SUNRISE, Fla. -- Bill Zito believes there's only one way to do things in life.
No matter what you're doing, you must always give it everything you've got.
Introduced as the new general manager of the Florida Panthers on Wednesday afternoon at BB&T Center, Zito will have no shortage of work to do in the coming months. But before he can worry about things such as roster moves or the draft, something else must first be addressed.
New Panthers GM Bill Zito: 'Everybody will compete all day, every day'
Before the organization can move forward, a new culture will soon be put on paper.
"We have the 100-percent rule -- are you giving 100 percent every single day?," Zito said. "In Columbus, we sat down with our leaders and came up with a value sheet, what we believe in. That's something I look forward to doing here. We will compete every day. As executives we will compete; scouts will compete. Everybody will compete all day, every day. Players will compete."
After spending seven season working as an assistant general manager with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Zito is more than ready to finally run his own team - a sentiment that was shared over social media by numerous pundits from around the NHL shortly after the hiring was announced.
"Was only a matter of time before Zito got a GM job," Sportsnet's Jeff Marek wrote.
"Five-star hire," the Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont enthusiastically proclaimed.
Looking at his diverse resume, this emphatic support for Zito shouldn't come as a surprise.
Prior to joining the Blue Jackets front office back in 2013, the Pittsburgh, PA, native founded ACME World Sports, LLC, which he quickly developed into one of the top agencies in hockey. Gaining a reputation for unearthing undiscovered talents, his impressive client list included players such as Tim Thomas, Antti Niemi, Kimmo Timonen, Tuukka Rask and Andy Greene.
He also served as the general manger of Team USA for the 2018 IIHF World Championship.
"As an agent, I learned a lot about teams from the outside," Zito said. "I needed to get inside to learn a bit more in how to prepare myself how to do this. I made mistakes and I learned."
It's Zito's experience at both sides of the table helped him stand out from the crowd.
When they first set out in search of a replacement for Dale Tallon, who had helmed the team's hockey operations department for 10 seasons, the Panthers cast a wide net. Over the course of several weeks, they interviewed roughly 20 candidates, each with their own unique background.
In his first meeting with Panthers President & CEO Matt Caldwell and owner Vincent Viola's son, Michael, Zito the trio spoke for more than three hours. During this time, they discussed nearly every aspect of running a hockey team, with topics ranging from business to players.
"There was an instant connection from the first moment we met," Caldwell said.
During his time in Columbus, Zito wore many hats, including running the team's affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Cleveland Monsters. In 2015-16 - his first season calling the shots in Cleveland - Zito and the Monsters won the Calder Cup as the top team in the AHL. Moving forward, Zito and the Panthers will look to build a similar pipeline to South Florida.
"If they do it the right way, they're going to win, improve as players and get to the NHL," Zito said of Florida's prospects. "Our team that year, the next season we had 12 guys go on to the NHL. That's unheard of. And, ultimately, we had five NHL coaches come from that group."
When asked about the impact he expects Zito to have on the organization, Caldwell said the decision to hire him was the most important since Viola purchased the franchise back in 2013.
"I want to thank the Viola family for empowering me to lead this search," Caldwell said. "I put my heart and soul into it. I worked as hard as I possibly could over the last three weeks. I got input from various people across the franchise - our head coach, the Viola family, the Cifu family.
"You've seen some things I've said out in public about how many interviews we did and how many people we spoke to. At the end of the day, we couldn't be more proud to have Bill joining our family… We believe he's the leader that's going to take us to the next step."
With countless ideas already swirling through his head, Zito said that he has "a brain that can't stop working."
For the longtime executive, this job is a dream come true, a culmination of years of hard work behind the scenes that have now finally helped push him right up into the forefront.
But that dream is still only half realized.
Long before he started his agency or joined the Blue Jackets, the 55-year-old got his start in sports working as a batboy for the Milwaukee Brewers. And despite rubbing shoulders with all-world baseball players daily, his eyes were always on the club's general manager, Harry Dalton.
That was who he wanted to be. Now, he finally has his chance.
"The joke growing up was that Billy wants to be the Harry Dalton of hockey and win a Stanley Cup," said Zito, who signed a five-year contract with Florida. "We'll, now I've got half of that."
