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Dineen on Florida firing: ‘Let’s just leave it where it is for now’

Kevin Dineen

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2012 file photo, Florida Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen yells during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in Sunrise, Fla. Dineen has been fired as coach of the Panthers. The team made the announcement Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, one day after their losing streak reached seven with a 4-1 loss at Boston. Also fired were assistants Gord Murphy and Craig Ramsay. Peter Horachek is the Panthers’ interim head coach.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

AP

Kevin Dineen was fired by the Florida Panthers back on November 8, and after losing his first NHL head coaching job, he’s still not ready to discuss what went wrong.

Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel was there as Dineen revisited the Panthers training facility to watch his son’s junior team play in a tournament and found him less-than chatty.

“Let’s just leave it where it is for now,” said Dineen.

Dineen added that he would talk publicly about the firing after Christmas. He was replaced by Peter Horachek who has gone 4-5-1 since taking over the Panthers.

It’s tough to fault Dineen for not wanting to talk about things now. It was his first job and having things not go right can make things difficult to discuss. On top of that, he’s also going to want to find another team to get back to coaching some day. If he was unhappy with how things went with the Panthers, speaking up too soon could’ve been counterproductive.

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