1. Barry Melrose

With a greased-back mane to match, Melrose was handed the keys to the Ferrari in his return to the NHL when he was lured from ESPN to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning just a week before Steven Stamkos was selected first overall in 2008.

His ability to coach superstars unfortunately vanished during his time away from the game, after coaching Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup Final in 1993.

Melrose grossly mismanaged Stamkos's usage in his introduction to the NHL, playing him third-line minutes on a retooling roster. But it wasn't until the axe fell, after compiling a 5-7-4 record, that he revealed his uninhibited and utterly ridiculous take on the future star.

"Steven is not ready for the NHL," said Melrose.

Tampa Bay didn't have an immediate reversal in fortune, though, but the effect on Stamkos was striking. With increased ice time, he improved on his two goals under Melrose to finish with 23 - tops among players in the 2008 draft class.

2) Mario Tremblay

Sure, his coaching record is hardly egregious. But as we've recently been reminded, the job is as much about relationships as it is results.

Tremblay spent two seasons behind the Montreal Canadiens' bench after being handed a roster two seasons removed from the franchise's NHL-record 24th Stanley Cup. He led the Canadiens to two postseason appearances, but suffered consecutive first-round defeats.

The ho-hum record was disappointing - not damning - but he managed to do irrevocable damage to the proudest of franchises in his short-lived stint.

Tremblay's long-running feud with Patrick Roy came to a crescendo 24 games into his tenure, when he left the star goalie in net for nine goals against the Detroit Red Wings. That night, Roy - the greatest of his generation - vowed to never play for Montreal again, and he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche two days later.

3) Wayne Gretzky

There's a reason why The Great One is apprehensive about joining another NHL front office. It didn't go terribly well the first time 'round.

Gretzky was more of a failed investment than a reputable boss in four seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes. He made an exorbitant amount of money (more than anyone in pads, skates and a helmet) as the floundering franchise attempted to create a winning identity by having the game's greatest player front its supposed revival.

He was given every opportunity to right the ship, but when his cache wore off on his misfit roster, Gretzky lost his voice and the movement stalled. The Coyotes finished above the .500 mark just once in his four seasons and never made the playoffs.

4) Dave Lewis

In 2002, after winning his third Stanley Cup as an assistant, Dave Lewis inherited arguably the greatest team of that generation: the 116-point, President's Trophy-winning, Stanley Cup champion Red Wings.

It was supposed to be a seamless passing of the torch, having a coach groomed by the likes of Jacques Demers, Bryan Murray and Scottie Bowman use his lettered education to keep the Wings in cruise control.

That was the case in the regular season, as he posted back-to-back 48-win seasons, but Lewis failed to make the necessary playoff adjustments and was canned after consecutive postseason upsets.

Lewis would resurface with the Boston Bruins in 2006, only to have his inadequacies exposed further without the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Federov and Brendan Shanahan. He was promptly fired after a last-place finish in the Northeast Division

5) Dallas Eakins

From coaches who failed miserably to one assembling the trump card, there isn't an active bench boss with a track record worse than Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins.

Now in his second season, Eakins' peerless .409 career winning percentage continues to regress as the Oilers have stumbled to a league-worst 6-14-2 record.

Once the hottest coaching prospect in the game, Eakins' experimental tactics have crashed and burned. In failing to produce any semblance of team defense, he's spearheaded the spoiled development of a cast of former first-round selections.

Through the on-ice misery, and even an attempt to impose dietary restrictions on the media, Eakins continues to survive it all despite the mounting losses.