Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Coaching search
San Jose Sharks assistant under consideration as the next Florida Panthers head coach.
Another name has emerged in the Florida Panthers’ search for a new head coach, as San Jose Sharks assistant Bob Boughner has told the San Jose Mercury News that he will interview for the position.
For the past two seasons, Boughner, 46, has been a Sharks assistant under Pete DeBoer, who coached the Panthers from 2008-11.
DeBoer, who has since guided the New Jersey Devils and the Sharks to conference championships, was fired by Dale Tallon after the 2010-11 season and replaced by Gerard Gallant.
Gallant, who led the Panthers to a franchise-best 103-point season and Atlantic Division title in 2015-16, was fired in November and replaced on an interim basis by Tom Rowe, who was then general manager. The injury-plagued Panthers finished 35-36-11 and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Boughner — a defenseman who played parts of 10 seasons in the NHL with six teams — was in the Panthers organization from 1994-96 but never got out of their minor-league affiliates before being traded to Buffalo for a third-round pick (defenseman Chris Allen) in the 1996 draft.
Boughner told the Mercury News that it’s been his dream to be a head coach in the NHL.
“I’m probably on a list with some other amazing candidates and we’ll see what happens,” he said. “But obviously, that’s my dream, that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing and cross your fingers.”
Tallon, the Panthers’ president of hockey operations and general manager, has made it clear he would prefer to have a coach in place before the NHL Entry Draft on June 23.
Tallon has already interviewed University of Denver head coach Jim Montgomery, former Montreal Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien and Capitals assistant Todd Reirden. He’s waiting for the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators to end their first Stanley Cup run so he can meet with Nashville assistant Phil Housley.
Tallon had been hopping around Germany and France as an adviser to Team USA during the recently completed IIHF World Championship. He will attend the NHL scouting combine next week (Sunday to June 3) in Buffalo, where he will continue to interview prospective coaching candidates.
He told NBC-6 that despite the apparent dysfunction in the front office this past season, coaching candidates are eager to coach the young, talented Panthers.
“I’ve learned a lot about our Florida team, everyone I’ve interviewed and spoken with all want to come here, they love our team, they love our players and they love the direction were headed,” Tallon said in the interview with NBC. “We started with a big number [of coaching candidates] and we’re narrowing it down to six or seven guys. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we’ll get it down to two or three and then get the final one prior to the draft.”
Tallon has said that he’s looking for a “modernthinking” coach who can teach young players.
Boughner remains president of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, a team he coached for eight seasons, including Memorial Cup titles in 2009 and 2010. Boughner also had a one-year stint as an assistant with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010-11.
“Managing NHLers is different than managing kids in the OHL. I know how teams are playing, their tendencies, their coaching. So that experience has helped me. I’m ready. I’m definitely ready and I want to get my own team,” Boughner told the Mercury News.
The Buffalo Sabres are the only other NHL team looking for a head coach after firing Dan Bylsma and general manager Tim Murray. Canadian network Sportsnet reported that Boughner could be a candidate there as well. He made his NHL debut for Buffalo in 1996.