(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

One of the darkest days in Golden Knights history was when the front office released a split statement announcing the firing of beloved coach Gerard Gallant AND the hiring of Bond-like villain Peter DeBoer. It was a cold, calculated decision to break the news on the road and in the early hours of the Pacific time zone. However, the news of the firing did not successfully slide through the morning news cycle. VGK fans felt robbed by the dismissal of the franchise’s first coach, who so happened to lead the club to a Stanley Cup final in the team’s historic inaugural season. It felt as if Gallant would be behind the Golden Knights’ bench for a while.

35 games prior to firing Gallant
16-14-5 / 37 Points

35 games prior to firing DeBoer
15-15-5 / 35 Points

VGK’s last 35 games
16-16-3 / 35 Points

At some point, it’s not the coach’s fault.

— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) January 28, 2023

Well, it didn’t. After building a solid 118-75-20 record in Vegas, the organization went in a completely different direction. Unlike DeBoer, Gallant has always been fondly remembered by the 31st franchise’s fanbase.

This week, Gallant accepted a job not with an NHL club but with the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons. (The unveil video is out of control, make sure you watch it if you haven’t seen it yet.) While he would have preferred to stay in North America, the former Golden Knights coach still has the desire to lead a group of professional hockey players to the promised land.

I’ve been out for two seasons and nothing has happened yet. Am I a little pissed off? Yes, but that’s the way it goes, you wait for your turn and your opportunities. I took this job with the mindset that I’m going to Russia and St. Petersburgh and I’m going to coach there. After the first year there’s an out-clause and I’ll look at something if something comes up. Otherwise, I’m going over there with the focus on the St. Petersburgh team and get the Shanghai Dragons in the playoffs. – Gerard Gallant to TSN.ca

There’s no doubt Gallant could still be an effective NHL coach, but he was passed over for Glen Gulutzan and Dan Muse. Both are less experienced but younger. There’s always been speculation that the 61-year-old has had choppy relationships with front offices. A rumor he has rejected. Nevertheless, he’s been dismissed after two or three seasons by all four organizations he was at the helm of.

I went to their room. I was told they’re going to go in a different direction. What do you say when that happens? I thought maybe we were going to have a conversation of, ‘Let’s get ’er going here. Let’s get the team going. Who are we going to call up?’ That’s what I thought it was going to be. Usually, you have an idea. You can feel something. But I didn’t have that. Maybe that was my own stupidity, I don’t know. I never felt like anything like that was going to happen. We got along good. We called up players. There was no issues. I was stubborn a little bit at times and stuff like that, but there’s nothing toward me or Kelly or George. It was come to work. Work with your GM. That’s why I was surprised. -Gerard Gallant in January 2020

VGK fans were as shocked as Gallant was on that unforgettable January 15th morning. Like him, the loyalists never saw it coming. Fast forward to today, the newest KHL coach will bring his style that worked so well in Vegas to Russia. As we all fondly remember, the impact of the forecheck, their knack of finding the deciding goal, and their team speed in 2017-18. It might be the most memorable sports season for many in Las Vegas. Gallant is hoping to build that type of team and atmosphere to his new KHL club.

The job will require a little bit of everything like recruiting players, putting a team on the ice, and getting ready for training camp. I got into this pretty late, so a lot of the free agents are gone but a coach from North America and the NHL can recruit some good players that he’s had before. It’s all new to me in the KHL, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to go over there with some systems and put them in place. We have a lot of North American players on our teams so, we’ll play that style of hockey and hopefully it works well. Everyone I’ve spoken to said to put my own systems that I use, and they’ll be fine over there. I’m sure there will be a few adjustments, but I’m going to coach the same way I coached my NHL teams. –Gallant to TSN.ca

Even the biggest Gallant fans (like us) will probably not watch even a single Shanghai Dragons game. However, we will keep an eye on their record as the four-time NHL coach has an opt-out clause after his first KHL season. It’s unlikely he would ever return to Vegas in a coaching role, but it would be gratifying to watch Turk being honored by the T-Mobile Arena crowd while behind the bench of another franchise. Just think, we’re only a year away from the team’s 10th season. We’re almost certain to see the old bench boss and the original Misfits celebrated once again.