A Good Weekend to be a Hockey Columnist

Disaster and misery always make a good sports story. So everyone is having a fine old time at the expense of the hapless Tampa Bay Lightning.

The firing of Barry Melrose has set off jeers throughout the hockey media, with much mockery of the team's new ownership group.

First prize goes to Joe Henderson at TBO.com, for working the phrase "bunch of trigger-happy goobs" into his column.

It's possible for a franchise to look more foolish than the Lightning do right now, but then again maybe not. They should abandon the Forum for a circus tent. In the league of serious people, these are the guys with big red noses that honk and squirt water.

Over at SI.com, Allan Muir likens Tampa's management approach to "the construction of Mr. Burns' softball team" (in honor of the classic Simpsons episode).

Garth Woolsey at TheStar.com has fun with the films made by Lightning co-owner Oren Koules. Inevitably, the list includes an entry in the Dumb and Dumber series.

Scott Burnside at ESPN.com goes the anonymous player route, and comes up with a nice tidbit:

One Lightning player told ESPN.com Friday night that Melrose was incredibly easygoing and personable. But he did not come to camp with a plan that was going to help a team that had undergone a dramatic overhaul of personnel in the offseason.

It was, the player said, like shinny hockey with a few fights thrown in for good measure.

There's much more. But let's conclude back in Florida, where Gary Shelton of tampabay.com declares the team "a punch line."

The laughter, we may assume, begins at John Tortorella's house. Before it is done, his neighbors might complain about the noise.

From there, it stretches to Dan Boyle's house, then maybe on to Jay Feaster's. Somewhere, perhaps even Brad Richards is having a chuckle. It spreads across the NHL, to every city and every franchise in the United States. And Canada? Oh, Canada is laughing hard enough to bust a gut.

Yes, it's been a good weekend to be a hockey columnist.

Postscript: Melrose sat in with Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, essentially describing the Lightning as a team run by a bunch of players who don't want to work hard.

Postscript II: For a more forgiving look at Tampa Bay's troubles, try Adam Proteau at The Hockey News.

Postscript III: The new era under new head coach Rick Tocchet began Sunday, with a blown two-goal lead and a shootout loss to Carolina.

Photo: Marty St. Louis can't bear to watch. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)