- George Richards: The Panthers have fired head coach Kevin Dineen and the rest of their coaching staff. San Antonio (AHL) head coach Peter Horachek will take over, with John Madden and Brian Skrudland will his assistants.
- Pierre LeBrun: Nothing may be imminent, but GM Dale Tallon has tried hard over the last couple weeks to make a trade. Tallon said that their best players need to be better or he’ll get other players.
- John Shannon: GM Tallon: “The first of many changes we are making.”
- Renaud Lavoie: The Panthers are looking for a defenseman or two.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Tallon is having trouble finding a trade partner.
“We’re trying extremely hard every day, numerous phone calls with numerous teams,” said Tallon. “Hopefully something will hit in the near future.”
“It’s easier to fire a coach than to fire 23 players, but we’re on the phone constantly and we’re going to make changes as we go,” said Tallon. “We want people that want to be Panthers, and if they don’t want to be, we’ll accommodate them.”
“We need to do everything we can to get into the playoff hunt … without jeopardizing our future as well,” Tallon said in confirming his difficult dual challenge.
- Josh Rimer: After Kevin Dineen’s firing, there have now been 26 head coaching changes in the past three seasons.
- Elliotte Friedman: The Panthers put Ryan Whitney on waivers.