Can Dale Tallon Save The Panthers?
By Frank Rekas
If you ask people in Chicago I think you’d get a majority vote of yes. Will Florida Panther fans feel the same way? I sure hope so. Unless you live under I-95 or you slept through Monday, by now you should know that the Randy Sexton empire has been overturned. What? No more Costanza jokes? Sexton who took over as the Panther’s General Manager after Uncle Jack left to go coach the Habs, was not offered a new contract. To that end, many fans in Florida are relieved, as well as surprised since Tallon has such a prominent name in the world of Hockey. I’m certainly not going to take credit for the idea, but the offices of the Rat Trick remember having a conversation with owner Stu Siegel at one point last season and we think we might have mentioned Tallon in conversation as someone being a good person for the role. Or maybe I was dreaming of that. Seriously, I did say to myself at least at one point that Tallon will get another job somewhere else, so why not here?
Tallon for those of you who don’t know anyting about him was a former defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. He played 10 seasons before his career was cut short by injuries. He was a color analyst for the Hawks for many years along side their wonderful announcer Pat Foley, who still does the games today after 25 plus years. Tallon was also involved in player development and then came into the role of General Manager with the Hawks in the 2005 season.
He has drafted very, very well. Which is something that Florida fans can look forward to as we have four players in the first two rounds including the number three overall pick. Tallon drafted players like Patrick Kane, who in 2007-2008 won the Calder Cup as NHL rookie of the year. He also drafted Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews who was a Calder Cup finalist himself, and was one of the best performing forwards in this year’s Winter Olympic Games for Team Canada. Tallon also was responsible for Duncan Keith and his development intoa Norris Trophy candidate defenceman. The Hawks have a number of players in their farm system that are NHL ready, but can’t break the lineup. A good problem to have.
As for trades, like anyone else they don’t all work out, but two of his best deals were actually grand theft. In December of 2005 he traded Matt Ellison and a third round draft pick to the Flyers for Patrick Sharp and Eric Meloche. Don’t know where Ellison is, but all Sharp has done is scored 87 goals in three seasons for the Hawks and is an integral part of their dressing room. The other steal was getting Kris Versteeg from the Boston Bruins for Brandon Bochenski. In two full seasons with the Hawks Versteeg has scored 44 goals and was also a contender for the Calder Trophy in 2008-2009. Bochenski has bounced around from a few teams and at this point, I’m not sure where he is. Tampa?
In free agency I think that Dale has made mistakes like anyone else has. However he has made some savvy signings. Brian Campbell, Cristobal Huet two players that you might say are grossly overpaid, but have been significant contributors to the Hawks success the last couple years regardless. He had to throw money at them to get them on the roster and allow the Hawks to attract other players. His biggest deal was signing Marian Hossa to a 12 year deal this past summer.
He’s not perfect and no general manager in this sport or any other is. He’s made his share of mistakes and has had his knowledge tested. His problem last year of qualifying three restricted free agents for the Hawks and mailing out the qualifying offers too late was his downfall. However for the Florida Panthers, this is a step in the right direction that you can’t ignore. He will make the Panthers a contender. The Panthers will have a good balance of youth and experience ponce Tallon is able to evaluate the situation and make some moves. The Panthers will become relevant and you will want to watch them and come to the games. Tallon will need time. It won’t be done overnight, but you can be assured that a full roster and organizational evalutaion will be had. From top to bottom. Players who aren’t long for this team’s objectives will be gone. If you’ve been thinking about putting a name and a set of numbers on your Panther sweater, I suggest you wait. There probably is only one untouchable player on the roster. Dmitry Kulikov.
Tallon has no bias, no favourites, and no need to please the public or be popular. He will be flying out to Germany on Wednesday to meet with current head coach Peter DeBoer and evaluate some of the Panther players that are in the World Championships as well as talk with Pete. He feels that he needs to give Pete the tools to operate this team and that sounds like DeBoer gets to stay. At least for the year. You all know as well as I do that every GM wants his own people. But Tallon is a man of honor and will give Pete a chance. After that it’s up to the players to perform. But know this, if Tallon can fire Blackhawk fan favourite Denis Savard as coach four games into a season, you know he won’t hesitate to do the same here. Training and working with some of the best like Scotty Bowman who is a consultant for the Hawks, Tallon knows, this isn’t a popularity contest
Speaking of players, Tallon is one of the most liked GM’s in the game. Hawk players love Dale and even to this day have constant communication with him. How much do they like and care for him? Remember a couple years ago when the Hawks were on a road trip in Canada and Tallon’s father passed away? The Hawk players completely changed their plans for their off days and rented a bus and showed up at the funeral. Unannounced. That story made national news in the sporting world.
That right there should tell you the kind of man the Panthers have hired.
In closing I want to say that this is a great move for the organization here. I personally sent a congratulatory email to owner Stu Siegel. I never mention his name or say anything about him as he and I have a very friendly relationship. While I kid and joke about others in the Panthers world, Mr. Siegel and I have an open line of communication and a bridge that I’m not about to burn. He responded to my email yesterday with this exact comment:
“It’s a complicated business, but in the end, winning is what it’s all about. You should know that by seeing me at the games”.
I’m not annointing Tallon the savior or the messiah. But if there’s anyway at all that he can even come close to the job that he did in Chicago, here with the Panthers, then maybe there will be hope for this franchise.
Press conference today at 11:00 A.M.
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