George Richards, FHN Publisher
Joel Quenneville said Thursday morning that he is ready to get back to work with the Florida Panthers and is excited about the team’s future under new general manager Bill Zito.
On Wednesday, the Panthers officially announced that the former Columbus associate GM would become the 11th general manager in Florida’s franchise history.
Quenneville said that while he was disappointed in Florida’s past season — and feels for friend Dale Tallon losing his job with the team — the Panthers can be better than they were this past season.
And he expects they will be.
Quenneville spoke on a variety of subjects from the hiring of Zito to his coaching staff for next season as well as what he expects from his team in the future.
Here’s what Coach Q had to say:
On Bill Zito being hired by the Panthers
Big day for Bill. We’re happy to have him join the Panther organization. He’s excited as heck. He has been looking for this opportunity for some time now and I think he’s got a really good feel for the league, the players, the situation.
As far as where we’re at, I think he’s excited to welcome the challenge. He’s been around some coaches, players and management in putting teams together in Columbus. I think he did a fine job be it with the big clubs as well as in Cleveland.
Here we are here in our situation and he’s excited to put it all together and get us back to being a playoff contender and get some consistency and try to move up. That was something that we got a little taste of this year but not what we’re really looking for.
On friend Dale Tallon being let go after the season and the similarity to how the Tallon/Quenneville reign ended in Chicago after one season
It was tough. It was tough dealing with that. I know that Dale was definitely disappointed and thought we had something going in that direction. In our business, there’s always change and there’s some tough decisions that have to be made in a lot of different areas.
A couple years prior to that Kitch was on our staff in Chicago and you have to go forward. Then all of a sudden you get Dale here. I have been on teams where the managers have changed. In our business, like a player, you get traded to a new team where you get a new coach. It’s something you have to adapt to and make it work.
I think finding solutions is where we’re at. Obviously I feel bad for Dale, and wish him nothing but the best.
Do you think you will have input on players coming-and-going with the new GM?
I think Bill is coming in with a fresh look at how he sees the game. It’s something where we’re not sure exactly what the top priorities are going to be.
I think the bottom line is we want to get better as a team, across the board . I think he’s got a really good feel for players in the league, how we were going to set up or how he’s going to set up the structure of the organization, whether it’s amateur and pro scouts, the hockey staff here and in (AHL Charlotte) Carolina. There’s a lot to look at.
I’m sure that there’s a lot of work ahead of us and him in putting it all together. I look forward to his new ideas and how he sees the game, what he’s looking for and what he wants. I think I’m pretty flexible as far as being able to work with different people.
I know his enthusiasm is very high end. Kind of reminds me of Vinnie when you talk about passion for the game. Looking forward to getting getting started and looking to get better as we go along here.
Did you have a past relationship with Bill Zito, perhaps as early as his days as a player agent? Anything from his past job you admire?
You look at Columbus, the way they play and the competitiveness of their team is something that you appreciate. Whether that’s a trait right from the day they were drafted to how they evaluate players. Torts, one of his expected standards is you have to play all out. And you have to play together as a team.
But identifying those kind of players is something that kind of represents what kind of team Columbus is and has. I think as a group here, you have to bring that intensity and emotion. It brings a little bit of consistency and expectations to your game.
As far as Bill in Chicago, I met him a few times. I don’t know him well. I look forward to getting to know him a lot better. I probably coached a lot of his players. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I think we are looking forward to getting more familiar with each other and what we are really looking for in identifying players and and how we can get better.
The most important areas a GM and coach need to have in being on the same page
Trust is one. Allowing that open line of communication. Respecting opinions. Sometimes you don’t have to agree with everything but you march forward together in unison as far as how you expect to be moving forward. When you’re looking at the next decision, we’re agreeing on a lot of things through that process and that’s the fun part about our game.
When we do make decisions, it is the manager who is the one doing the exploring and doing a lot of the talking. But as a coaching staff, we’re here to coach and be supportive in any way we can to Bill. I’m sure Bill’s ideas are the same in trying to help support in the coaching staff as well.
Any changes planned for the coaching staff?
No plans on that. That is something we haven’t talked about with Bill yet as far as looking at that option going forward as a coach. Right now, it looks status quo.
It was a disappointing way to end the season, it was a series that we felt we had a chance in. When you look back over the course of the year … I know Kitch, and in a lot of ways I know exactly what makes him work and I think we’ve got a great working relationship.
Mac came in with the players mentality that that really enhanced our staff as far as him knowing the players, the checking mentality, specializing in the faceoff circle and penalty killing. Bruno’s got great experience about not just coaching but about the game. Has a good assessment of players around the game as well. And whether it’s around the power play or working with offensive type of situations, I think he knows both sides of the puck but I think he’s got a really good eye on around the net and enhancing offense in little ways.
I think everybody brings a little bit of something. And Tallas has been great as well. He had an unfortunate setback in Toronto with a little injury there, and I wish him nothing but the best so he get back on skates soon.
What happened to Robb Tallas?
We had a day off up there and were playing tennis and he tore his Achilles. So he’s in the repair department right now. But he was a sport, a real trooper. He hung in there and did everything he could when he couldn’t get on the ice for a few days there.
What were the exit interviews like this season?
I talked to every player. We always try to be honest and as direct as possible. I think the one thing as a team is I think everybody is pretty accurate in how they evaluate themselves. As a staff, I think we give them a fair assessment of what we saw during the regular season. They already had that going into the playoffs.
After the playoffs, there were some positive ones, but for the most part I think the expectations have got to be higher, going forward. That was not good enough and it’s not going to get the job done.
I think whether you’re a leader, one of your top guys or one of your younger guys, I think everybody has a message in there and it’s a one-year evaluation. There was some progress in areas and then some other areas where we know that we have to be better in.
What kind of changes would you like to see within the team next season?
I always look back on the season in what I could do better. I think there’s areas where I could do a better job as far as bringing more consistency to how we play and how we compete. That’s my job. As a group, I think we got a good education by playing the Islanders as far as being predictable. Having a game-in, game-out team identity, living up to it, matching it.
That’s an area where we want to make sure that’s going to be implemented early and look to improve upon it. Everybody has to know what they’re expected to do and everybody’s going to be doing it, night in night out and that consistency can win your hockey games.
Look at a game early in the playoffs. Columbus and Tampa are playing and it’s going into the sixth period and Columbus looks very comfortable playing a Tampa team that, you know, over that kind of time is going to be dangerous. They stuck with it, found a way to keep going.
Columbus didn’t win that game, but certainly they looked very comfortable playing that type of game for long stretches. I think that’s something we want to make sure we’re looking to get to. I think that predictability, consistency and expectation where there’s accountability from the staff and from linemates and teammates. That’s part of the growth process of a team that’s looking to win and get to where we want to get to.