The Florida Panthers fired Gerard Gallant on Sunday night, prompting questions about Jack Capuano‘s status as head coach of the New York Islanders.
Welp.
The Florida Panthers fired head coach Gerard Gallant following the team’s 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, despite the aforementioned signing a contract extension last season.
This comes as a huge surprise, as Gallant, 53, was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, given to the league’s best coach. He led the Rink Rats to their best ever record in 2015-16.
But general manager Tom Rowe wasn’t satisfied with his club’s progression (the Panthers are 11-10-1 this season), so he parted ways with his beloved decision-maker.
The move makes Garth Snow look so, so bad.
Obviously, the two situations are incomparable. Rowe and Gallant reportedly feuded over the team’s offseason moves, something that can’t be said about the Isles’ GM-HC duo.
However, what’s striking about this situation is just how short of a leash the Cats had on Gallant. It’s a totally different story with the Islanders.
The Isles have given their decision-maker a million opportunities to correct his mistakes. They stuck with him while the team went through a debilitating rebuild. They stuck with him while fans complained that his playoff teams could have went further. They’re seemingly sticking with him despite the team’s league-worst record.
Now, here’s the thing: it’s possibly too far into the season for the front office to make a change that will produce satisfactory results.
However, as last season’s Penguins and so many other teams have proven, it’s worth giving it a shot.
