From Tortellini to Rosemary: One Month into The Barry Melrose Era in Tampa Bay

1992...that's a long time ago.

In 1992, Roman Hamrlik (a defenseman out of the Czech Republic) was taken first overall in the entry draft by the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning.

In 2008, Markham native Steven Stamkos was the first overall choice by the same Lightning.

During the 1992/93 season the farthest any NHL team travelled from home was across the country; the Los Angeles Kings played the Chicago Blackhawks in Milwaukee, the Calgary Flames travelled to Cincinnati to take on the Philadelphia Flyers, and a variety of other teams saw action in venues such as Indianapolis, Saskatoon, and Cleveland.

To start of the 2008/09 season, the Tampa Lightning and New York Rangers opened up the season in the Czech Republic, while the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins opened the NHL's regular season up in Sweden.

Manon Rheaume made history in 1992 by playing goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning, becoming the first woman to ever set foot in one of the four main professional sports leagues in North America.

Today, Michelle Wie is making a mockery of herself on the LPGA, as well as the PGA tour, and Hayley Wickenheiser has already sent shockwaves throughout men's hockey worldwide, playing in both the Finnish and Swedish hockey leagues.

When you look at it, there are some pretty interesting similarities between the 1992/93 NHL season (and sports in general) and the 2008/09 season (which has barely even begun). Two of the more important ones though, is that the Tampa Bay Lightning are still an NHL franchise, and that Barry Melrose is once again in his first year of coaching with a new team.

Sidenote: Here's another eerie little tidbit about 1992/93: That season it was the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup. Your Stanley Cup champion? The Montreal Canadiens. Guess whose 100th anniversary it is this year hmmm? For those of you out there who believe in coincidences, I'd go and place your bets now.

In the thirteen years since Melrose last coached in the NHL (he coached for two more seasons in Los Angeles following the 1992/93 season), the landscape of the NHL has changed dramatically.

First of all, there are four news teams (Minnesota—although the North Stars were moved from Minnesota partway through Melrose's tenure so he's not foreign to a Minnesota team, Columbus, Atlanta, and Nashville) in the NHL, which are thanks to it's newest commissioner.

Gary Bettman took over as NHL Commissioner in early 1993 (replacing outgoing President Gil Stein), and since his early reign things have changed mightily.

While Melrose was around for the first era of "labour unrest" in 1994/95, the NHL has since suffered through a second work stoppage since Barry's departure, and the business landscape has undergone as many changes as the on-ice product has.

When Melrose last coaches, the NHL was just on the cusp of it's slide downward to lower scoring, tighter-checked games, and a more defensive era. As the years progressed though, it was determined that hockey fans didn't like close games, so scoring needed to go back up.

As Melrose retraces his steps back behind an NHL bench, the marketing directors and the public relations suits (as well as Bettman) have determined that "scoring sells baby", forcing some teams to go with a more up-beat, fast-paced, eye-catching offense in an attempt to deal (and keep up) with the rule changes, in hopes of putting fans in the stands.

Since the 1992/93 season, the average player salary has quadrupled. In '92, players made (on average) $467,000 per season. In 2008 they now make just under $2 million ($1.9 million to be exact) for 82 games worth of work.

Sidenote: I guess you could also note that in 1992 the season was 84 games long. Meaning that you get four times the pay for slightly less work—making this the most staggering raise in history since Hugh Heffner's last lap dance.

Financially however, this is unmatched.

During Melrose's last "era" as head coach, Eric Lindros was not only an up-and-coming superstar, but the highest paid player at $3.5 million followed by Wayne Gretzky (who played under Melrose in Los Angeles) at $3 million.

Now, not only is Lindros out of the league due to injury and Gretzky coaching the Phoenix Coyotes to a better season, but Melrose has three players on his roster making more than Gretzky's $3 million from that season—four of which (Ryan Malone, Vaclav Prospal, Martin St Louis, and Radim Vrbata) hold nowhere near the level of dominance or skill that Gretzky and the Big E brought to the game during that era (with Lecavalier being the only one remotely close to that level).

In essence, that means that Melrose has gone from dealing with players trying to outdo each other simply for a job, to baby-sitting multi-millionaires trying to out-perform each other in hopes of garnering themselves a bigger payday without coaching through the transition period.

Without the transition period, Melrose has essentially been lifted from an era where lines had to be balanced and matched up based on effectiveness and track records, and dropped into an era where egos and status overtake a players mind and sometimes wrap the coaches up in it's stranglehold as well—a problem that we've seen envelope far too many coaches who were unable to balance the egos.

