Poor show of faith in Tortorella

TAMPA -- The people who run the Lightning made a mistake last summer. They had a chance to make a strong statement about the direction they want the team to go, and they blew it.

Tampa Bay should have given coach John Tortorella a contract extension. Instead, it picked up his $450,000 option in February and gave him an option for 2003-04.

This discussion has nothing to do with wins and losses, the mistakes Tortorella made last season dealing with Vinny Lecavalier or how you feel about the goatee he is nurturing. It is simply about doing the right thing, and considering what Tortorella has done since taking the job in January 2001 after Steve Ludzik was fired, not rewarding him was wrong.

What makes this situation strange is that Lightning ownership and management, publicly and privately, are extremely positive about the job Tortorella and his staff are doing.

Why, then, did they not solidify his contract? Why not send a message that they believe in the coach, and that players, especially those with issues, better get on board?

Why not say the merry-go-round that produced five coaches in six seasons (including interim Rick Paterson after Terry Crisp was fired) has to stop?

Why, for goodness' sake, create the impression Tortorella is a lame duck?

Maybe they want to keep him on edge. Insecurity is a great motivator, after all. Maybe they want to see if the rift between him and Lecavalier will be healed, something that should be as much Lecavalier's responsibility as Tortorella's. Maybe they want to see the results Tortorella can generate before making a longer commitment.

Or maybe Lightning owner Palace Sports & Entertainment doesn't want to lock Tortorella into a long-term deal because of a hope someone will buy the team.

This is just speculation. Palace Sports CEO Tom Wilson insists the team is not for sale. But let's not kid ourselves. Considering the Lightning lost about $38-million the past three years, if someone came along with an offer, Wilson would listen.

It is like, Wilson said, if someone made an offer for your house even if it wasn't on the market.

Funny thing about new owners, they usually want their coaches. Palace Sports paid $1.35-million to buy out the final three years of Jacques Demers' contract when it fired him after buying the team and the St. Pete Times Forum's lease in June 1999.

What does the Lightning have with Tortorella? A coach for whom the players play.

We're not talking about personalities; no coach is buddies with everyone. But they played for him last season, and when an injury-riddled team is going nowhere except home in April, that says something.

Tortorella is well-prepared and no-nonsense and demands the same of his players, whom he expects to play both ends of the ice.

He demanded, with the help of Dave Andreychuk, Tim Taylor and Grant Ledyard, the players strengthen their bond in the locker room. He also took all the heat for taking Lecavalier's captaincy last season, though it was an organizational decision and the correct one.

Tortorella has made mistakes. He can be inflexible.

It was a bad idea to dress down Lecavalier in front of teammates between periods of a game early last season. There are better ways to handle a sensitive ego, much less one attached to the team's best player, than embarrassing it.

And in his first job as an NHL head coach (he was the Rangers' interim four games in 1999-2000), Tortorella hasn't won.

That always is the bottom line, but with Tampa Bay's puny payroll, which ties the hands of general manager Jay Feaster, that criticism has to be tempered. Nikolai Khabibulin can only do so much.

The Lightning is competitive, and Tortorella's message of accountability with a harsh and critical eye is correct.

The team should have acknowledged it.