By Jordan Long
The Florida Panthers finished the regular season 36-32-14 for a total of 86 points, missing the playoffs by 12 points. This will be the 3rd year in a row they are not in the postseason. With that, they decided to fire Head Coach Bob Boughner and replace him with Joel Quenneville.
Boughner was hired by the Panthers prior to the 2017 season. They were hoping he would guide them to the playoffs. His record wasn’t horrible at 79-62-22 or a winning percentage of .552 but they didn’t reach the playoffs in his 2 seasons.
Florida was able to score with Boughner behind the bench. The offense was there night in and night out. The Panthers were having scoring chances which equaled goals. Florida averaged 3.22 goals per game, ranking 9th in the NHL. The Panthers had the 2nd best power play in the league. On the power play, Florida took advantage scoring on 26.8% of their opportunities. When it came to the power play kill the Panthers didn’t allow teams to set up. They would poke check the puck away from skaters and fire it to the other end to take time off the kill. They killed 81.3% of their penalties which was 10th in the NHL. Looking at just those stats, the Panthers should have easily made the postseason.
The problem was defense. The Panthers couldn’t keep opponents off the scoreboard, allowing 3.33 goals per game which was 28th in the NHL. That is the area where that hurt their playoff chances. Teams dictated the play and Boughner couldn’t make in-game adjustments to prevent teams from scoring.
Florida was quick to hire his replacement. Their next Head Coach will be Joel Quenneville. According to ESPN, General Manager Dale Tallon said, “His record is impeccable. I think this is going to be a complete shot in the arm for the whole organization, on and off the ice. This is big time. This is a major step forward for our franchise.”
Quenneville was the top name out there for head coaches. He was fired from the Blackhawks on November 6, 2018 after a 6-6-3 start to the season. Joel is one of the best coaches to ever coach in the NHL. He has a total of 890 wins as a head coach ranking 2nd in NHL history. Only Scotty Bowman has more.
Tallon is familiar with Quenneville. He was the General Manager of the Blackhawks when they hired Quenneville in 2009. They won a Cup together in 2010. Tallon is hoping history repeats itself. The Panthers have the right coach in Quenneville to help this franchise become a consistent playoff team who might go far in the NHL playoffs. n
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