The Florida Panthers have announced that it has fired coach Bob Boughner. General manager Dale Tallon made the announcement on Sunday.
#FlaPanthers Relieve Head Coach Bob Boughner of Duties
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— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 7, 2019
Panthers Fire Coach Bob Boughner
The Florida Panthers have parted ways with head coach Bob Boughner. This season, the team finished with a record of 36 wins, 32 losses and 14 overtime losses. Florida ended up in fifth place in the Atlantic Division. They missed out on the playoffs by 12 points.
Boughner wrapped up his second season in charge with the Panthers. His best season was in 2017-18 when Florida placed fourth in the division with a mark of 43-30-8. Florida missed the playoffs by one point that season. The Panthers missed the post-season in both years Boughner was behind the bench.
He does have success at the junior hockey level as he guided the Windsor Spifires to back-to-back OHL titles and Memorial Cups in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The 48-year-old was also a veteran NHL defenceman that played 630 games in 10 seasons.
Assistant coach Paul McFarland was also relieved of his duties along with Boughner. Tallon called it “a tough decision” and says the team needs a coach with a “Stanley Cup pedigree.”
What This Means for the Team’s Future
Florida have missed the post-season in 16 of their last 18 seasons. The team will be on its fourth head coach since 2016. Peter DeBoer was the last coach to make it through two seasons with the club in 2008-2011.
The team has shown flashes of being an up-and-coming squad. There is plenty of young talent in Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad and Mike Hoffman among others. There may be uncertainty in the goalie spot as Roberto Luongo is uncertain about his future. James Reimer did the lion’s share of the work in net when Luongo was hurt.
However, Florida does have a chance at a quick turnaround with the aforementioned players and one of the better general managers in Tallon.
Florida Panthers coach Bob Boughner reacts during the team’s press conference on October 28, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland, ahead of the ice hockey NHL Global Series matches against Winnipeg Jets. (Photo by Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva / AFP) / Finland OUT (Photo credit should read JUSSI NUKARI/AFP/Getty Images)
