Breaking: Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant makes first public comments since being fired.

It has become readily apparent that their may have been some politicking behind the scenes involved in the termination of now former Florida Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant on Sunday night.

Despite the fact that the termination was sudden and perhaps even ugly when you consider that Gallant was left waiting for a cab in front of PNC Arena, Gallant had nothing but positivity in his first comments since everything went down.

"Would like to thank Panthers for 2 great years and giving me opportunity to be a head coach in the NHL," said Gallant as per ESPN's Darren Dreger.

"Really going to miss my players and staff, thanks."

There have already been major rumors that team's are positioning themselves to potentially acquire Gallant, and the fact that there is an expansion team in the middle of a coaching search could result in Gallant quickly finding himself a new job. The fact that he is likely to bounce back so quickly likely tempered his comments as well with Gallant not wanting to burn any potential bridges.

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