Panthers hire Bob Boughner as head coach

The Florida Panthers have named Bob Boughner as the team's new head coach.

This will be Boughner's first opportunity as a professional head coach. A news conference to introduce Boughner as the franchise's 15th coach is planned for Monday afternoon.

The Panthers made the announcement on Monday morning, confirming several reports from over the weekend. Remains to be seen if Boughner can lead the team back to winning and the playoffs.

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The Panthers have been without a coach since April 10, following the firing of interim coach Tom Rowe after a season in which the team posted a 35-36-11 mark to finish 14 points out of a playoff berth. An assistant coach for the Sharks for the past two seasons, this will be the 46-year-old Boughner's first head coaching job in the National Hockey League.

The former NHL defenseman's lone experience as a head coach came with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. Rowe took over for Gerard Gallant, a Jack Adams Coach of the Year finalist in 2015-16, when he was surprisingly fired following a road loss to the Hurricanes on November 27 when the injury-plagued Panthers began the season at 11-9-1. "I know this league and I know the game and I'm ready for this challenge". He earned two Coach of the Year awards in the OHL and Canadian Hockey League. He is still a part owner of the Spitfires, who he guided to Memorial Cup titles in 2009 and 2010.

Boughner has helped develop 20-goal scoring forwards such as New Jersey's Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique, as well as outstanding defensemen Cam Fowler of Anaheim and Nashville's double-digit goal scoring defenseman Ryan Ellis. He played for three years in Buffalo, a couple years in Nashville, a year in Pittsburgh, a couple more in Calgary, and did a short stint in Carolina before finishing his career in Colorado. During that time he won the coach of the year two times. He also played in the Panthers' organization, though only in the minors and never actually appeared with Florida.