Last season was a tumultuous one for NHL coaches. On Nov. 27, 2016, Gerard Gallant stood by the loading dock of PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., luggage in tow, waiting for a cab. He had just been fired as coach of the Florida Panthers.
Claude Julien, who won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011 and returned to the Final in 2013, was told the team would go in a different direction -- and the announcement was made public on the morning of the Patriots' Super Bowl LI parade, as if to muddle its impact.