Gallant Happy In Vegas, Prepares To Face Panthers

Gerard Gallant's record as coach of the Florida Panthers didn't warrant a firing. That's no secret, everyone in hockey knows it. Leaving Gallant and Mike Kelly to hail a cab outside of Raleigh's PNC Arena minutes after they were relieved of their duties was also regrettable for all involved.
Gallant is an excellent hockey coach and a man who treats others with respect. He and Kelly deserved better. The entire incident was unfortunate.
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Gallant, who was fired over the phone immediately after a road game against the Carolina says he feels no malice for the Panthers.

"No hard feelings. Like I said, they're good people. They treated me well and gave me a chance to be a head coach and to continue my career. I still have lots of good friends there. It wasn't fun at the time. Especially when you think you're doing a good job and you think things are going well for the organization," Gallant told VGK.com during a chat in his office this week spurred by Florida's upcoming game against the Golden Knights on Sunday in Vegas. "Like I said, I know that it worked out very well for me, coming to Vegas. Still, when it happens, those first two weeks are real tough. No matter how much money you're making or how much time you have left on your contract. It's tough when you get fired."
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Gallant took over behind the Panthers bench in 2014-15 and the team saw a 25-point improvement in the standings. The next season his team won its division. But early in the 2016-17 campaign, with the Panthers sitting at 11-10-1, ownership decided they wanted a change.
As for the timing and the abrupt exit which resulted in the entire hockey world having a window to his most difficult career moment, Gallant gives the Panthers a pass.

"Yeah, I think the only thing about that was it happened very quick. I don't think anybody planned that that was going to happen. It happened right after a game, I don't think it was planned," said Gallant, who has led the expansion Golden Knights to a 20-9-2 record which is good for second in the Pacific Division right now. "The emotions were very high that night. I got the phone call, and that was it. So it looked real bad but I don't think anybody planned it to be, for sure.
"That's the past. That wasn't set up like that, on purpose. The way it worked out there were no cars available that night and it just didn't work out properly and it looked really bad but it wasn't near as bad as it looked. Like I said, I took cabs all my life in P.E.I. so it's no big deal."
Gallant is a positive guy. Perhaps his greatest strength as a coach comes from the respect and trust he gives his players. It's his baseline with his group. He puts the trust and respect out and they give it back to him in return. He refuses to embarrass his team when he's displeased. He's not a screamer. His first response to something he doesn't like from a player is often a sarcastic remark.
Players like to play for him and they work hard for him. His system is aggressive and fun to play.
"You don't want to let him down. And you know he's in your corner. He wants the best for you as a player and a person. The guys love playing for him," said James Neal, in a recent chat about Gallant.
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Gallant builds relationships and as a result, Sunday's visit by the Panthers isn't a Revenge Bowl. Not for Gallant. It's about seeing old friends.
"Really I had a lot of good friends there. The general manager Dale Tallon and I, we had a good relationship there for two and a half years. We were really good friends," says Gallant. "And those players, I coached them for two and a half years. They're outstanding young kids and young players. That's going to be a little emotional, coaching against those guys, but you move on. Unfortunate what happened last year but that's hockey, that's our lives as a coach and you move on and get ready for the game and you hope you come out and play your best game."
Now, one might come to the conclusion that it's easy to see the silver lining in a dismissal when the next job turns out to be a great one. Gallant loves coaching the Golden Knights and feels secure in his relationship with management. There is an org char clarity in Vegas which went missing for a time with the Panthers when Tallon was pushed upstairs.
Bill Foley owns the Golden Knights. George McPhee runs the hockey department. Gallant coaches the team. Full stop.

"It turned out real well for me obviously. When you get fired from any job you're upset and you're disappointed. For two and a half years there I thought the organization was on the upspring and things were going very well for us," said Gallant. "The ownership can do what they want and they pay us big money to coach the hockey team and when they want to go in a different direction, they can. I can't fault them for that. They just want to go in a different direction and that's fine. I can't say that it didn't hurt. You know, for two weeks after that I was pretty upset and disappointed because I wanted to finish the job and I thought the organization was going the right way. They made a decision and that's fine."
Not many players were able to play the game in the same style as Gallant. In his prime, stacked up four straight 30-goal campaigns and also collected more than 200 penalty minutes in those same seasons. He played with pride and confidence. He brings the same attitude to coaching. Getting fired was like losing a fight, it wasn't fun but he was back in there the next night looking to get back in the win column. The dismissal didn't shake his confidence.
"Not at all, no. We had a winning record at the time I got fired, and the year before that we won the division championship and the year before that we had a 25-point improvement," says Gallant. "I thought everything we had done was good and a lot of people around the league thought the same thing. I got a lot of texts, a lot of calls saying don't worry about it. And the fortunate thing was I still had two years left on my contract. If something didn't come up, it would've helped a little bit. I got some calls early on and I was fortunate enough that George (McPhee) and Kelly (McCrimmon) and Bill (Foley) showed a lot of interest real early. So that was good."
In the end, Gallant is comfortable in the knowledge that things worked out in his favor. It may not have been the smoothest ending in Florida but as far as beginnings go - well, we'll let Gallant tell you.
"Oh, I'm real happy, things are going really well. When they hired me in April at the end of the season, I was really excited," he said. "It's the start of something brand new with good people and they supported me and gave me the opportunity. And so far it's been perfect."