Long before Paul Maurice and his coaching staff led the Florida Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cups, the franchise went through years of coaching changes, unexpected departures, and decisions that shaped its history. Among the personalities who passed through South Florida were legendary coach Mike “Iron Mike” Keenan and his longtime colleague Mike Pelino, whose first NHL coaching opportunity lasted just 15 games.
Each detail matters on the road to a Stanley Cup. Before the Florida Panthers celebrated consecutive championships in 2024 and 2025, the franchise spent decades searching for the right combination of bench bosses, players, and managers.
The Panthers changed head coaches and assistants numerous times along the way. Some stayed for years. Others barely had time to settle in.
One of them was Mike Pelino, whose first NHL coaching opportunity ended after just 15 games in the 2003-04 season. Speaking to Match TV, Pelino recalled that brief Florida chapter, his friendship with Keenan, and hockey's remarkable transformation in South Florida.
Remember Iron Mike behind the Panthers' bench?
How many newer Panthers fans know that legendary NHL coach Mike Keenan, nicknamed “Iron Mike” for his demanding and often controversial coaching methods, once coached the Cats?
Keenan took over in 2001-02, when Florida was struggling to regain its footing after reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.
His tenure included the departure of Russian superstar Pavel Bure, whom the Panthers traded to the New York Rangers in 2002.
Keenan later explained that the organization's financial situation and ownership's decision to reduce payroll drove the move.
In the summer of 2003, Keenan invited Mike Pelino, who had spent four seasons as coach and manager of Canada’s National Men’s Team, to join his coaching staff. Pelino and Keenan had worked together before Florida, including with Canada at the 1991 Canada Cup.
Speaking to Match TV, Pelino recalled Keenan personally calling him and offering him the assistant coaching position. Pelino immediately accepted, excited for his first opportunity to work behind an NHL bench. But his time in Florida ended almost as quickly as it began.
Florida fired Keenan in early November 2003, and Pelino lost his job the following day.
“Because Mike had brought me in, and the mentality at that time was, well, we better clean house. I got fired the next day,” Pelino recalled.
Keenan’s return and a trade that never happened
The Panthers continued reshuffling their coaching staff after Keenan’s departure. General manager Rick Dudley temporarily stepped behind the bench before John Torchetti took over in February 2004.
But Keenan’s Florida story didn't end with his dismissal.
In May 2004, the Panthers brought Iron Mike back as general manager and hired Jacques Martin as head coach.
During his second stint with the organization, Keenan explored a trade that could have changed the franchise’s history.
During a radio interview for Sportsnet 590 The Fan, Keenan confirmed a proposed one-for-one deal that would have sent Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Joe Thornton.
According to that discussion, Florida’s ownership rejected the proposed deal because of the salary involved.
The trade never happened. Instead, Florida sent Luongo to the Vancouver Canucks in June 2006 in a package that brought Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen, and Alex Auld to the Panthers.
Keenan resigned as Florida’s general manager in September 2006.
Hope you enjoy the read pic.twitter.com/k5eEt2BRJk
— Mike Keenan (@CoachIronMike) September 29, 2024
A different Panthers organization and hockey culture
Pelino remembers a very different Florida hockey environment.
“Florida was just a young team still,” he told Match TV.
According to Pelino, established NHL franchises were far ahead of the Panthers in logistics, staffing, and services for players and their families.
He also witnessed South Florida’s developing hockey culture firsthand.
While living in Coral Springs, Pelino helped coach his seven-year-old son’s youth hockey team.
“There weren’t very many youth hockey players,” he recalled.
Today, Pelino sees more arenas, a larger hockey community, and a much stronger hockey culture across South Florida. He credits the Panthers with helping build that community and making hockey more competitive with traditional sports such as football, basketball, and baseball.
Pelino also attended a Panthers game during one of their Stanley Cup-winning seasons. The atmosphere, fan experience, and attention to detail impressed him.
“There was nothing like that when I was there my first time around,” he said.
A coaching partnership that outlasted Florida
Although Pelino spent only 15 games with the Panthers, his relationship with Keenan continued long after both coaches left Florida.
The two reunited in Russia with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. In 2014, they helped the club win the Gagarin Cup, adding another championship to their coaching careers.
Pelino later won another Gagarin Cup with Metallurg in 2016 and a third one with Lokomotiv in 2026.
Their friendship survived many changes in their professional careers.
Pelino told Match TV that he still speaks with Keenan almost every day or every few days. Recently, he attended Keenan’s induction into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
The Florida Panthers experience gave Pelino other lasting connections, including his relationship with former Panthers forward Viktor Kozlov. Years later, the two reunited as coaches in Magnitogorsk.
More than two decades after his brief NHL debut, Pelino appreciates how far the Panthers organization has come.
“It’s really nice to see the progress that the Panthers organization has made,” he said.
Today, the Panthers’ championship success under Paul Maurice represents a very different era from the one Keenan and Pelino experienced.
Yet their stories remind us that Florida’s hockey history goes well beyond its recent Stanley Cup celebrations.
Some chapters lasted years. Others, like Pelino’s, lasted only 15 games. But even those brief chapters deserve a place in the franchise’s history.
Add us as a preferred source on Google