On May 18th, 2010, The Florida Panthers announced that Dale Tallon would take the reins in the sunshine state making him the ninth General Manager in franchise history.
To be blunt, the team had been somewhat of a joke in the league for several years leading up to the hiring of Tallon. They hadn’t made the playoffs since 1999-00 when they were swept by the New Jersey Devils in the first round, and the team was consistently near the bottom of what was then the Southeast Division.
It was no secret that after laying the foundation in Chicago that led to three Stanley Cups in five years, Tallon was staring down sizable expectations in Florida.