Where Do The Panthers Go From Here?

The Florida Panthers are in a seven-game losing streak. And Friday morning, GM Dale Tallon decided to make a change by firing coach Kevin Dineen and assistants Gord Murphy and Craig Ramsay.

The Panthers are 3-9-4 so far on this season and some people, especially those in Miami, could probably see this coming. Peter Horachek, the head coach of San Antonio of the American Hockey League will be the interim coach and former Panthers Brian Skrudland and John Madden will be the assistant coaches. Horachek is free to add another assistant to his staff.

However, Dale Tallon believes that the coaching staff is not entirely to blame for the poor start.

"Our better players have to start playing better or we will get better players," he said.

He said he had been considering a coaching change for a while and after the 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, he thinks that was "one of many" final straws. The Panthers had won the 2011-12 Southeast Division title under Dineen but were last in the league in the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season.

Unfortunately, for the Panthers, their problems exist beyond the coaches. Their goal scoring production has not been as great. Their leader is Brad Boyes, who has only five and that's not good news for this team. And the goaltending has been shoddy. They have allowed the second-most goals this year. Tim Thomas was brought in to be the No. 1, but with a year off, not entirely easy to get back onto the ice and excel, especially at age 39, which he is. Jacob Markstrom, their backup, has been exposed because of the poor defense that they portray. And speaking of poor defense, Brian Campbell and Tom Gilbert are the only defenseman with plus ratings. They lack a crease-clearing and stay-at-home type of defenseman. The return of Captain Ed Jovanovski might help, but with the Panthers' problems right now, I'm not sure how much of an upgrade he'll be. Good news for the Panthers: At least their young stars are progressing. Jonathan Huberdeau, the 2012-13 rookie of the year, has eight points this season and that's a good start.

Right now, these Panthers look deflated. They can't score and they can't play defense and it's making it hard on their goaltenders to stay in the game. The coach might be gone, but there are problems with this team that exist beyond the coaching staff. They're gonna have to figure this out quick or they're gonna to be in the cellar of the Eastern Conference for perhaps the entire season.