Tallon On Jagr's Future With Panthers: "We Will See If He Fits Economically"
Florida Panthers General Manager and President of Hockey Operations, Dale Tallon joined the Joe Rose Show on 560 WQAM to discuss being re-named general manager. They also talk about the Panthers' disappointing season under Gerard Gallant and Tom Rowe and an expected timeframe for the hiring of Florida's next head coach.
On not being the Panthers GM last season- "It was fine. I enjoyed my role, I just didn't like the way we played and the way things finished. Overall for me I was fine, I took a bit of a backseat but it was refreshing. I spent more time with players and relationship building."
On the different roles- "They wanted me to focus on hockey and not the day to day stuff. I like Vinny Viola a lot and he's gonna let me do my job. We have a great young core. This [season] was a hiccup."
On why he moved back to GM- "We started talking later on in the season and Vinny wanted to know my feelings. All I care about is the team winning."
On his relationship with Tom Rowe- "We're fine. The more hockey guys we have around is good. He was put in a tough situation and took a risk and took a hit for the team. He's gonna help us in a lot of ways and I have no problems with Tom."
On what went wrong last season- "We made a lot of changes, that was A, and we were decimated with our top players (B). Not so much turmoil but change; we just didn't turn the corner at home after the trip [that they won five straight]. I don't know what the guys were doing at home but they weren't doing what they were supposed to be."
On Jaromir Jagr's future with the Panthers- "We had a great talk yesterday and a great talk with his agent and we will see if he fits economically. We are going to go younger and we will see going forward."
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