Additionally, Melrose also has to deal with the expectations of properly utilizing his top-rookie sensations while having to prioritize his veteran egos. Going into the 1992 season, Melrose's Los Angeles Kings didn't even have a draft pick until the second round of the entry draft, where they took Justin Hoking—a one-game wonder who didn't see action until 1994.

This past offseason, top-pick Steven Stamjos was signed to his first contract (and essentially on his first NHL roster) before we had even flipped the calender to August, with the expectation of Stamkos making an immediate impact at the NHL-level.

With those pressures weighing on the 18-year old's mind, the expectation of immediate utilization of his prized rookie rested solely on Melrose.

Fuses were also longer in 1992/93, as the mass-media influx still had yet to fully develop the "what have you done for me lately" attitude. If Melrose hadn't have jumped out to a hot start with the Kings (16-7-2 and they were also without Gretzky because of a herniated disc), then his grace period wouldn't be in danger of coming to an end.

Today with a rebuilt Lightning squad which was deemed "ready to compete for a playoff spot" right out of the gate this season, they faltered to a 5-4-4 record (5-5-4 with last night's loss to the Washington Capitals), whispers are abound as to whether Melrose's newest tenure will last much longer, or if he'll be sent back to the broadcast booth.

We've also seen a rise in the importance of special teams since the mid-90s era of hockey, which hasn't helped the Lightning (or Melrose's) case this season either. The team is sporting (prior to Monday's game) a 79.7% penalty kill (they were also nine for their last twenty-six) and a 14.6% powerplay, good for 21st and 25th in the league respectively.

On top of the on-ice issues with changing strategy and game-play, the role of the owner in sports has become more and more prominent. While Ralph Wilson and Al Davis seem to rule the National Football League world, Len Barrie and Oren Koules have since joined George Gillet Jr. and Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (You may or may not like them but face it, they're the owner that everyone knows) as the power players in NHL ownership.

Owners have begun to take a more hands-on approach with their teams and although Tampa's owners have denied it, scripting plays and power play strategy during intermissions from the owners box (or coming down to the dressing room to do it) has become a less-than-unlikely possibility in the past few seasons in any sport.

In an ironic twist of fate, the exact man the owners were accused of scripting plays for was the same man they hand-picked to hire (If in doubt, ask Jay Feaster), and because of this Melrose not only knew the business situation he was getting in to, but he still had a grasp on the current state of the game despite his absence (Let's face it here folks: He wasn't away from the game, he just wasn't coaching it).

Despite all of this though, the eleventh-place tie in the Eastern Conference standings is the first place the eyes dart to when judging Melrose.

What we need to realize though, is that although Melrose is having a bit of trouble early on, what exactly were we expecting anyways? I mean what last-place team has ever made the playoffs the following season after changing ownership, a coach, a GM, and just over half of it's roster (the Lightning have ten carry-overs from last season)?

When chemistry plays as big a part in your sport as it does hockey, success simply won't come at the drop of a hat.

And to those who've decided that Melrose isn't properly using Steven Stamkos, I'm sure you can email him. I mean on any other team, Stamkos would have probably been sent back to the OHL by now so that he could refine his skills and regain some confidence. But because he's a first-overall pick, because the marketing department has been tooting this kid's horn for so long, and because he's going to replace Brad Richards as the third member of the Big Three, he "has" to stay up.

So what would you do with an ineffective rookie who seems to be locked in at the NHL level? If you limit his ice time (as Melrose has done) to give him the opportunity to start working on the basics of his game, then the fans complain. If you give him more ice-time, then the lack of scoring hurts a team tied for last in the conference in goals-for.

If you were to "break the rules" and send him back to the OHL, then the Floridians (Floridites? Tampa Bayians?) revolt and fly themselves back to Canada (at least all of those over 65 do).

I'll be the first to readily admit that I have the Tampa Bay Lightning little-to-no-credit heading into the season, mainly because I didn't see how a rusty coach could have immediate success with a team that was completely foreign to each other, let alone a Head Coach.

To be honest? I'm still skeptical as to whether or not the Bolts will have any strong, extended success throughout the rest of the season.

But since losing to the San Jose Sharks 3-0 on October 25th, the Lightning have had a 3-game winning streak and they're 4-2-1 in their past seven.

Melrose still has yet to prove whether or not he's a miracle worker, but he is responsible for an unseasonably (at least in Canada) warm seven game streak in early November.

While it may not be the same as his early days with the Los Angeles Kings during the 1992/93 season, a streak is a streak, and the 'rose is starting to smell a little sweeter.

Sometimes things just need time. After all, it's already been thirteen years for the man's second shot—if Melrose can turn this around soon, what's another month or two?

Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer for Bleacher Report and an NHL Community Leader. If you want to get in contact with Bryan, you can do so through his profile. You can also check out all of his previous work in his archives.