Panthers Close To Picking New Coach

And then there were five.

George Richards of the Miami Herald tweeted today that the Florida Panthers have reduced their list of coaching candidates to five. Richards adds that an “official announcement should be (made) no later than Monday.”

The Sun Sentinel reported on Tuesday that the Panthers were considering six people for their head coaching position: Dan Bylsma, Marc Crawford, Tom Renney, Bill Peters, Ron Wilson and Gerard Gallant.

While it may seem like Dan Bylsma, the recently fired head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, has a clear advantage here, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun tweets that that is not the case.

Gerard Gallant not necessarily Dan Bylsma is being favoured by sources as next coach of the Florida Panthers. Will be announced next week
— steve simmons (@simmonssteve) June 13, 2014

Gallant, who coached the Sea Dogs during their glory days from 2009 to 2012, has been an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens for the past two seasons.

In other news…

• Big time sale at Sea Dogs Styles on Saturday. T-shirts, hoodies, and hats are all 40% off while season ticket holders receive an additional 10% off. The store, located in the Harbour Station lobby, is open from 9am to 1pm.
• Toronto Star writer Rick Westhead tweets that we can all “expect Rogers to turn up marketing power on Canadian major-jr hockey. CHL just registered ‘May Mania’ as a trademark, a la March Madness.”
• The Maritime Junior ‘A’ Hockey League Entry Draft takes place on Saturday in Summerside. The expansion St. Stephen County Aces hold the first overall pick. A few Sea Dogs prospects should be selected in the draft.
• The 2014-15 AUS men's hockey schedule was released this week. The CIS University Cup will be played at the Halifax Metro Centre in 2015 and 2016.