doesn't believe the team is out of contention this year, and he thinks Tampa Bay is set up well for the future.

"We like our roster, and realize many players we are counting on need more NHL experience," he said. "We have had to go out to get more affordable free agents and some youth, but our foundation is as good as any in the league. We feel right now, when Danny Boyle gets healthy we are capable to make a run for the 2008 playoffs. If for some reason that doesn't happen, Jay will be responsible to put the pieces back together to put us in title contention next year."

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835 or eerlendsson@tampatrib.com.

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