The Lighting's run to the Cup in 2004 was nothing short of scintillating, and the future seemed so bright. But things have gotten progressively uglier over the past four years, with the organization consistently making ill-advised decisions that hamper progress.

The latest move to backfire was the offseason hiring of Barry Melrose to be the team's head coach, but Melrose lasted only 16 games before GM Brian Lawton had seen enough and pulled the plug on the failed experiment.

"This was a tough decision to make," general manager 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."

Now assistant coach Rick Tocchet will take over, but there's little reason to believe that things will improve. For while the game might have passed Melrose by--his coaching style a product of a different era--the real problem in Tampa is the personnel.

An offseason spending spree landed a hodge-podge of veterans including Mark Recchi, Ryan Malone, Radim Vrbata, Olaf Kolzig, Adam Hall, Wyatt Smith, Gary Roberts and Vinny Prospal, but it was a pipe dream to expect the new arrivals to immediately gel with first overall draft pick Steven Stamkos and veteran superstars Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis.

The Lightning have been trying to fill a cavernous hole in goal since Nikolai Khabibulin departed as a free agent following the 2004-05 lockout. Former GM Jay Feaster may have finally found the answer to that dilemma with last season's trade deadline acquisition of Mike Smith from the Dallas Stars, a transaction for which he won't receive his due credit. Smith has performed admirably this season, stopping nearly 93% of the shots he's faced.

The blue line corps has been further gutted following this week's jettisoning of Matt Carle to Philadelphia, and now one of the team's most underrated strengths during their Cup run has become without question their biggest weakness.

But the porous blue line has hardly been the only problem. Up front, Lecavalier and St. Louis have failed to step up and lead. Indeed, their poor production through the first 16 games (23 points combined) probably had more to do with Melrose's firing than any other factor.

Looking ahead, it'll be up to Tocchet to try to get more out of Lecavalier, St. Louis and company. The good news, if there is any in Tampa right now, is that the Lightning play in the NHL's weakest division. None of their rivals (Washington, Carolina, Florida, or Atlanta) boast a blue line corps more fearsome than theirs, and so a turnaround is more possible than it should be given their suspect personnel.