If it wasn’t already, Florida has now become ground zero for the debate between old school and new school hockey following the firing of coach Gerard Gallant. It began when former general manager Dale Tallon was moved upstairs, but even that move wasn’t enough to make it a full-fledged, pick-a-side, dig-in-the-heels argument.

Tallon, at least, was treated publicly with respect as power shifted elsewhere in the organization.

He represents so much of what the old school loves and has succeeded with. He brought in players for reasons that couldn’t be quantified. He believed in surrounding young talent with players who played the right way. He believed in chemistry and leadership. He’d sign a guy and be excited about it because he knew it made the dressing room more fun. Considering the long grind of an NHL season, those things are important to him.

With Tallon calling the shots, guys like Dave Bolland, Kris Versteeg, Shawn Thornton and Willie Mitchell were brought in, guys whose value in the dressing room often outweighed their value on the ice. It worked, too.

When the new regime in Florida decided that approach was outdated, Tallon got to keep a position in the organization. He was praised publicly. His name was at the top of team announcements after the move to president, including the official announcement of the team firing Gallant.

But it didn’t take Woodward and Bernstein to discover Tallon was done making significant decisions. You heard it privately. You saw it publicly with the analytics-driven roster decisions made this offseason.

Gallant was Tallon’s coach. Gallant is a traditional hockey guy. He’s done it at every level. He’s paid his dues. His credo is to keep it simple, work hard, and do things the right way. Players absolutely love him.

He was fired following an offseason of major roster turnover despite a division title. He was fired while keeping his team afloat with significant injuries, including Jonathan Huberdeau, who is out months with a leg injury. He was fired after guiding his team to a 6-4 record in its past 10, and keeping them within two points of a playoff spot.

Making it worse are the photos of Gallant waiting for a cab outside the arena in Carolina. Tallon was treated with respect. Gallant was kicked to the curb to wait for his own ride home.

Hockey has a culture of doing things the right way and this isn’t it. Gallant, at the very least, deserved a ride to wherever he wanted to go next. And that’s the absolute least.

Florida management wants a coach that aligns with their philosophy, and for now, GM Tom Rowe will handle bench duties. They're not wrong in this line of thinking, but it's something they probably should have addressed before this moment. The biggest mistakes in this move were the timing and the way it was handled. It’s going to put even more pressure on the analytics-driven Florida front office to get it right. Because if they don’t, they’re going to get skewered. They already are.

“It just opens you up for criticism, and now people will take the opportunity,” texted one NHL executive on Sunday night.

If the moves don’t work, the criticism will get even louder.

That’s clear. What was also clear was that Gallant didn’t align with the front office’s organizational philosophy. He knew it. They knew it.

This was inevitable. So, if you’re Gerard Gallant, this might not be the worst thing in the world. He’s coming off a division title and has proven he can coach successfully at the NHL level.

“When the water is boiling, it’s boiling under the surface,” said one source close to Gallant on Sunday evening. “Once you get in a groove where you’re fighting your bosses, it’s hard to do your job.”

Gallant can now choose a position where he’s not fighting that battle daily, a spot with a franchise that believes in what he believes in.

They weren’t aligned philosophically, and the Florida front office prefers a coach that is. That doesn’t excuse the way this was handled. There are better ways to treat an employee who has helped raise the franchise to levels it doesn’t usually find. But once the shock wears off for Gallant, he’ll probably realize this may be the best thing for him.

Nine more thoughts on the situation moving forward in Florida:

2. Gallant was loved by his players

This is going to be the challenge now for Tom Rowe behind the bench. The Panthers are in the middle of a long road trip and have to bounce back quickly. Usually when a coach is fired, there’s the dead cat bounce that results in a couple quick wins because of the shock.

But this situation is different. This team wasn’t in the middle of 10 straight losses. This is going to be an emotional time for the players, and Rowe has to somehow get through to a group of players who feel loyalty to the guy he replaced.

3. Youth of the roster will have an impact

One source said the youth of some of the players will have an impact on the emotional toll this decision will take on the team. Gallant, for instance, is the only NHL coach franchise defenseman Aaron Ekblad has known. The source compared it to the Denis Savard firing in Chicago, where it was reported that a young Patrick Kane was in tears over the decision.

