Tampa Bay Lightning Nuts and Bolts

House for sale

Owner Oren Koules, right, is spending so much time in Tampa, he has put his Beverly Hills home on the market for $12.5-million. According to the listing, the 8,000-square-foot house has an infinity pool, four bedrooms, five bathrooms, three fireplaces and views of the Pacific Ocean.

As befits a Hollywood producer, it also has a 14-seat tiered screening room.

Why put the high-end home on the market in the midst of a real estate bust?

"I'm never there," Koules said.

Over the line

New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy took too big a leap last week when he called Lightning coach Barry Melrose's year-old comments about the city of Newark, N.J., home of the Devils' new stadium, borderline racist.

"Don't go outside if you have a wallet or anything else because the area around the arena is just horrible," said Melrose, at the time an ESPN commentator.

So, now, stating the obvious is racist?

Melrose probably went too far in his hyperbole. But the fact is, the area around the arena is not great, and Bondy went on to describe a drive-by shooting that caused some high schools to consider not sending teams to the city for football games.

Melrose said his comments were not racist.

"If you saw them, you know they weren't," he said. "It's just a reporter trying to get a story written. You're just disappointed when people write stuff like that."

Money well spent?

Colin Devine grew up in Toronto, lives in New York and works as a Wall Street research analyst. Strangely, the 49-year-old said he is a Lightning fan.

"You have a great young team," he said, "and my Leafs are awful."

Devine coughed up $4,300 for the Saw mask that G Mike Smith wore for a couple of games. The auction proceeds went to the Lightning Foundation.

Devine said he has a bunch of old sticks and Mark Messier's Rangers jersey from the first game at Madison Square Garden after 9/11. The best thing about Smith's mask? The outline of a Lightning bolt in one of the exposed teeth.

"Is that cool or what?" he said.

5 questions for D Steve Eminger

Best thing about Washington, D.C.?

There's a lot of things to do if people come to visit.

Best thing about Philly?

There's a lot of passion for the sports team.

Order a Philly cheesesteak.

Steak, lighter on the cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Describe the pressure of being a first-round draft pick.

There's pressure to perform. You were picked there for a reason.

Guilty pleasure at the mall?

A vanilla McDonald's ice cream cone.