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Posts tagged 'Dale Tallon'

Posts Tagged ‘Dale Tallon’

Amerks Will Be Calder Cup Contenders Again This Season

July 2, 2010 - By

The second day of free agency has started and even though there were not any players signed for the Amerks, the Panthers did hire Mike Santos to be the new assistant general manager.  Santos will be overseeing the Amerks and he already spent most his first day working with Jody Gage.  A month ago I wrote that things were not all doom and gloom saying the lines of communication will be open, the Amerks are looking forward to an improved season, and everyone will have an open mind.  That’s exactly what has happened.

The Amerks were considered Calder Cup contenders for the 09/10 season and will be again this season.  That’s assuming there isn’t a long stretch of injuries, call ups and internal disagreements with the coaching staff.

Here’s more about the open lines of communication from Steve Gorten:

Tallon said Santos will work closely with AHL Rochester’s director of player personnel Jody Gage and the rest of the Americans brass, so it looks like the Panthers’ rocky relationship with its minor-league affiliate can be smoothed over. In fact, Tallon said Santos and Gage were on the phone all day working together to sign some AHL free agents.

[...]Read More

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Free Agency Impact on the Amerks, This Year, Last Year, Current Players

July 1, 2010 - By

The 2010 edition of free agency is set to begin at Noon EST today and we may not see immediate moves by the Florida Panthers and Rochester Americans but there definitely will be.  A lot of people still consider the Panthers a “bad parent club” but they did a very good job partnered with the Amerks in building a successful AHL team last season.  A few minor upgrades (defense and coach) and the team is already better.

One move that seems to have been overlooked is that the Panthers acquired Michael Grabner in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks.  The Panthers sent Keith Ballard and Victor Oreskovich to the Canucks in exchange.  Grabner has spent the majority of the past four seasons (180 games) with the Manitoba Moose and is good for 20 goals and 20 assists.  He’s not a veteran player based on games, but he’s a fast skater and team him up with a speedy center and we’ll have a reliable scoring line.

Jamie Johnson has already said that he’s been in contact with the Panthers and would be willing to come back.  Johnson was a leader on the ice and led the team in scoring.  He [...]Read More

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Jack Birch No Longer Works for the Florida Panthers

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June 25, 2010 - By

Updated July 2nd… Birch’s contract expired June 30th and was not renewed.

As I’m reading up on the NHL Draft and the changes on the horizon for the Florida Panthers, one thing I noticed was that Jack Birch’s name is no longer listed as a member of the Florida Panthers staff. I used the term fired in the subject because that’s a little more catchy, but it could just be that His contract expired and was not renewed.

I was given the idea to look when I read on George Richard’s blog that Dale Tallon was going to be working on hiring a new director of player personnel.  Chances are no one outside of Rochester really cares all that much or would even notice the guy was gone.

Prior to being named as Director of Player personnel for the Panthers, he was involved in the scouting department for the team.

When Birch was given the position which was essentially the general manager of the Amerks, it was thought that he would bring some good decisions.  Turned out to be the opposite.  The only great move he pulled off was finding Mike Brodeur and getting him signed [...]Read More

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News from Florida in the Near Future and Home Opener

June 9, 2010 - By
News from Florida in the Near Future and Home Opener

It’s still early June but hockey fans in Rochester are craving any news about next season and it looks like we’ll have to continue to wait a little longer.  Everywhere I go people are asking me if there’s any new info about the coaching search, the role of players,  what the Panthers think can be improved upon and so on.  When Tallon was the GM of the Blackhawks, their AHL affiliate in Norfolk and Rockford were successful, would love to hear what the recipe for success was.

I’m sure Tallon will make some great decisions for Rochester and wants to win here, but it sure would be nice to hear something.  I was told, like the Amerks management, that he had a busy few weeks and would be available this week.  As I inquired this week, the Panthers spokesperson said Tallon’s very busy and will be in Rochester in the “near future” and will have media availability.

There’s no doubt that the Panthers take top priority as he gets settled into his new job as General Manager, but if every media outlet in Florida can get some time with him to talk hockey it’s unfortunate the same can’t happen for us in [...]Read More

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It’s Not All Doom and Gloom Between Amerks and Panthers

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June 3, 2010 - By

Depending on who you talk to or what you read you would think that the divorce is all but finalized between the Rochester Americans and Florida Panthers, but that’s not entirely true.  It’s not over because the Amerks and Panthers new General Manager have not even had a chance to meet yet to discuss how they envision the partnership developing.

When it was announced in the news papers on Monday that Benoit Groulx had handed in his resignation to the Florida Panthers we learned that the Panthers did not call anyone within the Amerks organization to let them know.  The Amerks also did not try to contact anyone within the Florida Panthers organization.

