Report: Florida Panthers change coaches

SUNRISE, Fla., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Off to another miserable start, the Florida Panthers reportedly fired coach Duane Sutter and general manager Bill Torrey Sunday and replaced them with Mike Keenan and assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher.

TSN of Canada is reporting that the Panthers new ownership group made the moves with the club off to a 6-15-2-3 start and just one point better than the lowest total in the NHL.

The team will hold a news conference Monday at 10 a.m. EST "to announce a series of changes within the hockey operations department."

Sutter apparently lasted just 72 games after replacing Terry Murray last Dec. 28. The third member of his family to coach in the NHL, the 41-year-old Sutter compiled a 22-35-8-7 record.

The Panthers have been beset by injuries this season, losing Pavel Bure to a concussion last month and younger brother Valeri to a knee injury in October.

The architect of the New York Islanders' Stanley Cup dynasty of the 1980s, Torrey was named team president in April 1993 and added the general manager's responsibilities when Bryan Murray was fired last December.

The Panthers would be Keenan's seventh NHL team following stints with Philadelphia, Chicago, the New York Rangers, St. Louis, Vancouver and Boston. He replaced Pat Burns with the Bruins in October 2000 but was not retained after the team failed to make the playoffs.

Fletcher, 34, is the son of Phoenix Coyotes executive Cliff Fletcher. He has been with the Panthers for eight seasons and had been responsible for negotiating player contracts and research in addition to scouting professional and amateur prospects in North America and Europe.

In 1999-2000, Pavel Bure's first full season with the team, the Panthers challenged for the Southeast Division title before finishing second with a 43-33-6-6 mark and a club-record 98 points. But they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils and have spiraled downward ever since.

Last season, Florida never recovered from a 1-7-4-3 start, dumping the Murray brothers at the end of December and missing the playoffs for the third time in four years with a 22-38-13-9 record.

Since a run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996 in just their third year of existence, the Panthers have gone through three coaches.