Vegas Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant (right) confers with assistant coach Mike Kelly in the team box during their preseason game versus the Los Angeles Kings at the T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday, September 26, 2017. .
Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017 | 9:23 p.m.
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It was 385 days ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, when the Florida Panthers unloaded Gerard Gallant’s blue equipment bags from the bottom of the team bus. Gallant carried the bags to the curb, where he hailed a cab.
In his second year with the club, Gallant led the Panthers to an Atlantic Division title and the best regular season in franchise history. Florida’s front office disagreed with him philosophically, and thanked Gallant by firing him only 22 games into his third season without as much as a bus ride to the airport.
The photos of Gallant loading his bags into the taxi went viral and the vast majority of the hockey community backed Gallant, or as his coaches and players affectionately call him — "Turk."
That’s partially due to Gallant’s undeniable success in his short time in Florida. He had a record of 96-64-25 with a team that was 44-72-14 in the two seasons before he got there. But it has more to do with the fact that he’s known as one of the most honest, hard-working people in the sport and the overwhelming perception was that the Panthers handled the situation poorly.
“Our guys respect the hell out of him,” Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “He gets on guys but he’s fair, he’s firm and he holds people accountable. As a professional athlete that’s what you want.”
That’s why the Golden Knights' 5-2 win Sunday night over the Florida Panthers was extra sweet.
“He’s there to back our guys at every turn, at every point in the season, even when we haven’t played well,” Schmidt said. “It just makes it that much better of a win for us.”
Heading into the first game against the team that fired him, Gallant refused to make it about himself.
“It’s another game for me,” Gallant said. “I was fortunate enough to be with that team for two and a half years as a head coach and enjoyed every minute of it. I got ready for this game the way I get ready for every game. It doesn’t make any difference to me.”
“He’s definitely a professional, and didn’t say anything to our guys,” Schmidt said. “But you want to battle for your guys.”
As a former player, Gallant is “one of the guys” as much as any coach in the NHL.
“They know what they’re going to get from me,” Gallant said. “If we’re not playing well I’m not going to be happy. If we’re playing well, working hard and doing the right things, but we lose hockey games there’s no issue. Do the best you can do, work hard every day, make yourself better and that’s our philosophy.”
Gallant played 10 years in the NHL, racking up 211 goals, 269 assists and 1,674 penalty minutes. General manager George McPhee described Gallant as, “a tough, honest player,” upon hiring him and added, “I think those guys are the ones that relate to players the best.”
Schmidt and other Golden Knights players agree.
“That’s the best of the best,” Schmidt said. “That’s the way you want it to be and that’s the reason why I think our guys play so hard for him. That’s our M.O. We work hard because our coaches put in the work before the game and lay out a plan for us to be able to successful.”
Gallant’s philosophy has the Golden Knights back in first place of the Pacific Division with an impressive record of 21-9-2.
“I hope nothing changes,” Gallant said. “I hope they keep the same attitude and play the same way every night and I think that’s what is making us so successful. We know we got some good hockey players over there.”
Jonathan Marchessault, who was left exposed by the Panthers during June’s expansion draft despite scoring 30 goals with them the season prior, had a goal and two assists in the win over his former club.
“It’s a great feeling,” Marchessault said. “You always want to beat your old team, especially for me, (Reilly) Smith and Turk. That’s our old team and we wanted to get that win.”
The Panthers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over Vegas in the opening six minutes, but were held scoreless for the remainder of the game while the Golden Knights scored five unanswered goals.
It’s just one game removed from the Golden Knights’ 2-1 win over Marc-Andre Fleury’s former team -- the Penguins.
“It’s like last game for (Fleury),” Marchessault said. “We wanted that win so much for him and I think tonight was the same thing. We wanted that win for Turk.”
Next up for the Golden Knights is a date with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who bring the NHL’s best record to Las Vegas on Tuesday.
“To be honest with you I haven’t thought about Tampa,” Gallant said. “I want to enjoy this one for a little bit.”
As he should. Gallant is far too professional to come out and say it, but it had to be gratifying to beat the team that wronged him.
Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.
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