As was mentioned in this weekend's Puck Headlines, a rumor was passed along on Hockey Night in Canada that new Tampa Bay Lightning owner Oren Koules would replace current head coach John Tortorella with ESPN mullet Barry Melrose; whom we assume would quit his position with the Newark chamber of commerce to coach his first NHL team in 13 years. (But who would replace The Mullet on the WWL? Don Cherry? Shakira?)

Damian Cristodero of Lightning Strikes reached out to the former Los Angeles Kings coach about the rumor, and received the expected denial that no formal talks have occurred:

As Melrose said, "The last I heard, John Tortorella was the coach there, so there's not much I can talk about."

Still, it is enough to log in that the rumor is out there. Melrose said he has not spoken to Koules or any representative from the Lightning about the Tampa Bay job. In fact, he said he did not know of Strachan's comments until some "buddies" called him Saturday night to inform him.

Here are the facts: Melrose told Cristodero that he's been waiting to take his well-tailored pimp suits back behind an NHL bench. "I've said it several times, I would love to coach again. You're always watching, always talking, what you would do in situations," he said. Meanwhile, Torts has told GM Jay Feaster that it may be better for the Lightning to have someone else coaching the team next season, and Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune believes that's a smashing idea.

But is Barry Melrose the right mullet for the job? Based on the feedback on Lightning Strikes, that would be a negative. Comment ‘o the day: "[And] Neil Smith will be the GM... for two days. Sean Burke will then retire and replace Smith as the GM." Ha!

No, we didn't think we'd have two posts about the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 28^th, either. And what's with Flyers fans vandalizing Melrose's Wikipedia page?