Florida Panthers fire head coach Gerard Gallant

The Florida Panthers have fired coach Gerard Gallant following an underwhelming start to the season.

An hour earlier, Gallant was behind the bench of a 3-2 loss.

“We had some good looks”, Panther head coach Gerard Gallant said.

The good news for Rowe is the Panthers don’t have to travel very far.

Viktor Stalberg and Derek Ryan also scored for Carolina, with Ryan getting his first of the season.

The AP reported that Gallant spoke to the media following the loss, only to be told shortly thereafter that he was being let go.

Panther’s general manager, Tom Rowe takes over the head coaching position for now.

As for Rowe, he has spent most of his hockey career as a coach, mostly in the AHL, as well as an assistant with the Hurricanes. “Made a coaching change”. The team also parted ways with assistant coach, Mike Kelly as well.

The 11-10-1 Panthers have struggled to gather momentum this season as they’ve dealt with injuries to Jonathan Huberdeau, Nick Bjugstad and Alex Petrovic.

Gallant was critical of the lack of toughness – aside from veteran forward Shawn Thornton – on the roster as Florida focused on being a quicker, faster team in all facets of the game on Wednesday and his criticism apparently wasn’t well received.

Stalberg completed a three-way setup that started with Andrej Nestrasil working the puck from the right corner to Matt Tennyson behind the Panthers net before backhanding a feed to Stalberg in the slot. He was brought on by then-GM Dale Tallon in 2014.

Vincent Viola and Doug Cifu became owners in 2013, and recently that has led to a revamped, aggressive franchise that is more financially stable. Give me the home team as more of a fade from the Panthers.

He received a two-year contract extension through 2018-19, but quipped he wouldn’t last that long.

That “positive friction” obviously wasn’t all that positive for Gallant. The new and old schools were clashing. And after a rough start, Leighton settled in and shut down the Panthers, making 31 saves to earn his first National Hockey League win in almost six years. In were Keith Yandle, Jason Demers, Mike Matheson and Mark Pysyk. It was definitely something that as players you take to heart because you sometimes feel responsible.

In 185 games as Florida’s coach, Gallant posted a 96-64-25 record. The Blackhawks won eight straight against the Panthers before dropping a 4-0 decision last January. Look for him to be among the candidates for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who will began play next season, as well other existing National Hockey League clubs looking to make an in-season change.

Gallant is the first coach fired this season.