SUNRISE, Fla. -- Gerard Gallant wanted the Florida Panthers to play one way, and his bosses wanted another.As such, theyre not his bosses anymore.The Panthers cited philosophical differences Monday as the primary reason why they fired Gallant, a coach of the year finalist last season who made it through only 22 games this season. Tom Rowe will essentially take a hiatus from being general manager to fill the coaching spot for the rest of the year, starting with Tuesdays game in Chicago.We wanted to develop a team and build a team that was fast, could move the puck quickly, pressure the puck in all three zones, Rowe said. Gerard and I talked about it. He said he wanted a little bit more size, and we just decided to go in a different direction. Were we on the same page every day of the week? No ... philosophy was different.Florida is 11-10-1, starting Monday only two points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference even after dealing with some serious injuries so far this season. But the Panthers have simply been mediocre in some areas, including power-play (21st out of 30 teams) and penalty-killing (19th).The teams longest winning streak so far this season is two, something the Panthers have managed three times. The last straw apparently was how Florida wasted a 2-0 lead in what became a 3-2 loss at Carolina on Sunday night, though the Panthers front office had discussions long before that collapse about making a change.Weve been unhappy with the inconsistent performance, Panthers President and CEO Matthew Caldwell said. I just think we can be playing better at this stage of the season. So we decided a change is necessary to move in a different direction.Players were off Monday, though Rowe was meeting with them to discuss both the decision to fire Gallant and how he wants certain defensive schemes to change on the ice.Gallant was a standout left wing as a player, primarily for the Detroit Red Wings -- scoring at least 34 goals in four straight seasons from 1986 through 1990 and finishing his NHL career with 211 goals in 615 games. He was drawing rave reviews as Floridas coach, especially after last season when he steered the team to the best regular season in franchise history.He was under contract through the 2018-19 season, having signed an extension back in January.And then it all came to a most unceremonious end Sunday night, when his luggage was taken off the bus that was carrying the Panthers to the airport from the arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. A taxi soon arrived to pick up Gallant, as the Panthers took off for their trip to Chicago.The Panthers ownership and other team officials rely heavily on advanced statistics, and Gallant was not the biggest fan of analytics. He spoke openly about how his views differed from the perspective of Floridas management on the analytics issue in August 2015, at a fundraising event hosted by the University of Prince Edward Island.Gallant told a story about how an unnamed former Florida player looked great to the analytics staff but wasnt the sort of player he wanted.I couldnt stand watching him on the ice, Gallant said that night in Canada. I didnt like the way he played one bit.Part of Floridas issues has clearly been injury-related.Jonathan Huberdeau has not played yet this season and isnt expected back for several more weeks, Nick Bjugstad and Jussi Jokinen have missed significant amounts of time and Alex Petrovic is now expected to miss up to two months with an ankle injury.Plus, Jaromir Jagr has just three goals so far this season after leading the Panthers in scoring a year ago. And while all that was taken into consideration, it wasnt enough to get Gallant and assistant coach Mike Kelly -- who also was fired -- any more time in Florida.Its a tough business, said Rowe, the Panthers 14th coach in their 23-year history. But when the results arent there, decisions have to be made that arent easy. Mason Crosby Super Bowl Jersey .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? 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Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Poor Lewis Hamilton. Its one thing to lose what looks like being a guaranteed race win when you have yourself to blame -- making a mistake and putting it in the wall, or colliding with a backmarker when blue flag frustration becomes too much to bear -- and another thing entirely when your loss looks to have been an act of god.Mechanical failures are the worst way to retire, feeling as though the wheel of fortune has spun you from top to bottom so rapidly that theres nothing left but the twin senses of injustice and despair, and perhaps a little nausea on the side.When reports of Hamiltons post-race statements in the TV pen began to filter into the press room -- someone doesnt want me to win -- the initial assumption was that the Mercedes driver was referring to some form of celestial power, be it god, the universe, or karma.But once the full selection of quotes had been transcribed, it rather looked as though Hamilton was pointing the figure not at the big guy upstairs, but at nefarious forces within his own team. He may not have used the word himself, but the implication was more sabotage than it was shoddy luck.My questions are to Mercedes -- we have lost so many engines, Hamilton told the BBC immediately after the race. There are eight drivers and mine are the only ones who has failed. Someone has to give me some answers and it is not acceptable. Something or someone doesnt want me to win this year.Its a brand new engine, he added. Ive done one race with it. I did P3 with it, qualifying, its a brand new engine from the three that I had. Its just odd. Theres been like 43 engines from Mercedes [this season] and only mine have gone.But an hour or so later, having had time to reflect, Hamilton told his open print media session that his comments referred not to the team, but to some form of higher power or celestial being.It feels right now that the man above, or a higher power is intervening a little bit but I feel like Ive been blessed with so many big opportunities, firstly being here with all these people around here, the opportunity in this great team winning the last two championships. Lots and lots of big trophies and recordss that Im breaking time and time [again].dddddddddddd..While Lewis can hardly be blamed for feeling himself to be a victim of a string of reliability issues that have plagued car #44 -- and only #44 -- since the start of the season, it is unfortunate that the Briton felt the need to make comments that appeared to ask questions of his own team (and the associated Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, based in Brixworth). Fomenting discontent within the ranks -- even unwittingly, and even in the passionate heat of 25 points lost -- rarely does anyone any favours.That this latest failure came at a race which would have seen Hamilton equal Nico Rosberg in the championship standings will have been a real kick in the teeth. That it took place at a grand prix paid for by Mercedes team sponsor Petronas wont have helped matters either. And the fact that when Hamilton drew his stricken car to a stop it was on the very part of the track painted with Petronas branding will have been good news only for the right place, right time snappers now able to command high prices for their photos of the incident.Toto Wolff burying his head in his hands on the global television feed says it all about the feeling in the Mercedes garage on Sunday afternoon. This could have been the weekend in which Mercedes sewed up the constructors championship, and now that most profitable of moments will be delayed by at least one more race weekend. The fact that the WCC is essentially inevitable -- and has been since what feels like the dawn of time -- hardly helps.Following Hamiltons understandable yet undesirable outburst, Mercedes will head to Suzuka with a sense of discomfort within the ranks. Winning races and titles is very much a team effort, and despite the praise Hamilton heaped on his own race crew, the very fact that one of the teams drivers is publicly asking questions that imply (at best) bias and (at worst) outright sabotage is only going to lower morale in a team that should be celebrating their most dominant season yet. ' ' '