“There’s going to be a backlash after this,” said the source. “Huberdeau, Barkov and Ekblad are really close with Gerard.”

As hard as it was for Chicago, it ended up working out fine for Kane and the Blackahawks. We just don’t know if Joel Quenneville will be walking through that door for the Panthers.

4. Next stop for Gallant

In January, Tallon signed Gallant to a two-year extension that gave him a contract through the 2018-19 season, so in that respect, Gallant is taken care of. He can take his time in determining his next step, while getting paid for his patience.

One source close to Gallant suggested his first move will be heading to Germany to watch his son-in-law play hockey. His daughter married former Maple Leafs forward Darryl Boyce, who has eight points in 14 games playing with Ingolstadt in Germany.

5. Vegas?

With a long runway, Gallant can be choosy about where he coaches next, but he’s already immediately been linked to the Vegas Golden Knights, an expansion team being pieced together by GM George McPhee.

“He knows George a little,” said the source close to Gallant.

Gallant would be a nice fit, considering how well he’s shown he can develop young players, a necessity in that job since the young players drafted under McPhee will determine how quickly that team finds success.

McPhee has already taken advantage of the changes in Florida once by hiring Scott Luce, who ran the drafts for years in Florida.

6. McPhee will likely stay the course

All that said, I presented a scenario like this to McPhee -- an established coach shaking loose during the season -- and he didn’t sound like a guy who was going to be rushed into a coaching decision.

“We’ve got time,” McPhee said early this month. “We’re going to take our time.”

It would be surprising, even with this news, if McPhee suddenly changes his mind.

7. Hockey outsiders calling the shots

The group in Florida certainly could have handled this better. The transition of putting the people they want into power has been sloppy at best. They’ve been accused behind the scenes of being arrogant and thinking they’re smarter than people who have been doing this a long time. Time will tell there.

But they’re not stupid, either. The belief is that the two current assistant GMs, Eric Joyce and Steve Werier, are calling a lot of the shots. Joyce is a West Point and Harvard grad and a guy who would be the smart bet to assume a lot of the front-office decision-making with Rowe behind the bench.

They’re outsiders in the hockey world, which has raised the volume of criticism, but they haven’t helped themselves much in how this has played out. But if the end result is successful, they probably don’t care all that much, either.

8. Was it a performance issue?

This organization has become about process rather than results, which is an interesting shift in a results-based business. So with that in mind, knowing the analytics focus of the front office, you try to find evidence that certain things have gotten worse under Gallant to justify the decision.

Florida is actually a better possession team this season than it was last season. Even with the roster turnover and injuries, the Panthers are controlling 51.6 percent of the even-strength shot attempts. Last season, the Panthers were at 48.7 percent.

Sean Tierney, an analytics-heavy writer, noted that the shot rates have been declining in Florida, which might have been a sign of trouble:

Shot rates have been heading in the wrong directions, which is of note. pic.twitter.com/seI9U58CEX

— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) November 28, 2016

But considering the injuries and roster change, that’s splitting hairs. This move was probably happening regardless of how the season started.

9. Rowe's experience

Rowe has a challenge ahead of him behind the bench in Florida, but he’s navigated difficult situations before. He was the first coach for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in the KHL after the tragic plane crash in 2011 killed 25 players and popular head coach Brad McCrimmon.

In his first season, his team went 34-18-0, but he was fired after losing five of the first six games of the 2013-14 season.

It was interesting to note that after he was fired, a KHL commentator cited a lack of charisma and direction from Rowe as the biggest culprit.

10. The impact on Jagr

Lastly, you can’t help but wonder if the shuffling in Florida will impact star forward Jaromir Jagr's immediate future with the team. He was brought in by Tallon in part to add juice to the team, and generate some excitement for a franchise that needed it. He’s definitely done that, and remains a must-see ticket seller when the Panthers are in town.

But the new management group has focused its efforts in adding skill, speed and puck-moving ability to match trends in the game. Jagr doesn’t necessarily fit that.

“They want to play up-tempo,” said one source. “Jagr can’t skate. He can’t play the style they want to play.”