It was a matter of time.
Kevin Dineen was relieved of his duties along with Craig Ramsey and Gord Murphy as GM Dale Tallon tries to salvage a disastrous start to this season.

Call it systems. Call it philosophy. Call it disinterest. Whatever it is, Tallon has sent the message that enough is enough.

Dineen was Tallon's guy and hire. And don't think for a second that Dineen wasn't beloved in South Florida. No one wanted him to succeed more than, well, everyone. He was no-nonsense. Great with the media. Hysterically sarcastic. But that wasn't going to win hockey games for this club.

Just two seasons ago he guided a revamped roster to its first division title in franchise history. It has been a remarkable fall from grace ever since. Last year the team was so injured success was impossible. This year they are healthy and cannot find any chemistry.

No identity.

No consistency.

No heart.

It is a sad day for those of us that had the pleasure of spending any time with Dineen because how he played the game is so far away from the Panther product on the ice right now. Somewhere there was a disconnect between the message and performance.

Time to turn the page.

In comes Peter Horachek, head coach of the Panthers AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. Technically he will be serving on an interim basis, but he will be given every opportunity to earn the gig full time.

Horachek worked as Assistant Head Coach under Barry Trotz in Nashville for 10 years, and given Trotz's success in a similar non-traditional hockey market, there is no doubt Tallon is hoping to get that kind of head coach stability installed for the Panthers. Trotz is the longest-tenured coach in the NHL and the only coach in Predators history.

But there is no mistake that this is an audition at the very best. There were sources that practically proclaimed Peter Laviolette was about to become the next head coach. If that proves to be true, such a hiring wouldn't be made until next summer. Horachek makes sense now, especially with the likelihood of some of the young guns getting called up in the near future.

Joining the new coach on the bench is Brian Skrudland, the first captain in Panther franchise history. He has been serving as the Director of Player Development. John Madden, who finished his NHL career as a Panther 2 years ago, will also join the club as an assistant coach. He was an integral part of the division-winning team and brings a wealth of experience for the younger players.

Speaking of, that is the next mushroom cloud. Tallon needed to take care of the top of the pyramid first. Next is shipping out underperforming players. But the real question is, where does he begin?

When Jesse Winchester is your best forward at this point in the season, you got issues. And thank goodness for Jesse Winchester! He was barely penciled in as a starter when camp began and he has proven to be worth more to this team than just a utility player.

As mentioned in previous posts, Huberdeau, Barkov, and Gudbranson are probably the only untouchables. But come one, come all. Tallon is about to perform a early season makeover. Unfortunately for him the changes he is forced to make are because of the poor performance of the players he brought in to turn this ship around.

How long Tallon will wait to start pulling the trigger on trades is solely dependent on how the current roster responds to the coaching change. Tank the next 5 games and half the roster could be spending Thanksgiving elsewhere. If Jacques Martin hadn't left the cupboard so bare for Tallon upon arrival there would be more youth to plug into these opening spots.

But for now Tallon is in a tough spot. There are NHLers in San Antonio right now that are going to be good players. But they are not ready yet. Rushing them into the spotlight could do more damage than good.

There is nowhere to go but up, and if the stars align the Panthers will receive today's message from top to bottom. But a 3-9-4 record and losing 7 in a row is unacceptable for any team in any sport.

While many Panther fans are calling for Tallon's head as well, there is no indication new ownership is considering such a move. A new voice was needed and is now here.

The next few weeks will determine if even more voices show up in the locker room for the holidays, and current ones ship out.

Dan Spiegel...
Florida Panthers Media

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