More changes on tap - again - for Lightning

Just five games remain in the Tampa Bay Lightning's season, five games until the green light goes on for new owner Jeff Vinik to begin a thorough housecleaning at the Forum.

Yes indeed, a franchise known for making more news off the ice than on it the last few years is about to make more changes. It's what the Bolts do best.

No one expects general manager Brian Lawton to be around for long after the season ends on April 11. Vinik has said he plans to hire someone to be in charge of his franchise day-to-day and that usually means it's out with the old (Lawton) and in with the new (to be determined).

Well, you know a new general manager will want his own coach, too. Rick Tocchet has another year remaining on his contract but money doesn't seem to be an issue with Vinik, who reportedly paid cash to buy the Bolts last month and promised to do whatever it takes to get this franchise back among the contenders.

People generally like Tocchet and he was dealt a tough hand here, trying to bring order amid the chaos of the previous owners. He took over after the lamentable 16-game experiment with Barry Melrose ended last year and was handed a team that was a mess both on and off the ice. The Bolts were more competitive this season, but as we greet this Thursday morning they're still 12th in the Eastern Conference and are awaiting formal elimination from the playoff chase.

Give the lads and Tocchet credit for beating the defending Stanley Cup champs Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. The 2-0 victory over the Penguins so distressed Pittsburgh Coach Dan Bylsma that he canceled a scheduled day off for his team today and called an 8:30 a.m. practice. Just how good that win was depends on your perspective, I guess.

Consider these words from Penguins' superstar Sidney Crosby afterward: "It was pretty bad. There's no sugarcoating it or trying to make something positive out of it, we didn't do anything that was positive. We weren't ready to play. We thought we were going to play a team that laid down and isn't going to go to the playoffs, and we were just going to show up. Clearly, it didn't happen."

That sounds a little bit like Tocchet after his team was buried 7-1 the other night at Buffalo. The Bolts did get a split on this four-game road trip, though, with wins at Pittsburgh and Boston. While at times they may appear to have licked the stamp on this season, they haven't totally mailed it in.

Young Steven Stamkos got his 46th goal of the season to tie with Alex Ovechkin for second place in the league scoring race. Hockey fans know all about him, of course, but locally Stamkos may be the best story no one is talking about. Most fans in Tampa can discuss the NFL draft in exacting detail or give you a rundown on B.J. Upton or the Rays' rotation, but Stamkos really hasn't gotten his due.

That's one thing the previous owners got right. Remember the billboard campaign that started even before he was formally drafted in 2008: Seen Stamkos? The Bolts have a player to build around, someone to take his place among the bright stars of the NHL for years to come.

That brings us back to Vinik and whatever his plans are for the coming weeks and months.

The first order will be to hire the man who'll reshape this team. The Bolts have some decent pieces but most people would agree that the goaltending needs a serious upgrade. There is also the question of Vinny Lecavalier's long-term, no-trade contract, and just how much of a millstone that will be as the Bolts transition more and more into a team led by Stamkos.

It's great that Stamkos can be a 50-goal scorer, and certainly Marty St. Louis played this season with the heart and soul everyone has come to expect. But a new general manager - and maybe a new coach - will have to find a way to make sure the pilot light stays lit under Vinny every night, and as we know that won't be easy.

I suspect we'll go through the usual Vinny trade rumors this summer (remembering that he can block any deal he doesn't like, and he never seems to like them). Maybe the new regime can be creative enough through trades or whatever to get the Bolts back into serious playoff contention, and perhaps that would be enough motivation for Lecavalier to be the player everyone expects.

Or, who knows, maybe they can work a deal with a contender and make it appealing enough for Vinny to accept a trade.

All I know is, here we go again.

Two years ago, all we talked about with the Bolts was the new owners and all the deals they made. We talked about the new coach, only to find that Barry Melrose was what many thought he was. As time wore on, we watched as those same owners squabbled with each other and ran short of money. We watched an organization that had won a Stanley Cup disintegrate on and off the ice.

Now we've reached the end of another season and we're still talking more about what might happen in the future because that beats talking about the present.

So bring on the vacuums. Bring on the cleaning crew.

The season is almost over, but for the Bolts that just means things are about to become interesting again.