Follow @SpiegelSports A week before former head coach Gerard Gallant was fired, he said he didn't have the personnel to play tough if he wanted to. It was a backhanded shot at Panther management, who began getting faster and smaller with the trading of fan/coach favorite, Erik Gudbranson.
While it has been reported the decision to fire Gallant was made almost a week before it was official, surely him calling out the powers that be only accelerated his pink slip.
Florida is now 1-2-3 in the Tom Rowe era as systems are tweaked and implemented. But the 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh at home Thursday night was yet another instance where an embarrassing five minutes cost the Panthers the game. In a 4:38 stretch early in the first period the Panthers allowed three goals, largely leaving Luongo out to dry, bringing out the boo birds looking for the positive change in person for the first time.
The frustration wasn't limited to the fans.
Vincent Trocheck, one of the key members of the Panther core locked into a long-term deal, made his feeling felt about the changes in the organization.
"It's just different," he said. "We have a really different team now. A lot of guys who were here last year aren't here anymore. It's been an adjustment period. And now we have a new coach. So, more adjusting."
Trocheck usually walks the line of blatantly saying how he feels, but you can bet most if not all of the players that were on last year's franchise-best roster share the same sentiments.
The trading of Gudbranson started a wave of change the players not only felt was unnecessary, but they had no idea was coming.
"Not at all," said Trocheck. "Guys are definitely surprised. We were happy with the year we had last year. We felt we could have built off it. Now you've just got to do what you can with what you've got."
While not the same tone as Gallant before his firing, Trocheck's message was eerily similar. The players aren't happy. The fans aren't happy. The roster is seemingly looking for an identity that can't be found at the moment.
Perhaps when Huberdeau and Petrovic return over the next few months the trickle effect will be just the kick in the pants this team needs. That is still a ways away. Other injuries and adversity await.
The good news about bringing in a bunch of new players is they don't carry the resentment of change from last year because they didn't experience it. The bad news those that are the most affected are the players that have been paid as key players for this franchise for years to come. If they are an unhappy group, that could spell trouble.
Gallant was right. Trocheck is right. BUT...
...sometimes teams make change that are unpopular on face value. Sometimes it takes time to overhaul an overhaul. Regardless of the initial results Panther fans are seeing with Rowe, there is enough talent on this roster to make the playoffs.
The offense is struggling and the defense has momentary lapses in coverage that are costing games. Are they fixable? Yes. Might it take time? Yes. Might it take more time than the remaining 54 games? That would be management's worst nightmare.
The shock of the Gudbranson trade was not received well by fans or the media. Take his statistical mediocrity out of the equation. He still had his best year as a pro, was the heart and soul of the team, and many assumed he was the future team captain.
In one fell swoop, everything changed. The clear identity of last year's team walked out the door, and Florida is still waiting for the makeover to be complete.
"They (Panther's management) made some moves over the summer to make our team better," Trocheck continued. "A lot of them are working out. And then there are some, I guess you could say, are still in the works."
Gallant was inexplicably considered an expendable commodity, especially after he called out the organization. Would management consider Trocheck the same type of commodity? Doubtful.
Ownership has boasted being transparent and open with fans and media. For the most part they have come through on being fan-friendly and coming through on turning this franchise around from pretender to contender.
But this season is going to be a reckoning one way or the other. If they were to miss the playoffs after the success of last season, there will be an unprecedented firestorm for management. They did make everyone care again after all, only to pull a switcharoo at a very curious time.
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