NHL Florida fires Mike Keenan as coach after 5-8-2 start

GM Rick Dudley has moved in behind the bench.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Barely a year ago, Florida owner Alan Cohen extended Mike Keenan's contract and said he wanted the coach to lead the Panthers "for a long time."
Time ran out Sunday when the Panthers fired Keenan, who coached the club for less than two years.
When Keenan was hired in December 2001, fans were promised playoff appearances, and team executives were talking about Stanley Cup potential. Florida's fortunes never changed though, so the Panthers replaced Keenan with general manager Rick Dudley on an interim basis.
Only five of the other 29 NHL teams had fewer points this season than the Panthers, who are off to a 5-8-2 start and won just 45 of the 153 games they played under Keenan.
"It was the players who let him down, because we didn't win the games," said Panthers center Olli Jokinen, who Keenan named captain before the season. "It's always up to the players. You shouldn't be afraid to play. You shouldn't lose your confidence. But like I said, you have to look at the big picture and hopefully Rick can turn this program around."
Home-ice struggles
Last season, Keenan's only full campaign with Florida, the Panthers finished 24-36-13-9 and won only eight games at home.
He was fired shortly after the Panthers' 2-0 loss Saturday night in St. Louis. Dudley said that had little impact since changes had been discussed long before the loss. Players learned of the switch on Sunday and were to practice under Dudley for the first time today.
"It was done simply because we felt the potential of this team was such that we wanted to play at a maximum or optimal level," Dudley said. "We did not feel we were doing that at this time."
Florida's next game is at home Tuesday against Tampa Bay -- a team Dudley helped build as general manager from 1999-2001. Dudley coached the Buffalo Sabres from 1989-92 and has more than 700 games of experience as a minor league coach.
"Rick has put together a great group of guys," Panthers chief operating officer Michael Yormark said. "You see what the Lightning are doing. That's a team Rick put together and he's on his way to doing the same thing here."
Keenan, 54, led the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup championship in 1994 and coached six other NHL teams -- Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Vancouver, Boston and the Panthers. He led Philadelphia to the finals in 1985 and 1987 and took Chicago there in 1992.
His 1,222 career regular-season games are the fourth-most in NHL history, as are his 584 career wins. But the Panthers never escaped also-ran status under Keenan, who hasn't led a team to the playoffs since St. Louis advanced to the second round in 1996.