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Per various main stream media on twitter, Lightning fired Boucher

From Toronto Star:

"TAMPA, FLA.—The Tampa Bay Lightning have fired coach Guy Boucher.

The team announced the move on Sunday.

Assistant coaches Martin Raymond and Dan Lacroix will share coaching responsibilities for Sunday night’s game at Winnipeg.

Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said in a statement that “Guy has poured his heart and soul into the Lightning organization for these past three years and we appreciate all the work he has done.”

However, he said “ultimately I am not satisfied with the direction we are heading and I believe making a change today is in the best interest of our franchise.”

Tampa Bay is next to last in the Eastern Conference with a 13-17-1 record."

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more in depth into it.....

The decision came hours after the Lightning lost 5-3 to the Ottawa Senators, dropping them to 13-17-1, 14th in the Eastern Conference, five points out of a playoff spot.

"I'm not satisfied with the direction our hockey club is going," Yzerman said at a press conference Sunday in Winnipeg, where the Lightning will face the Jets Sunday night. "This isn't a reaction [or] a desperate act to try to make the [stanley Cup] Playoffs, although that is still our hope, regardless of where we sit in the standings. It is done with not only the short-term, but more importantly the long-term of our organization, where we're going and where we want to get to."

Boucher was hired in June 2010, not long after Yzerman was hired as general manager, and in their first season together, Boucher guided the Lightning the franchise's second-ever 100-point season, a return to the playoffs after a three-year absence and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost 1-0 in Game 7 to the eventual Cup champion Boston Bruins.

However, the Lightning missed the playoffs last season and look to be heading to a second straight season out of the postseason in 2012-13.

"I've noticed the difference in our play, difference in the attitude as an observation of our players and felt the situation is quickly worsening and something needs to be done immediately," Yzerman said.

He added that the previous two games -- a 6-4 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday prior to the loss to the Senators on Saturday -- convinced him a change was needed.

"Just the last two games that we've played … watching the entire situation after [saturday's] game," Yzerman said, "I felt this needs to be addressed immediately."

Yzerman said assistant coaches Eric Lacroix and Martin Raymond, along with player development coach Steve Thomas would handle the coaching duties for the game Sunday against the Jets.

Beyond that, Yzerman said he hopes to have a new coach in place before the Lightning's next game, Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres. Among the rumored replacements are former Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who Yzerman, as executive director of Canada's 2010 Olympic team, hired as an assistant coach, and Jon Cooper, who won an American Hockey League championship with the Norfolk Admirals, the Lightning's AHL affiliate last season, and has their affiliate this season, the Syracuse Crunch, atop the league standings.

"I would tell you that I'm hopeful I can get something in place as quickly as possible," Yzerman said of a potential replacement. "I'm not looking to drag things out. I have an idea of what I want to do and a plan for what I want to do and I'm trying to get that accomplished as soon as possible. … I'm going to hire and name a head coach for the remainder of this year and years to come."

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Ruff???

why not :rolleyes: ...smart move I think

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Maybe this is the wrong place to post this, but now that Boucher's been fired, will there be any calls for him to come here if things tank with this team?

what team you referring too?

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are expected to announce Jon Cooper as the franchise's ninth head coach as early as Tuesday. Cooper is in his third season coaching the Lightning's American Hockey League team, the Syracuse Crunch, who sit first in the Eastern Conference. Full Story.

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