Lewis Staats was called by Bill Torrey the day that Dale Tallon was going to be announced as the new Panthers GM and advised it would be a few weeks before Tallon would be available.  Tallon has been busy with his travels to Germany for the World Championships, the NHL Combine in Toronto and the GM Meetings this week.  That’s the same time frame I was given when I inquired about an interview with Tallon.  That all makes sense, but if time was found to talk to [...]Read More

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Three Awesome Words: Benoit Groulx Resigns

June 1, 2010 - By

The news broke on Monday that Benoit Groulx had resigned as Rochester Americans head coach and returned to his prior position, coach of the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.  From the QMJHL press release, “Under his reign, the Olympics won three championships in six seasons. Groulx led the team to three appearances at the MasterCard Memorial Cup where the Olympics reached the final on two occasions in 2003 and 2004.”

There’s no hiding the fact that Groulx was not very liked as the coach of the Amerks so this news was a perfect way to get the summer started.  The players disliked playing for him, the teams management did not understand him at times, everyone questioned his decisions during games and all of that led to the fans chanting for him to leave at the last game of the year.

A bigger issue at hand could be that the Amerks management found out about this through the media, not from the Florida Panthers directly.  Groulx’s resignation would have been approved by the Panthers so he could officially take on the new job, but no phone call was made to anyone with the Amerks.  Interesting.  Just [...]Read More

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Sources: G Jacob Markstrom signs with Florida Panthers

May 28, 2010 - By

An expected move, but great to see that the signing of Markstrom is official.  Dale Tallon will have his work cut out for him to place.  Markstrom and members of the Panthers organization have said they planned to start him in Rochester, but that could all change if Tomas Vokoun is traded.  We’ll have to wait and see.  Either way, the Panthers are looking pretty strong in goal with this kid now in the system.

Originally posted at Litter Box Cats…

Sources close to the Swedish Elite League have informed LitterBoxCats.com that Panthers goaltending prospect Jacob Markstrom – whom many observers consider the best netminder currently outside the NHL – has signed a 3-year entry-level contract with Florida. Details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Markstrom – fresh off a bronze medal in the recently concluded IIHF World Championship in Germany – is a second round selection (31st overall) by Florida in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and is widely viewed as the Panthers’ “future” in net.

This was an expected development, as GM Dale Tallon recently stated he and Markstrom’s agent were speaking regularly. More to follow soon.

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Divorce is Mentioned, A Year of Distractions ahead for the Amerks

May 20, 2010 - By

It was only a matter of time before this topic came up, the affiliation between the Rochester Americans and the Florida Panthers.  The divorce word has been mentioned and we’re now looking at a year of distractions as this affiliation comes to a close.

Over at Hockey O-Zone the blog post by Kevin titled “An Amerk-Panthers divorce could be in the works” is getting it all started.  Take a few minutes to read it through.

Here’s my thoughts, just say this is the last season of the affiliation and let it end.  Curt Styres and Lewis Staats had no choice but to sign an agreement with the Panthers when they bought the Amerks.  I think it’s been pretty clear that very few people like the Florida Panthers and enough people have probably put it in their heads that the Panthers are the problem for low ticket sales.  I have no idea what else at this time will be available, but with the way things work in the AHL it seems like nothing is ever set in stone no matter what is reported.

The Amerks have not even met with the Dale Tallon yet, the Panthers new GM.  It seems [...]Read More

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No Quick Changes Expected for the Amerks

May 18, 2010 - By

Dale Tallon was officially introduced on Tuesday as the new GM of the Florida Panthers, but for Amerks fans don’t expect any “big news” quickly.  Tallon left Florida today to head to Germany to attend the World Championships.  As demanding as we are in Rochester for news, the Amerks are not going to be his top priority over the NHL club that has not made the playoffs in 10 years.  I could be wrong though if he’s looking from the dark depths of the system all the way up to the top.

I’ll be talking to Tallon once he returns from Germany to get his thoughts that status of things here in Rochester and his thoughts about development in the American Hockey League.

For more info on the press conference and about Tallon check out Steve Gorten’s blog, tons of great info there.  Everything from Sexton, draft picks, status of players and how this had been in the works for a few weeks now.

Randy Sexton’s recent comments make a little more sense now, he had said that the organization would take a few weeks to evaluate everything.  He knew the team was looking for a new GM and that it was going [...]Read More

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Dale Tallon to be Named GM of Florida Panthers

May 17, 2010 - By

The revolving door with the Florida Panthers organization continues with the news that Dale Tallon will take over the role of general manager replacing Randy Sexton (reported by George Richards), he’ll also be the Panthers third GM in three years.  Tallon is the former GM of the Chicago Blackhawks and has been in the role of a senior adviser since July 2009.  Tallon is credited with turning the Blackhawks around from a last place team to the contender that they are today.

That’s good news for the Florida Panthers bringing in someone with some experience in turning a team around.  We’ll have to wait and see what it means for the Rochester Americans.  The Ice Hogs have had a competitive team with winning records in recent years, not sure how much he had to do with it though.

We’ve all questioned the comments by Randy Sexton about the players and coaching staff here in Rochester and now they mean nothing as someone new will have to come in and “evaluate things.”  That can only mean good news for the Amerks, if he does his homework.

Bob McKenzie sent out a tweet saying that Randy Sexton has been let [...]Read More

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