The Florida Panthers restructured their hockey operations
department on Monday, although they insist that the changes are just in title
alone.
Executive Vice President and General Manager, Dale Tallon
has been promoted to President of Hockey Operations, while Associate General
Manager, Tom Rowe was promoted to General Manager. In his new role Tallon will
continue to oversee all of the aspects of the team’s hockey operations,
including the player acquisition, development and scouting.
In addition, Eric Joyce and Steve Werier were named
Assistant General Managers by the organization. Joyce had previously served as a
Vice President and Assistant to the General Manager and General Manager of their
American Hockey League affiliate, the Portland Pirates. Joyce will continue to
serve as general manager of the Pirates.
Werier, had been the Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs,
and will continue to serve as the Vice President of Legal Affairs for the
organization.
Panthers Owner, Chairman and Governor, Vincent Viola said, “This is a great day for the organization as
it ensures continuity within the hockey operations department. I have the
utmost confidence in Dale’s vision and leadership and this group’s ability to
build on this year’s playoff appearance, and make the Panthers a Stanley Cup
contender for years to come.”
Tallon added, “I am
looking forward to continuing to work with Tom, Eric and Steve. Our organization
took a big step forward this season, and these moves made in hockey operations
continue to strengthen the future of our front office.”
Tallon, who just signed a contract extension on January 1st,
just completed his sixth season with the Panthers. Rowe has been with the organization
since 2013-2014 season, when he served as the head coach for their AHL
affiliate before being named Associate General Manager in January.
Rowe, who replaced former coach Peter Horachek in San
Antonio when Horachek was named the interim coach in Sunrise during the
2013-2014 season said, “I think this is
the opportunity of a lifetime for myself to have the opportunity to work with
Dale. All my role is going to be is to continue to building the vision that
Dale set out and to continue to execute the long-term plan.”
He added, “It is certainly
an expanded front office at this point after today but it is going to be a
group effort. We will make decisions as a group; The best decisions are made as
a group. Make no mistake about it, this is Dale’s team. He is the one who built
it. He is the one that found the players, and I am here to support Dale, and be
loyal to Dale.”
Panthers Executive Chariman, Peter Luukko said, “This is really a formalization of the way
we have been operating frankly. Dale has been here the longest and has put this
team together through the draft and some trades. We believed it was time to
formalize the way we have frankly been operations.”
He added, “It is very
much a collaborative effort here. With that salary cap you really need people
with varied specializations. From our standpoint our organization is evolving.
We have had success, and we want to continue that success and strengthen our
bench, and put together a first class organization.”
Luukko also noted that while Tallon will oversee all aspects
of the hockey operations department, he will be less involved in the business
aspects, which Tallon supports. He also mentioned that while the decisions will
be a group effort, Tallon will make the final decisions.
Tallon added, “I am
happy to do that, I was not a very big fan of doing contracts. You do what you
have to do, but now we have a great staff in Tom, Eric and Steve and all of us
together, it frees me up to do what I think I do best, and that is go scout,
evaluate talent, mentor our young guys and help develop them. That is basically
what I love to do. I like going to the rinks. I like freezing my rear end off
in a rink. That is what I enjoy most about this job.”
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