TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

A Q&A Session With Oren Koules

Tribune photo by CLIFF MCBRIDE

Even after recent problems, Koules acknowledges "we have a very good hockey team."

ADVERTISEMENT

By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 18, 2008

Former Lightning coach Barry Melrose was the first official hire to the team's hockey operations department after Oren Koules and Len Barrie became the owners of the franchise in June. But just 16 games into his tenure behind Tampa Bay's bench, Melrose was let go on Friday and replaced by interim coach Rick Tocchet, who will coach his second game tonight against the Florida Panthers.

With many pundits across the hockey world are pointing their collective fingers at the Lightning while snickering and saying "I told you so" in regards to not only Melrose's hiring but the team's lack of success on the ice despite all the changes during the summer, Koules said there is still plenty to like about his team.

In an e-mail question and answer session with The Tribune, Koules discussed the difficulties of signing off on Melrose's firing, what direction the team needs to take and who is going to lead them there:

Q:How difficult was it to sign off on letting Barry go after such a short time on the job?

A:It clearly was the hardest day so far for me being an owner.

Q:In hindsight, was Barry in television too long and away from the game to stay in tune with how locker rooms have changed in the past 12 years?

A:I don't know why it didn't work out as we had planned it to, but it didn't work out. To use a blanket statement like you might be asserting here is unfair to Barry.

Q:There are indications that the players came to ownership asking for the change to be made? Is there any validity to those reports?

A:It is just not true. Our players did not go behind Barry's back or up the ladder here to management or the ownership asking for a change. That just didn't happen. I can't be any more clear here.

Q:What was your first reaction when you were first approached about the possibility of having to let Barry go?

A:The first thought was to give the situation, to give Barry, more time. We probably waited two weeks after first discussing this move before we made our final decision. I was hopeful things might turn but it became apparent this final decision needed to be made.

Q:If the locker wasn't responding to Barry, do you feel you have the right players in the room?

A:Definitely yes. And as we move forward under Tocc's leadership that will become more apparent to our fans.

Q:How do the players need to respond now that any potential excuse has been taken away from them?

A:We feel we have a very good hockey team that wasn't headed in the right direction. We didn't want to let a season get away from us. Our goal is to still make the playoffs and we think by making the move we did when we did still puts us in a great position to do that. We made a lot of moves in the summer with a goal of building a last-place team into a perennial contender. Not all of those moves are going to work out, we knew that. But give us credit for responding to the ones that aren't working out.

Q:There are many in the national media who have labeled your organization as looking like a circus? What would you say in response?

A:The Lightning were last in the NHL a year ago. We were in last place in the minor leagues and two of the major hockey publications rated us 30th in terms of hockey prospects this past summer. We obviously needed to make some changes.

Q:Where do you turn now? Is Rick Tocchet the guy to turn to long term? Is there a timetable on any kind of an evaluation period?

A:Rick Tocchet is the interim head coach, we don't have a specific timetable for an evaluation and it's up to him to lead this team in the right direction. This is his team, but management will support the decisions he makes. We are in this together.

Q:What about the rest of the coaching staff? Will it remain intact?

A:Yes.

Q:What can you say to fans who may be soured by the start of the team on the ice and the issues off the ice? Do you still believe you have a good hockey team or do more changes need to be made?

A: In talking to many players coaches and general managers around the league, most feel we have a very good hockey team. And as I said above, I still very much believe we will make the playoffs. In fact, with 65 games left to play, we are three points out of the playoffs. So I feel pretty good about things the way they are now.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT