President’s Trophy Post Mortem
And so it is just like years before. With no influence or control we watch again as Panthers management, coaching staff, and players must prove their mettle.
After underperforming. After seismic changes. After their best year.
The fanbase expected bumps and uncomfortability this season. Heck – management spent more time sowing seeds of doubt than solving the challenges in front of them post Tkachuk trade. I doubt anyone wanted this despondent, or understandably angry atmosphere by December.
With no first rounder at this year’s draft, what supporter could want such a thing?
Too often for the Panthers, inflection points ripple and the negative impact creates contested and taboo topics– at some point you need to have your Final Say and walk away.
Topics like the Expansion Draft, the Rowe, Joyce, Werier debacle, Ownership prescribing Bobrovsky and Yandle signings – Whyhockey has said our piece.
Now it is time to make a few final points on the latest topic that needs to be Sunset: Bill Zito and company’s attempt to “Go For It”.
For clarification, the Florida Panthers needed to go for it. The focus instead is “How” Zito & company went about making a run as a top contender.
“Where did it go wrong?”
My head and heart lead back to two main decisions by Zito and the organization last season. The decision to not hire an experienced coach and the trade for Ben Chiarot.
Both of these were points discussed in real-time last year by Whyhockey. This is not a purely hindsight opinion. Even though these opinions look better in hindsight.
In this multipart series we will pick at those scabs one more time, and then move forward. What is the current state of affairs? What can we realistically expect? What could they do? What are pipe dreams?
All with one focus– How can Florida win with Barkov and Tkachuk?
Part 1 - Bench Boss
Coaching weaker than roster
At the end of October when Joel Quenneville was asked by league and team executives to step down and Andrew Brunette inherited Interim Head Coach, it was still early enough in the season to wait and see how the Team performed before making any final coaching calls.
Yes, they had a hot start but what type of team were they? What expectations were realistic? What investments made sense?
By December it was becoming obvious to even those outside the market that this Cats team were in the position to contend, atop the conference and the league. This was the point in time they needed to make a hire.
It was by this point, John Torterella was on broadcasts openly campaigning for the job.
Torts exclaimed on TV Florida captain Sasha Barkov was the most complete player in the league. Torts also insinuated multiple times the team needed small tweaks, a steady and experienced hand to guide them through a long season to peak at the right time and be ready for the playoff battle.
This is similar to what current coach Paul Maurice and Zito had said since the coaching change in the offseason.
By January 2022, Maurice was excitedly watching the Panthers. It is fair to wonder if a call to PoMo then would have been better than hiring this offseason.
This season, Torterella is one of the brighter spots in Philadelphia, with the team defense improved and Carter Hart regaining confidence. Bruce Boudreau was available last year as well until December 6th.
Zito had options and after their season review, the organization clearly agreed with and reacted to the fatal flaw of an interim coach beyond his depth. Too little, too late. Maybe by then Florida needed a new type of coach?
Florida was undone by their coaching. Brunette will make a good Head Coach one day. In fact, I believe by hiring a coach mid last season it is likely Brunette would have been a real coaching option this season!
This offseason held numerous coaching changes. Brunette did not get hired for any of those vacancies. New Jersey chose to keep their experienced and fading head coach rather than bring in Bruno as HC. It’s hard to get a head coaching job immediately after that performance.
And from my perspective it confirms what we knew last year – that roster deserved someone with Head Coaching experience, not just in the NHL but anywhere.
Unprepared, unraveled, underwhelming Coaching
Throughout last season, Whyhockey discussed the incremental evolution Florida needed to undergo to peak at the right time and adapt their game to playoff hockey.
It is established that open ice and goals are harder to come by in playoffs. Practices that emphasized battles, scoring off cycles, and anchoring the team defense were required yet never happened. As the season goes on, the practice time is even less.
The end of the regular season is called “down the stretch”. This portion of the calendar is known for teams developing and playing a more playoff styled game. Defense wins championship and every aspect of the game tightens up significantly.
The Florida coaching staff did no such adjustments, instead opting to coast on their strengths against a weaker season ending schedule.
This led to losing three of their final four. The final game of the season being an embarrassing and pathetic 10-2 loss. Brunette did not even change goalie Jonas Johansson to stop the bleeding. Talk about killing confidence at the worst time.
The Do-nothing approach; the stoic and deer in headlight look Brunette adopted down the stretch became a trademark in the two playoff series to follow.
Both Washington and Tampa Bay utilized video coaching staff and their pre-scouts. They were targeting goalie weak spots, attacked FLA’s PP smartly, and knew how to expose the defense and nerf neutral zone rush. Both teams were confident to weather Florida’s barrage of shots to warm up their goalie and designed a simple game plan to believe in.
Meanwhile, Florida tried One Thing, never really got it off the ground, and unraveled with the coaching staff directionless and with no answers.
Was the locker room so fragile a new coach disrupting the chemistry was such a strong fear, that the risk of winging-it in the playoffs was less? Just a bad miscalculation by Zito?
In recent memory, coaches coming in mid season have sparked runs and cups with a more direct and comprehensive impact that Deadline rentals. Maybe that was the change worth making?
Difficult to stomach a year later.
It is hard to believe a Tortorella run Florida team is so ill-prepared and overwhelmed by an 8th seed.
Do they win a Cup? Probably not.
But would Florida have had a better or realistic chance of beating Tampa without Brayden Point in a seven game series?
Yes.