Florida Panthers Behind The Bench: Assistant Coaches pt. 1

Assistant Coaches are just as important as the Head Coach. Often times, more pairs of eyes on things can see things that the Head Coach may miss, or they have alternative ideas that can help in a tough situation. The first two assistants I’m looking at today come in with plenty of experience on both sides of things, as they were both players before they transitioned into coaching. Both Jamie Kompon and Sylvian Lefebvre were named assistant coaches on August 10th, 2022, with their first season with the Panthers being the same as Head Coach Paul Maurice. What’s interesting and, I think, integral to the Cats’ recent success is that both Kompon and Lefebvre have won Stanley Cups prior to coming into the Panthers’ organization.

Jamie Kompon:

Kompon came to Florida with experience as an assistant under Paul Maurice. He coached for the Winnipeg Jets from 2016-2022, so it’s not surprising that he chose to follow Maurice to Florida after having already coached under him for an extensive period of time. They had great success together up in Winnipeg, in the seasons they coached together the Jets went 219-146-36, and in five full seasons together the Jets averaged 87.4 points per season. In any season they’ve coached together, the most overtime losses they’ve had was 10, and the most regular season losses they’ve had was 35. This past season marks the second time a team he and Paul Maurice have coached together has gotten 52 wins during the regular season and ended the season with over 100 points. Before going to Winnipeg, as an assistant coach, Kompon won back-to-back Stanley Cups with two different teams, the LA Kings in 2012 and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. With the St. Louis Blues, he served in several roles during his nine seasons, including video coach, scouting coordinator, strength & conditioning coach, and assistant coach. Kompon held the general manager and head coaching positions of the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL from 2014 to 2016, and his team went to the playoffs in both seasons. He also made the Western Conference Final during the 2014-2015 season. Before coaching, Kompon played hockey for McGill University and played two seasons in the ECHL; he was recently inducted into Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and got his start in coaching at his alma mater in 1991. Kompon brings in a lot of knowledge and experience from a wide range of places, having held many various positions throughout his coaching career. The Stanley Cup wins especially bring in a knowledge of how to be successful in the postseason at the NHL level.

Sylvain Lefebvre:

Lefebvre has spent more of his coaching time split between the NHL and the AHL than Kompon, however, he did have a longer playing career. As a player, Lefebvre played for the Rangers, the Avalanche, the Maple Leafs, the Nordiques, and the Canadiens. He started playing in the NHL in 1989 and played all the way until 2003. During the 1995-1996 season, he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. In his 14 years of coaching, he’s been the head coach of the Laval Rocket (one season), St. John’s IceCaps (two seasons), and Hamilton Bulldogs (three seasons). In 2009, he returned to the Colorado Avalanche as an assistant coach and served on their staff from 2009-2012. Before accepting the job with the Panthers, Lefebvre was an assistant coach with the San Diego Gulls in the AHL.

An interesting fact about both these assistant coaches is that they both played hockey as defensemen. I think this factors in well with how Paul Maurice coaches and is a good indicator as to why the Panthers have become such a good defensive team. No one is going to know the position better than players who have played it themselves, regardless of how long ago it was. Kompon now has a third Stanley Cup to his name and Lefebvre has added a second one to his. As long as these two are on staff, I expect the Florida Panthers to remain as one of the best, if not the best, defensive teams in the NHL.

Up next week: Assistant Coaches pt 2. I’ll preview the next two assistant coaches, Tuomo Ruutu and Myles Fee.