Panthers name Kennan coach

SUNRISE, Fla., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Having failed to win a round in the playoffs since advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, the Florida Panthers are hoping Mike Keenan can turn the team around after a miserable start.

Keenan is replacing Duane Sutter, who was fired after recording a 22-35-8-7 record since taking over for Terry Murray on Dec. 28, 2000.

The Panthers are off to a 6-15-2-3 start -- just one point better than the lowest total in the NHL. In addition to the firing of Sutter, Bill Torrey lost the titles of president and general manager and will remain only as governor.

Keenan, 52, is coaching his 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.

Keenan is ranked fifth in all-time wins with 539 and fifth in games coached with 1,069. He has won three Presidents' Trophies, six division titles and led teams to the Stanley Cup Finals four times.

The architect of the New York Islanders' Stanley Cup dynasty of the 1980s, Torrey was named team president of the Panthers on April 19, 1993, the day the club officially announced its nickname. Torrey added the general manager's responsibilities when Bryan Murray was fired last December.

Chuck Fletcher was promoted from assistant general manager to interim general manager. 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.

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

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 "Cinderella" run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996 in just their third year of existence, the Panthers have gone through three coaches. They were eliminated in five games by the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in 1997 and their only other postseason appearance came in 2000.