Gallant taking his success in stride
Golden Knights head coach knows only too well how fleeting good times can be
Dressed in a black winter coat, braced for the ridiculous wind chill and winter-like temperatures in Alberta, Gerard Gallant could have been mistaken for a member of corporate Calgary trying to duck out of the office for the weekend.
He isn’t, of course. His office is wherever the Vegas Golden Knights are and Friday it was the Scotiabank Saddledome.
But depending on what happens in the next few weeks and months, there is a good chance the 54-yearold head coach of the top team in the Pacific Division could be the star of very different scene in a much more glamorous setting.
After guiding the NHL’s newest club to 109 points, a 51-23-7 record with one regular season game remaining and a trip to the promised land with a first-round series starting at T-Mobile Arena, there’s no doubt Gallant is the front-runner for the Jack Adams Award as the top bench boss in the 31-team loop.
What it will mean is a trip across the stage at their home rink during the 2018 NHL Awards.
Recognition for his hard work during the 2017-18 campaign. And redemption for what many saw as an unfair dismissal from the Florida Panthers early last season.
“Seriously, I don’t even think about it,” Gallant said, deflecting the praise following Friday’s optional practice. “Obviously we’ve had an outstanding season and a lot of it goes back to the expansion draft. I mean, the players we got here, it’s not a regular expansion team. We made good rules for the expansion draft and I think we did an outstanding job.
“We’ve had a great year, we’ll see what happens. I’m so excited to make the playoffs and that’s all you worry about as a coach.”
Gallant was reminded of the irony of it all.
Before being hired to steer the ship in Sin City, the native of Summerside, P.E.I., had last been in Vegas for the 2016 NHL Awards where he was a finalist as top coach for leading the Florida Panthers to a club-record 47 wins and 103 points, winning the second division title in franchise history.
After three seasons coaching with the Columbus Blue Jackets and two with the Panthers, it marked his first appearance as a coach in the post-season.
Five months later, he was out of a job.
“That’s our life,” he said, shrugging. “That’s the way things work. Sometimes it goes real well for you and it’s going real good. Other times, you get fired and you lose your job and you’re pretty upset. You move on from that and hope something else happens. Shortly after that, I got some phone calls.”
On Saturday, the Golden Knights wrap up their regular season against the Calgary Flames, who have lost nine of their last 10 games.
The Knights, meanwhile, are 6-2-2 in the last 10 following Thursday ’s 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers and their coach doesn’t plan on changing a thing.
“It’s been fun,” Gallant said. “I’ve done this since Junior A and (the message doesn’t) change. We’re going to come out and get prepared to play and there’s no sense of changing things now. I’m not smart enough to change (the message).”