[News] Panthers fire Head Coach Gallant

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I wonder if Barkov's slow start is part of the reason Gallant was let go.

Jagr has been abysmal from what I've seen so far, looks like he is done. Barkov literally has to do everything by himself on that line. Also the Panthers lost Huberdeau at the start of the season and Barkov had great chemistry with him.

I'd say those are the main things for his slow start.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

The Doug MacLean School of General Management™

speaking of MacLean

Doug Maclean
@Dougielarge congrats you are now a hockey expert .

Doug Cifu
@DougMaclean thanks! Studied all your terrific moves over 9 (?) years in Columbus! Well done.

Doug Maclean ‏
@Dougielarge thx appreciate your kind words. Good luck

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Saqe

Jagr has been abysmal from what I've seen so far, looks like he is done. Barkov literally has to do everything by himself on that line. Also the Panthers lost Huberdeau at the start of the season and Barkov had great chemistry with him.

I'd say those are the main things for his slow start.

Yup: This.

Instead of messing around with the defense, and bottom 6 forwards, as well as a backup goalie, maybe Rowe should have been concerned that there was no clear succession plan to a 44 year old playing on the top line.

But yeah, it's totally the coach's fault that they haven't scored a ton of goals, even with Marchessault going into beast mode for the first 20 games (maybe Gallant should be given some credit for that one??? Nah...fire him).

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Gallant waiting for cab to take him away from PNC arena after being fired:



Apparently he was left to fend for himself after the panthers let him go.

I saw this posted on HF from poster tarheelhockey who was there as Gallant's taxi was loaded and his take on it...

I was there. It was worse than the photos make it look.

At PNC Arena, the service entrance is where both teams leave the building. As a result, a crowd of fans gathers there after every game to look for autographs and get some face time with the players. Tonight, there was a mix of Canes fans, Panthers fans, and miscellaneous Jagr fans. I was out there with my 8 year old son because he wanted to get his stick signed.

After nearly all the Hurricanes players had left, the Florida buses were still parked at the loading dock. That never happens, because visiting teams usually have a plane to catch and beat it out of there quickly. It became a topic of conversation between the fans and security that the Panthers were taking a weirdly long time to leave.

Around that time, I checked the Canes GDT and saw a post that Gallant had been fired. So naturally, my reaction was to turn to the first person next to me and say something like, 'Holy crap, they're still here because they just canned their coach!". Which of course broke the news to everyone in earshot, and so everyone was talking about it by the time the Panthers buses finally pulled out.

By the time Gallant came out 10 or 15 minutes later, the whole crowd at the security gate knew what had happened. He had to come all the way out of the secure area into the public parking lot, with half a dozen arena employees helping him carry his bags to a taxi which was very conspicuously parked right in front of everyone.

The point being, what you don't see in those photos is the crowd of fans 50 feet away who were ALL taking pictures and video while Gallant awkwardly waited for the cab to get loaded. The worst part (and I considered not mentioning this, as it really doesn't reflect well on our fanbase) was one guy singing the "Hey Hey Goodbye" song in Gallant's direction.

So yes, that was just about the worst possible way it could have gone down, short of breaking the news to him on live TV or something.

[chubeyr1]

A thread title saying GG is no longer head coach would of been much more interesting.

Never the less Gallant getting fired and the way it was done was classless.

I didn't expect him to be fired, he is respected league wide. How he was treated was not right.

Never the less our GG, if the exact same happened I would say it was deserved.

Never the less not the right way to fire a coach. Have some class!

[smiggy77]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

The point being, what you don't see in those photos is the crowd of fans 50 feet away who were ALL taking pictures and video while Gallant awkwardly waited for the cab to get loaded. The worst part (and I considered not mentioning this, as it really doesn't reflect well on our fanbase) was one guy singing the "Hey Hey Goodbye" song in Gallant's direction.

Boy, that has got to be one of the worst feelings in the world.

[Locke]

Wow, I'd take Skype over that any day.

What a bunch of ass holes.

Seriously? Show some class.

[Flash Walken]

Florida quickly negating their climate and income tax advantage.

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

speaking of MacLean

I generally hate Maclean, but he did lead the Panthers to their only cup finals. I don't think it's good for the owner to get into a big twitter war with him.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Florida quickly negating their climate and income tax advantage.

And also negating any goodwill they built amongst the fan base over the last couple of years.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

And also negating any goodwill they built amongst the fan base over the last couple of years.

You know, I didn't think of that, but if the team goes into the stinker for an extended period this could be really bad for ownership.

[Stay Golden]

Panthers record 22 GP 11 - 10 - 1
23 pts. 10th in East.
Flames record 25 GP 10 - 13 - 2
22 pts 11th in West.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Panthers record 22 GP 11 - 10 - 1
23 pts. 10th in East.
Flames record 25 GP 10 - 13 - 2
22 pts 11th in West.

edit: nm

[Cali Panthers Fan]

So, I don't know if anyone caught Elliott Friedman's interview with Tom Rowe before HNIC tonight, but it sounds like the Gallant firing came from Vinnie Viola, the owner. Viola calls Rowe after the 2nd period asking about the game they were suddenly losing after leading early on. Viola goes on to ask Rowe to call him when the game was over, and to make sure Gallant was on the line. It also sounds like Tom tried to talk him out of it, asking him to wait until the end of the road trip/mid-December, evaluate what was going on, and make a decision then. He was also saying how much the team loved Gallant and how Rowe actually thought Gallant was the right guy. Viola was also the one to put Rowe behind the bench, not Tom.

The interview makes things even more mysterious when Friedman breaks down the structure of the franchise (I believe he only did this on HNIC). Rowe was named the GM but it sounds like most of the power lies with the two AGMs: Joyce and Werier. Rowe sort of answers to them now.

So basically, they moved Tallon out of actual hockey ops so that Viola could have more say in the running of the team. They put Rowe in as the GM to function as no more than a "yes man" to Viola, and then just does whatever Viola wants to do.

Further, the other AGMs are not highly experienced hockey minds (both are very young), but more advanced stat guys who are probably feeding Viola a tunnel vision narrative of how the Panthers are doing. They also help to make lineup decisions from game to game and often suggest who to play and how much.

This is bad, bad news for the Panthers. Owners meddling in the team affairs never goes well, and it's likely to be really bad for a franchise that has already had problems with stability. Their management structure is also a joke, and it sounds like Viola has put far too much trust in two young guys without enough patience to run through a cold stretch.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/f...sits-tom-rowe/

[SportsJunky]

Friedman asked Rowe straight out if player moves and coaching decisions were completely his call and Rowe answered yes. Something doesn't sound kosher here.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Friedman asked Rowe straight out if player moves and coaching decisions were completely his call and Rowe answered yes. Something doesn't sound kosher here.

What else would he say?

[Blaster86]

Oh good! At least the Canucks don't have to go down the "######ed owners" path alone!

[socalwingfan]

^ nice word choice - stay classy Vancouver

[flamesfan1297]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Oh good! At least the Canucks don't have to go down the "######ed owners" path alone!

Could probably add Edmonton to that group

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by socalwingfan

^ nice word choice - stay classy Vancouver

Look up the definition of ######ed. See how it was used in my sentence. Find out that it is accurate to the definition of the word. Be sad that you can't have righteous indignation anymore. Find new small, stupid thing to be upset about.