SUNRISE, Fla. Colton Sissons Jersey . - Gerard Gallant needed no sales pitch from the Florida Panthers. Hes aware that they have not won a playoff series in nearly two decades, that they missed the playoffs by a mile last season and that they change coaches on an all-too-regular basis. None of that deterred him, either. "You look at their roster, you look at their team, you look at their core players," Gallant said. "I think its a great opportunity and Im looking forward to working with this hockey club." He now has that chance, after being introduced as the 13th coach in Panthers history and the teams eighth bench boss since 2003. Gallant hasnt been an NHL head coach since 2006, but has plenty of experience as an assistant and a very successful stint as the head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His best player there was current Panthers winger Jonathan Huberdeau, whos considered a key part of Floridas plan to turn things around. "Of course I was excited to hear that news," Huberdeau said of his reaction to Gallants hiring. "Gerard has been a great coach for me. He taught me a lot of stuff when I was in juniors and its because of him that Im in the NHL right now." When Gallant and Huberdeau were paired in juniors, their team won just about every night, or so it seemed. No ones expecting that in Florida, but some parallels will exist from that team and now, Gallant said. "Jonathans a great kid," Gallant said. "I knew the kid for three years and we worked well together. Were going to have 23 players who are going to work hard and compete." Panthers general manager Dale Tallon called the search exhaustive, and the team was linked to plenty of other candidates throughout the two-month process, most notably the likes of Peter Laviolette, Barry Trotz and Dan Bylsma. When he met with Gallant, Tallon expected him to be in a downtrodden mood — the first interview was two days after the Montreal Canadiens, with whom Gallant was an assistant coach the past two seasons, were eliminated from this years playoffs. Instead, Gallant was high-energy, eager, excited. Tallon was impressed. "Ive never heard a negative word said about Gerard Gallant in any capacity in hockey," Tallon said. Its the start of a hectic time for Florida, which holds the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft — one they could trade away — and is expected to be a busy player when free agency begins July 1. And Gallant knows very well how quickly things can turn around. When he was hired in Montreal, the Canadiens were coming off a season where they finished with the fewest points in the East. With Gallant on the staff, the Canadiens won a division title in 2012-13, and topped the 100-point mark in the standings last season. The Panthers would enjoy nothing more than him being part of a similar turnaround in Florida. "The league is so close," Gallant said. "The teams are so close together now." Nashville Predators Jerseys . Locke overcame a shaky start to pitch seven innings and Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Alexei Emelin Jersey . The 155th edition of the Plate for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds, the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America, will be televised live on TSN in HD (High Definition) in a special presentation from 4:30 – 6:00 pm ET. Post time is 5:38 pm. http://www.officialpredatorsproshop.com/Predators-Ryan-Ellis-Adidas-Jersey/ . Carreno Busta broke his opponent five times in the match, but also lost his serve three times in the second set before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Both players struggled with their first serve, as Carreno Busta landed just 51 per cent of his to 47 per cent for Kukushkin.San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Joe Pavelski scored twice to lead the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers to split a home-and-home set. Logan Couture had a goal and an assist while Brent Burns and Barclay Goodrow also lit the lamp for the Sharks, who have won five of their last six. Alex Stalock stopped 25 shots in the win. Jordan Eberle and David Perron scored for the Oilers, who had beaten San Jose at home on Sunday to snap an 11-game losing streak. Ben Scrivens allowed all five goals on 24 shots in the loss. We cant continue to out-chance teams and not win ... We have to start finishing and putting our chances in the net, Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said. San Jose went on top for good at 6:14 of the second as Scott Hannans shot from the left point was redirected out of the air and into the net by Couture for a 3-2 lead. It was a 4-2 contest just 1:21 later when the Sharks scored on a power play as Patrick Marleaus one-touch pass at the low left side off a feed frrom Joe Thornton went to the front of the net where Pavelski shot it home. Austin Watson Predators Jersey. . Burns sealed the victory with 5:29 to play on a blast from the right point for his eighth of the year. Pavelski got San Jose on the board at 4:33 of the first period, and Goodrows first goal of his career came off a rebound at the left side just 56 seconds later for a 2-0 lead. Edmonton, though, tied the game with a pair of goals later in the first period, and the first was from Eberle as he skated to the front and got Stalock out of position before putting the puck into the net at 12:08. Just four minutes later, Teddy Purcell stole the puck in the San Jose zone and sent a short pass to the right circle where Perron beat Stalock with a wrister. Game Notes San Jose hosts Minnesota on Thursday ... 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