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Koules all smiles as Bolts present a united front

News Channel 8 photo by BOB HANSEN

The Tampa Bay Lightning introduced their two first round picks Victor Hedman (right) and Carter Ashton (left) Tuesday afternoon at the St. Pete Times Forum. Hedman was the 2nd overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft and Ashton was the 29th overall pick.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 9, 2009

Updated: 07/09/2009 12:56 am

TAMPA - The Lightning introduced first-round draft picks Victor Hedman and Carter Ashton to some locals Wednesday at the Forum. General Manager Brian Lawton, Coach Rick Tocchet and co-owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie, hold the Len Barrie, formed a united front. And here's the big news:

It might just be united.

The waters have receded on Channelside, at least for now. Jungle Madness has fled. Whether it's temporary or not we'll find out down the road. But Wednesday came and there were smiles. Some of the biggest belonged to Oren Koules.

"It's another step forward," he said. "Victor Hedman is a step. Carter Ashton is a step. Signing Mattias Ohlund is a step. Stability is a step forward."

We're seemingly a far cry from the infighting that two weeks ago landed Koules and Barrie in NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's office to hammer things out. Koules said the hammer worked.

"I'm the governor, I'm the CEO and the GM runs the hockey team."

There's still another skate to drop in this story, since neither Koules nor Barrie appear to have enough dough to buy the other guy out. The smart money is on Koules to eventually run the show, though his choice of Barry Melrose, the 16-game celebrity head coach, maybe has taught him he can't run everything.

All I know is that last time I saw Koules, he was basically using everything but a whip and a chair to hold off fans at a knock-down-drag-out May town hall meeting at the Forum. The whole night had an edge. Skeptics were three deep. Koules and Barrie had earned them. Wednesday, you could almost see an "I told you so" forming on Koules' lips, but he wouldn't go there.

"There's three things the fans wanted," he said. "They wanted stability within the organization, they wanted defense and they wanted Vinny."

Koules talked about that town hall.

"It wasn't fun going through some of those things," Koules said. "I wish we could do it today. I wish we could do a town hall today. I gave them my promises and I kept it."

Both Koules and Barrie are under a gag order from Bettman not to discuss their meeting in New York, but Koules was on hand Wednesday and Barrie wasn't. That's a fact. And Vinny Lecavalier is still a Bolt.

"The truth is, Vinny was never up to be traded," Koules said. "No one has ever believed this. I guarantee you, five years from now, Vinny, there'll still be trade rumors about him. I think after he retires, people are going to think he's going to un-retire and come back to play for Montreal."

Brian Lawton was standing behind him, talking to reporters. Koules said they were all aboard on the two picks, but even if they hadn't been, Lawton's call would have been final. Clearly that was part of the Koules-Barrie throwdown that wound up at the NHL offices.

"My wishes were to have the GM run the hockey team, the GM do the signings, the GM make decisions," Koules said. "I fought very hard to get that."

It's a long way from the Koules decision to hire Melrose.

"I still think I chose Barry for the right reasons. After John Tortorella left, and I don't think it was his fault, but there was the perception that it was a very divided room. I thought Barry could bring everyone together ... My reasoning was right. It just didn't work, but my heart was in the right place."

Saw Man reaffirmed Lawton's position as GM.

"I don't direct movies. I produce them. I see a shot sometimes that I say 'It's going to fall flat, it's never going to work; it'll end up on the floor.' In the end, you have to let people do what they want to do."

As for the unfavorable perception of the inner and outer workings of this franchise ...

"There are so many things you'd love to explain, but you can't," Koules said. "There are so many answers you'd love to give, but you can't ... Some day, I would love for the truth to come out.

"The one thing you never realize is that when you buy a hockey team is it's a private public company or a public private company. It's a trust in some ways. I guess you can only be judged by results. My goal is that every year those town hall meetings become a little easier. I think if we had a town hall meeting today, people would take a lot less shots at us."

The Lightning finished 30th out of 30 two seasons ago. They improved to 29th last season. And next season?

"If we go to 28th, we've got big problems."

Koules grinned. Wednesday was a day for that. Victor Hedman and Carter Ashton were unveiled. It spoke to the future. And to - land ho - stability.

"We're getting there," Oren Koules said.

We'll see.

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