New Panthers coach Bob Boughner 'impressed us like no one else'

Jim Cerny

New Panthers coach Bob Boughner 'impressed us like no one else' image

It didn't take Dale Tallon long to know he had the perfect candidate to fill the Florida Panthers' head coaching vacancy a couple of weeks ago. And though the Panthers general manager continued interviewing prospective coaches--15 in person, another "half dozen" over the phone, by his account--Tallon knew that Bob Boughner was the right man for the job.

"Bob Boughner impressed us like no one else," Tallon explained, while introducing the 15th head coach in franchise history at a South Florida press conference Monday.

"His performance, his preparation, his passion knocked us out of the park."

 

 

According to Tallon, the 46-year-old Boughner showed up to the interview with "two stacks" of detailed information, one focused on his coaching style and philosophy, the other filled with analytics and notes on the team he hoped to one day coach.

"It was incredible, very impressive" Tallon said of how prepared Boughner was. "He blew us away. We made up our minds a couple weeks ago. We got the right guy."

MORE: Panthers hire Bob Boughner as new coach

An assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks the past past years, Boughner brings an impressive all-around resume to his first National Hockey League head coaching gig. Boughner appeared in 630 games as a rugged defenseman for six teams in an NHL career that spanned ten seasons, earning the nickname "The Boogey Man" along the way. Since retiring as a player, he was an owner, president and head coach of the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL, guiding his club to consecutive Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010. He captured the OHL and CHL coach of the year awards two years running beginning in 2007-08.

Boughner also served as an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010-11. Current Panthers captain Derek Mackenzie played with Columbus that year, impressed on many levels with Boughner.

"You could see things came natural to him," Mackenzie said on a conference call Monday. "He's very easy to relate to, and he knows his stuff. I think there's a confident calmness there. He doesn't get overly excited, gets his message across."

The new coach has his work cut out for him after the Panthers failed to make the playoffs last season. A year after finishing first in the Atlantic Division, Florida cycled through two coaches--Gerard Gallant and Tom Rowe--and suffered through numerous injuries before falling short of a berth in the post-season tournament.

On the other hand, Florida also has a wealth of talented younger players such as defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Michael Matheson, and forwards Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trochek and Nick Bjugstad. And there is the chance Boughner could coach his former teammate Jaromir Jagr, the 45-year-old unrestricted free agent, a Panther the previous two-plus seasons.

"I think I bring a lot of passion, which can be infectious in the room" offered Boughner. "As for style of play, No. 1 is consistency of compete (level). And we have to play in units of five, play fast, and the (defense) has to be involved. It's a simple system. I think (the players) will love to play this way."

 

 

Jim Cerny