Disclaimer: This article is not criticizing Rowe, instead I am making an observation.

It’s quite obvious. Tonight proved it again. If Tom Rowe is behind the bench at the start of the 2017/18 season, then I will be SHOCKED. It’s quite obvious the writing is on the wall for the rookie coach. His fanbase hates him. If I had to take a poll of all 122 fanbases in the four major professional sports, I bet Rowe would rank 122nd out of 122 out of all coaches likeability rankings with their fanbases. Rowe’s Panthers have gone 19-18-10 under him. While most will point at point percentage, excluding OTLs, Rowe is 19-28. Gallant was 11-11 before being fired. Gallant was too opinionated but Rowe shouldn’t have been his replacement. While some might argue Rowe didn’t have a healthy roster to work with the whole time, with his whole roster (Feb 3- Mar 1) he was 7-4-1. With this team’s talent that record should be better. 9-3-0 would be acceptable. It is obvious he is not an NHL coach. But I doubt Panthers management forgets about this. Sorry Tom, but the writing is on the wall.