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Coaching Staff Announced, Reverse Retro Idea

August 10, 2022, 1:59 PM ET [14 Comments]
Matt Ross
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Many have been wondering and today the Panthers PR team has announced the new coaching staff.

See the details from the press release below:

Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito today announced additions to the club's coaching staff.

Myles Fee, Jamie Kompon and Sylvain Lefebvre join Head Coach Paul Maurice, who was introduced to the franchise on June 23, 2022, Assistant Coach Tuomo Ruutu and Goaltending Coach Robb Tallas.

Kompon, 55, served as an assistant coach under Maurice with the Winnipeg Jets from 2016-17 to 2021-22. He previously spent two seasons (2012-13 to 2013-14) as an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks and six seasons (2006-07 to 2011-12) as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with Los Angeles in 2012 and Chicago in 2013. Kompon also spent nine seasons (1997-98 to 2005-06) with the St. Louis Blues organization, serving in various hockey operations roles including video coach, strength & conditioning coach, assistant coach and scouting coordinator.

Outside of the NHL, Kompon served as the general manager and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL) during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, where Portland earned playoff berths in both seasons and reached the Western Conference Final in 2014-15. He also spent the 1996-97 season with the Baltimore Bandits of the American Hockey League (AHL) as an assistant coach.

On the international stage, Kompon served as video coach for Team Canada at the 2006 IIHF World Championship.

Kompon is a graduate of McGill University, where he skated four seasons (1985-86 to 1988-89) as a defenseman before spending two seasons (1989-90 to 1990-91) in the ECHL with the Hampton Roads Admirals, Cincinnati Cyclones and Winston-Salem Thunderbirds. His coaching career began when he served on the coaching staff at his alma mater from 1991-92 to 1995-96.

Lefebvre, 54, joins the Panthers after three seasons with the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL).

A veteran of more than 14 years as an NHL and AHL coach, Lefebvre previously served as head coach of the Laval Rocket (2017-18), St. John's IceCaps (2015-16 to 2016-17) and Hamilton Bulldogs (2012-13 to 2014-15), as well as assistant coach of the Colorado Avalanche (2009-10 to 2011-12) and Lake Erie Monsters (2007-08 to 2008-09).

Prior to his coaching career, Lefebvre appeared in 945 games as a defenseman with the New York Rangers (1999-00 to 2002-03), Colorado Avalanche (1995-96 to 1998-99), Quebec Nordiques (1994-95), Toronto Maple Leafs (1992-93 to 1993-94) and Montreal Canadiens (1989-90 to 1991-92) recording 184 points (30-154-184). He won the 1995-96 Stanley Cup as a member of the Avalanche. Following his North American playing career, he skated in one season (2003-04) with SC Bern of the Swiss National League A, helping the club to a league championship.

Fee, 41, joins the club after spending the past three seasons as a video coach with the Buffalo Sabres. He previously served as assistant coach/video for the Charlotte Checkers from 2016-17 to 2018-19, including a Calder Cup championship in his final season.

Geordie Kinnear will continue to serve as head coach of the Panthers AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.“


Reverse Retro Sweaters

As we inch towards the 2022-23 season at what seems like a glacial pace, one of the things that’s helping hockey fans get through the dog days of summer is speculating what the new Reverse Retro sweaters will look like.

With not a whole lot of information out there, some sources have started leaking info on a handful of teams (whether accurate or not).



Of course there hasn’t been anything on the Panthers yet. However…there was something very interesting (and pretty surprising) posted by the NHL on their Instagram account the other day:



What’s surprising to me about the above post is that it’s from the official NHL account and I can’t remember the last time they did any Panthers-centric posts. It doesn’t appear to be a part of a series they’re doing for each team, as there are no other posts like this for other teams, so it feels very random.

Add to that the fact it’s around the time that teams look to be getting their Reverse Retro sweaters finalized and it almost feels like a bit of a crowd sourcing attempt to figure out which direction to go in (with the current jersey being a red herring to make it seem not that way). Of course they probably have things all wrapped up as I would imagine the production deadline was likely a while back.

I’m definitely looking too much into this. I’m just desperate to see the Cats new jersey!

That being said, and looking at the NHL’s post (which is missing the leaping cat with stick logo), what do you guys want to see for this year’s RR?

The “rules” for the RR sweaters are pretty open. When they were first introduced t
Last season, I was under the impression that they would be an old jersey where the colors were literally just reversed. But teams like the Los Angeles Kings, etc., showed you can mix and match different era logos and colors.

With that in mind, I submit my idea…

Take the Jet Blue design (stick with me!) and use the leaping cat logo and regular Florida colors. Use the “FLA” shoulder and pants patch, too.

What do you think?

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