You know, there is a sentiment of negativity around John Tortorella through the NHL… Last season, there were rumors of his imminent demise in Hockeybay for employing the same type of public-attack antics against his players as some of the gruff and tumble coaches of yore have employed.
Fast forward to IceFest yesterday and John unloaded on outgoing team CEO Tom Wilson. Only available in the St. Pete Times print edition, Tortorella blamed Wilson for putting a number of hurdles in the teams way. Torts didn’t unload on Bill Davidson but didn’t think highly of Palace Sports and Entertainment as owners. To use an adage (and this is not Tortorella’s words — I am saying this as a paraphrase), the Lightning were the red-headed step children of the Michigan entertainment empire.
You know, I haven’t read all the news concerning the Lightning sale (I had something else on my mind) but something’s tickled my curiosity the last few days… that being the Asheville Tourists. I can remember Ron Campbell talking about the Lightning franchise acquiring the minor league baseball team as an asset. That basically means the Tourists were/are owned by Palace Sports as well… But are they part of the sale of the Lightning to Absolute Hockey?
