nd general manager of the Tuskers and led them to the UFL championship game. "Theres a lot of work to do," Gruden said. "When youre 3-13, there | Forum

(SportsNetwork.com) - The struggling Florida Panthers slow start to the season cost head coach Kevin Dineen his job. The Panthers will try to move forward with a new bench boss when they visit the Ottawa Senators for Saturdays matinee battle at Canadian Tire Centre. The Panthers, mired in a seven-game losing streak, announced the firing of Dineen and his assistant coaches, Gord Murphy and Craig Ramsay, on Friday morning. General manager Dale Tallon replaced Dineen with interim head coach Peter Horachek, who will have Brian Skrudland and John Madden serve as his assistant coaches. The coaching shake-up came the day after a 4-1 loss at Boston on Thursday. That setback dropped Florida to 0-3-4 during its current slide and to 3-9-4 on the season. "After 16 games it was clear that our team needed a change in philosophy and direction," Tallon said in a statement Friday. "We have not met the expectations that we set forth at training camp and it is my responsibility to make the necessary changes to ensure that our club performs at its maximum potential." Dineens tenure began with a 38-26-18 record and a Southeast Division title in 2011-12. The Panthers first playoff appearance since 2000 ended with a double-overtime loss to New Jersey in Game 7 of the opening round. However, Florida, ravaged by injuries, plummeted to the bottom of the standings last season, finishing with a league-low 36 points and a 15-27-6 record. Horachek, 53, inherits a team with an NHL-worst minus-25 goal differential. He was in his first season coaching the Panthers American Hockey League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. Prior to his job in San Antonio, Horachek spent nine seasons (2003-13) with the Nashville Predators, serving the last two years as associate head coach. "Peter is a bright hockey mind who brings to our club a wealth of coaching knowledge," Tallon said. Florida sent 24 shots at net in Thursdays game versus the Bruins, but Tuukka Rask stopped 23 of them to anchor Boston in the 4-1 win at TD Garden. Jesse Winchester scored the lone Florida goal late in the third period, while Scott Clemmensen allowed all four goals on 30 shots in the loss. The Panthers, who will close a three-game road trip Sunday against the New York Rangers, fell to 1-5-1 as the visiting team this season. Horacheks first game behind the Florida bench will be in a venue thats been less to kind to the Panthers in recent years. Ottawa has won six straight and 10 of its last 13 home meetings versus Florida. Although the Panthers have won two of the past four encounters in this series, Ottawa has claimed 11 of the last 13 matchups. While the Panthers try to end a lengthy slide on Saturday, the Senators will aim for their first three-game winning streak of the season. Ottawa has recorded consecutive wins against Columbus and Montreal and is 2-0-2 so far in November after posting a disappointing 4-6-2 record in the first month of the season. Ottawa has won both tilts during its two-game streak by 4-1 margins. After earning a road win Tuesday in Columbus, the Senators notched a home win Thursday against Montreal. Bobby Ryan had one goal and two assists to lead Ottawa past the visiting Canadiens and begin a five-game homestand on a positive note. "We made up some valuable points. Thats essentially a four-point game there and weve got a game in hand on a team thats right ahead of us, so I think the thing well take from tonight is that we won a divisional game but we took care of our home ice," Ryan said. Marc Methot, Kyle Turris and Mark Borowiecki added one goal apiece and Clarke MacArthur finished with a pair of assists for the Senators, who had lost five straight before winning their last two outings. Robin Lehner made 33 saves in the win and is line to get his third straight start on Saturday. Lehner has filled in nicely since regular starter Craig Anderson suffered a head/neck injury last Sunday against Dallas. Anderson is expected to be available for todays game in a backup capacity. Nathan Lawson had been serving as a backup to Lehner while Anderson was out of the lineup. Ottawa is 2-3-2 as the host this season and will also welcome Philadelphia, Boston and Columbus to Canadas capital city before this homestand is over. ASHBURN, Va. -- The face was different, the words familiar. Like Mike Shanahan and nearly every recent Washington Redskins coach, Jay Gruden is anxious to declare an end to franchises days of dysfunction. "I dont know what happened last year," Gruden said. "I know that interviewing with Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen and everybody here that the passion for excellence is there. All they want to do is win, and theyre going to provide me with every avenue to win." Gruden was