Florida Panthers

Tallon Rattles The Saber As He Takes Control Again
April 11, 2017, 4:11 PM ET [2 Comments]
Dan Spiegel
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Dale Tallon has had enough, and Panthers ownership agrees.

After a year of questions swirling around Tallon and what his exact role was with the club, it is now clear he is firmly back in charge where he belongs.

The architect of the blueprint that has made the Blackhawks a monster success in recent years and the person who assembled the roster that created the most successful season in Florida history two seasons ago now has full control on getting this organization back on track after a terrible year.

"I've never felt more energized," said Tallon in his Monday press conference. He looked angry, determined, and motivated.

That bodes well for next season and beyond. Anyone who has been in the press box knows Tallon loves to win, but he HATES to lose.

Unfortunately losing was all too often this season, especially in the second half when the Panthers were poised to make a run.

As the media did their final interviews with players today, the laundry list of injuries guys have been playing through became public. Jussi Jokinen had an MCL issue, Aleksander Barkov was battling a back problem, and Jonathan Huberdeau revealed his surgically repaired Achilles tendon never let him play his game. Roberto Luongo was battling hip issues. Vincent Trocheck and others were also banged up.

Yes these are factors that weigh in to the end result of this season, but still this roster is way too talented to be 9th worse in the league after 103 points in 2015-16.

Many will blame the needless roster overhaul last summer as well as the premature coaching change in November, sending Gerard Gallant packing and the maligned Tom Rowe taking over.

Regardless, ownership was watching and listening to the criticism. The product on the ice underachieved. Without saying it directly, they admitted their mistakes and decided if we're going to act like we've been here before, let's let the guy who has done it before take charge.

It is true Tallon should never have been "promoted" to President of Hockey Operations, because in reality it was a demotion. He spent most of his time scouting while Rowe and Assistant GMs Eric Joyce and Steve Werier were in charge of personnel.

Personnel is what Tallon does best, although he likes scouting just as much if not more.

At the trade deadline when the team needed to add a forward, Tallon did what he does in acquiring Thomas Vanek for peanuts. Vanek has now said Florida is high on his list and would like to return if the numbers worked out.

The Rowe/Joyce/Werier dynamic wasn't a complete disaster. The threesome signed Jonathan Marchessault and Colton Sceviour. But the team suddenly had a lack of that Tallon stamp to which Chicago and Florida fans are accustomed.

Time for a change...back to normal. Tallon now has his rightful title of General Manager back again.

What we can expect is for this roster to get tougher.

The day everything changed was when Erik Gudbranson was traded last summer. The Panthers then got smaller and faster, but when they needed a push back or to start blasting the opposition, it was hard to pull off.

Tallon will make sure it is not easy to play in Sunrise as a visiting team as this organization picks up the pieces on a lost year.

Everyone in the league knows the Panthers are much better than an 81 point team. If the roster was healthy from the beginning I am likely not writing this post and Gallant would still have his job.

That is the good news. The Panthers as assembled should be able to beat anyone on any given night. The already proved it with their 5-0 west coast trip in February beating Nashville, San Jose, Anaheim, L.A., and St. Louis.

Then it inexplicably fell apart.

Rowe took the brunt of the fan's wrath from day 1 of his tenure behind the bench, but that is certainly unfair. The team beat very good teams and lost to bad teams under his watch. Many people played a part from the ownership to the players.

The best part about Panthers ownership/management is their transparency. Yes some things should stay behind closed doors but for the most part they are engaged with the fans and want a Cup just as badly as anyone else.

Let's face it. It's not for the money.

Fans aren't showing up if there isn't a winner on the ice, and attendance down the stretch was abysmal as Florida quickly faded out of the playoff conversation.

You would think Tallon being the "one voice" of the club moving forward would be great news for a reboot. But many fans are so blind with rage they are still angry that Rowe still has a job as "special advisor" to Tallon.

While this position is clearly a relatively powerless job, many cannot handle his presence at all. Obviously ownership and management feel he brings value to the table, and that should be good enough for everyone involved.

Rowe is a smart, friendly person. He gets a bad rap for being the face of a brutal season. But he does not define the Florida Panthers.

Dale Tallon does.

Come hell or high water he's going to fix this in that Tallon type of way.