Lightning fire Lawton and Tocchet

Dash wrote:

shabbs wrote:Well, they've missed the post season three times in a row... and they probably wanted to give the new GM a clean slate to bring in his own coach.

Rangers should do the same then. Sather has to go for the sake of the team.

not until he takes Cheechoo and Kovalev off our hands.

Yeah Tocchet got shortchanged on this one.

Lawton was a no-brainer, Tocchet is collateral, the new guy will want a more established coach I think.

Sounds like there was some serious differences of opinion between Lawton and Tocchet and some communications issues. Ownership clearly wants to start fresh and do a top down approach so that everyone has their "own guy" in place.

Tocchet didn't do a good enough job to be spared either though IMO.

Rumour has it Sather negotiated a handshake deal last off-season with one of the owners of Tampa where Stamkos would be traded to NYR. Lawton refused to cooperate and it didn't happen.

Lawton should keep his job based on that alone. That's probably not enough for Sather, though.

Tocchet did a good job with Stamkos and Downie. He is collateral damage but with the lineup he had the Bolts should've gotten a playoff spot or been far more competitive for one.

It's been a gong show there with the management there so I don't blame the new owner for cleaning house and starting fresh.

asq2 wrote:Rumour has it Sather negotiated a handshake deal last off-season with one of the owners of Tampa where Stamkos would be traded to NYR. Lawton refused to cooperate and it didn't happen.

Lawton should keep his job based on that alone. That's probably not enough for Sather, though.

One of the owners shot that deal down, right? I definitely hear about this. Two of Dubinsky, Callahan, Anisimov and a couple of other higher profile young players.

Don't expect a well-known GM or coach to be hired in Tampa Bay this coming year. The rumours that the two owners are not only feuding, but have different agendas for the team are pretty well substantiated.
One is trying to be involved more hands on with the running of the team including front office while the other is trying to grow the marketing and sales side of the team.
The problem is, the one interfering in the front office and management of the team doesn't know enough hockey to be making those calls.
The failed Stamkos trade stands out as one attempt.
Rumour has it there was absolutely no respect between Lawton, a stand up GM and a well respected hockey man around the league, and one of the owners.
Additionally, there would appear to be a rift that had developed between Tocchet and management because of Lecavalier. Lecavalier was not happy with being supplanted by Stamkos as the team's top player, playing almost a full minute less per game than Steve was.
From what I heard, in an effort to save money, there was a lot of pressure put on Lawton to trade Lecavalier this past year - especially at the deadline. But the offers weren't good enough for Lawton to convince Lecavalier to waive his NMC. And he also believed that the team could make a push and get close to the playoffs.
They ended up missing and the owners blamed him for not being able to save some more money - the team is expected to lose approximately $20 million this year (half of which is made up of Lecavalier's yearly salary).

It's a circus down there guys. The rodeo's in town, the sheriff's on vacation and the loony bin has taken over the management. You'll hear more about this story this summer.

The lightning are no longer owned by the "clowns" as Torterella called them.

Vinick is now the owner and as a result he decided to clean house.

PKC wrote:Don't expect a well-known GM or coach to be hired in Tampa Bay this coming year. The rumours that the two owners are not only feuding, but have different agendas for the team are pretty well substantiated.
One is trying to be involved more hands on with the running of the team including front office while the other is trying to grow the marketing and sales side of the team.
The problem is, the one interfering in the front office and management of the team doesn't know enough hockey to be making those calls.
The failed Stamkos trade stands out as one attempt.
Rumour has it there was absolutely no respect between Lawton, a stand up GM and a well respected hockey man around the league, and one of the owners.
Additionally, there would appear to be a rift that had developed between Tocchet and management because of Lecavalier. Lecavalier was not happy with being supplanted by Stamkos as the team's top player, playing almost a full minute less per game than Steve was.
From what I heard, in an effort to save money, there was a lot of pressure put on Lawton to trade Lecavalier this past year - especially at the deadline. But the offers weren't good enough for Lawton to convince Lecavalier to waive his NMC. And he also believed that the team could make a push and get close to the playoffs.
They ended up missing and the owners blamed him for not being able to save some more money - the team is expected to lose approximately $20 million this year (half of which is made up of Lecavalier's yearly salary).

It's a circus down there guys. The rodeo's in town, the sheriff's on vacation and the loony bin has taken over the management. You'll hear more about this story this summer.

Wow, disgusting, I wish I was a GM, I would love to take over that and start axing people.

Devo wrote:The lightning are no longer owned by the "clowns" as Torterella called them.

Vinick is now the owner and as a result he decided to clean house.

Doesn't mean that it's not still a clown-house. Yet another major upper management and ownership change in a short span. The team, players, staff and fans are lost my friend.
It's a real mess down there, and then team is losing more money than the NHL is willing to let on.

I hardly think that management and ownership changes in a few of these markets will make a difference. As long as these teams are located where they are, they will continue to lose money and be the laughing stock of pro sports.