introduced Thursday as the man charged with ending the perpetual state of turmoil the team has endured under owner Snyder and recently under general manager Allen. Gruden was a given a five-year contact for his first NFL head coaching gig, taking over a 3-13 team that has finished last in the NFC East in five of the last six seasons. "We HAVE to get it right," said Allen, who led the search and interviewed six candidates. "We need to get the franchise back on track in a winning direction. ... We were looking for a new leader, somebody who can inspire our football team. We knew it was more than just X and Os, it was about finding the right person to build a team chemistry that we needed." Gruden is Snyders eighth coach in 16 seasons as an NFL owner. Unlike Shanahan, who was fired last week, Gruden will not have final say over all football matters. Hell report to Allen, who has taken charge of assembling the roster and other personnel decisions. Snyder attended the news conference but did not speak to reporters. The 46-year-old Gruden has spent the last three seasons as the offensive co-ordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, where his skill in helping to develop Andy Dalton will no doubt be of use when he takes on the task of grooming another young franchise quarterback, Robert Griffin III. Gruden praised the talents of Griffin and spoke of the need to build a "genuine" trust with the quarterback, who regressed this season after winning the APs Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2012. Griffin returned from major knee surgery to start 13 games, but he publicly disagreed with some of Shanahans decisions, struggled as a drop-back passer and was benched for the final three weeks. Asked to confirm that Griffin will be the starter, Gruden chuckled and said: "I dont see him as a backup." "I see every trait that a quarterback has to have to be successful, I see Robert having all of those," Gruden said. "So why wouldnt you want to coach a guy like that? ... Im going to let him know that Im a trustworthy guy. Hes also got to understand that I expect a lot from the starting quarterback. I expect him to come in and prepare and work hard, and I expectt him to take the blame on some throws.dddddddddddd I expect him to be a great leader." Griffin limited his comments to a quick post on his Facebook page: "Excited about the hiring of Coach Jay Gruden. Cant wait to get to work with him & the guys!" Gruden said he will call the plays himself and that he has yet to decide which members of Shanahans staff to retain. It seems a safe bet, however, that some combination of defensive co-ordinator Jim Haslett, defensive backs coach Raheem Morris and tight ends coach Sean McVay has a good chance of sticking around, based on the trios previous relationship with the new coach. Gruden also said hes a fan of the 3-4 defence that Haslett has used the last four years. "I know theres a lot of coaches here who can coach," Gruden said. Gruden has been largely overshadowed by his more famous brother, Jon Gruden, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is now an analyst on "Monday Night Football." But Jay Gruden has been a name on the rise based on his success with Dalton and the Bengals offence. Jay Gruden interviewed for multiple head coaching openings last year and had drawn interest from at least three other teams seeking to fill a head coaching vacancy this year. He interviewed with the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday. The Redskins had to wait until the Bengals played their first-round playoff game before Gruden could be courted. It took a bad day from Gruden and Dalton -- scoring only 10 points in a home loss to the San Diego Chargers -- to make Gruden free to be hired this week. "I told him it worked out well that Cincinnati lost," Allen said. "He still doesnt understand that." Gruden said his ties within the Washington organization played a "big role" in his decision. He was an assistant coach with Tampa Bay from 2002-08, where he worked at various times with Allen, Morris and McVay. Gruden also coached under Haslett with the UFLs Florida Tuskers in 2009. Theres no question Gruden has paid his dues. He was a quarterback in the long-defunct World League of American Football, then went to the Arena Football League and began a playing and coaching career that was so successful it landed him in the AFL Hall of Fame in 1999. Hes been a head coach both the AFL and UFL, including two stints with the AFLs Orlando Predators. In 2010, after Haslett left for the Redskins, Gruden was head coach and general manager of the Tuskers and led them to the UFL championship game. "Theres a lot of work to do," Gruden said. "When youre 3-13, theres not one particular player or reason, theres a lot of reasons and theres a lot of things that need to be fixed." 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