News » It might not have mattered.

The hockey world is a tight community. Yet, its also a business. And with big money comes intense pressure to deliver. General managers, coaches and players are paid to win, and thus they come and go. They understand the realities of their jobs.But the firing of Gerard Gallant by the Florida Panthers?on Sunday night hit a collective nerve. Even tough hockey decisions normally meet a threshold of fairness, but it doesnt feel like this one did.The response I got to Gallants firing from team executives and coaches around the league was a universal shaking of the head. A coach who was nominated for the Jack Adams Award last season is gone just 22 games into the 2016-17 campaign -- while his team is over .500 and has battled key injuries since the get-go.The fact that photos surfaced of Gallant having to hail his own cab in Raleigh, North Carolina, after being told he was fired -- well, that just adds to the level of outrage for many.I suspect that Gallant knew he was on the clock from the moment former GM Dale Tallon was promoted to president of hockey operations last spring. Gallant had been Tallons coach. And now Tallon had been punted from the day-to-day hockey decision-making.You cant fire a coach right after he has been nominated for coach of the year, can you? But the Panthers canned Gallant. For no justifiable reason.Some of this has to do with a clash between the Panthers analytics group and old-school guys such as Tallon and Gallant. And Im not here to fan the flames of that debate. I think you need to keep an open mind to both analytics and how best to use that information, within the context of understanding what makes a player useful just from knowing the game. Theres room for both schools of thought in hockey, and Im mighty tired of people trying to make you pick a side.The silver lining for Gallant is that he has two more years on his contract past this season. He has time to make his next coaching gig a good one. And he will get another opportunity, to be sure. Hes too good a coach not to get another look soon. As my colleagues Craig Custance and Joe McDonald suggested, perhaps Las Vegas GM George McPhee will consider Gallant as a candidate to be the first coach of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.What will be fascinating in Florida is how people assess credit/blame for the Panthers performance moving forward. Florida still has a great core, one that Tallon built and Gallant molded, players who love their former coach. If and when the Panthers achieve sustained success, will the narrative be about the new regime bringing the program to the next level or that the Tallon-Gallant partnership gave this team its true kick-start?There will be probably room for both. But what is clear is that Gallant deserved better. Robel Garcia Jersey Cubs .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. Hugh Duffy Jersey White Sox .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/lou-brock-jersey-cubs-158 .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Mike Shawaryn Jersey Red Sox . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. Luke Appling Jersey White Sox . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. Brad Keselowski was docked 10 points, and crew chief Paul Wolfe was fined $15,000 for his car failing postrace measurements after Keselowskis third-place finish Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.The penalty means little beyond the fine. With four victories this year, Keselowski is safely in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.The Team Penske car failed the inspection station that measures tire camber, axle housing, alignment, rocker panels and the main frame rail. Keselowskis car had more rear toe (skew) than is allowed.Team Penske will not appeal the penalty.The rules packkage used at Michigan required cars to have no rear skew during prerace inspection and allowed for up to 0.dddddddddddd15 degrees of rear toe after the race. Keselowskis car had between 0.16 degrees and 0.25 degrees of rear toe, which resulted in the penalty.Cars that had failed the rear toe measurements earlier this year were more than 0.1 degrees outside the postrace tolerance, resulting in a more harsh penalty of 15 points with a $25,000 fine. ' ' '