I didn't really pay much attention to this whole exchange when it went down, but it's reached a level now that I can't ignore. Both Barry Melrose and the Tampa Bay Lightning took shots at each other recently, but since Melrose fired the first one, the Ligntning's Ownership is looking to take him to court for a breach of contract. Seriously....

The Tampa Bay Lightning ownership group is contemplating filing a charge with the league claiming Barry Melrose breached his contract when he spoke out Tuesday against his former team.

If the Lightning go ahead and the league supports the claim, they can than refuse to pay Melrose the remaining $2.25M owed on his 3-year deal.

"Finally the guys in charge decided they wanted to coach and they got rid of me. That's what it comes down to. It obviously wasn't a hockey decision, because it's not like they've set the world on fire since they got rid of me...Now they've got guys in charge that let them do what they want and obviously that isn't working out very well either."

When pressed about who he was referring to with his comments, Melrose said he had a lot of respect for co-owner Oren Koules, but didn't want to talk about other co-owner Len Barrie when asked directly about him.