Florida Panthers fire head coach Gerard Gallant
The Florida Panthers have fired head coach Gerard Gallant following their Sunday loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Following a Jack Adams nomination after the 2015-16 NHL season, Florida Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant was viewed as one of the best coaches in the league. However, the Jack Adams curse has struck again, with Gallant being fired following Sunday’s loss against the Hurricanes.
Confirmed: Florida Panthers have fired coach Gerard Gallant following Sunday's 2-1 loss to Carolina. More coming. pic.twitter.com/se9rRKkHNG
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) November 28, 2016
This comes as a bit of a surprise. While Florida hasn’t lived up to expectations yet, it’s probably not Gallant’s fault. It’s more due to losing Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad for an extended period of time than anything else. They have an 11-10-1 record through their first 22 games, putting them just outside of the playoff race.
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Gallant leaves the Panthers with a 96-64-25 record, good for a .586 point percentage. He led Florida to an unexpected Atlantic Division title in 2015-16, though they lost to the New York Islanders in the first round.
A veteran of 327 NHL games coached, don’t expect Gallant to be out of a job for long. At the very least, some team should hire him as an assistant coach. Gallant could emerge as a favorite for the head coaching job of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Replacing him will be general manager Tom Rowe, though he is just the interim head coach. Florida’s next game is on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, so expect the vacancy to get filled very quickly. Having the general manager as the coach is rare, but is more common than one would think. Most famously, Lou Lamiorello, now of the Toronto Maple Leafs, did so numerous times with the New Jersey Devils.
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Only time will tell if this is the right decision. But initially, firing Gallant because of an underachieving team seems to be a bit of a irrational decision. Perhaps something arose between Rose and the head coach.