The Lightning have just fired head coach Barry Melrose, waiting until 4:30 p.m. on Friday to announce the move. Rick Tocchet has been named coach.

Melrose had a 5-7-4 record this season.

"This was a tough decision to make," Lightning GM Brian Lawton said. "Barry is a good man and we have a great deal of respect for him. We wish him nothing but success. However, the results were unacceptable and the players have to understand that we need to be better. Hopefully this change helps push them.

"As for Rick Tocchet, we think this is a great opportunity for him and we believe he’s the type of coach who can take the team to the next level. Our players have a great deal of respect for him."

I've been all over this bogus hiring from Day 1, as it's a move that reeked of meddling and incompetent ownership, and this is a fitting end to this portion of the Lightning's 2008-09 saga. Tocchet's a good coach and will have more success with this roster than Melrose has to this point.

Damian Cristodero from Lightning Strikes will be following this one all night, I imagine, and I'll do my best to roundup some of the reaction as it comes in. Let's just say I don't imagine there'll be many shocked pundits in the hockey world over this one.

Melrose skipped practice on Tuesday after a war of words with a few players and there have been rumours this week he was not getting along with Vinny Lecavalier. Lecavalier's ice time dipped to only 16:32 against Detroit earlier this week.

I've said it before, but here goes again: What's happening in Tampa Bay this season is asinine, and threatens to ruin whatever goodwill the team's 2004 Stanley Cup win created in the market. The Lightning are already averaging more than 2,000 fewer fans per game than they did a year ago, and those numbers are going to slide further if they remain near the bottom of the conference.

The way this ownership group treated Jay Feaster, Dan Boyle and others in the organization is downright disgraceful and it's only going to come back to bite them in the end. The unfortunate thing is that Tampa Bay, as a hockey market, is headed back where it started, as every hardcore fan I talk to is livid with how the past few months have unfolded.

And Oren Koules and Len Barrie are about to lose a whole lotta money that I'm not sure they have at their disposal.