Florida's Hockey General Sees Similarities To Leading Army

SUNRISE, FL — He may not have spent his first career around a hockey rink, but the U.S. Army's former top four-star Gen. Ray Odierno says there are similarities to running one of the most feared armies in the world and working with the NHL's Florida Panthers in a metropolitan area that doesn't see many low temperatures, let alone actual ice.

"Being in the army and being in combat and leading, being the Chief of Staff, — leading the whole army — its all about culture," offered the former military man as he took on a new challenge Thursday as chairman of the Miami area hockey franchise.

"What I’ve learned over time is we got people from all over the United States, brought them into the army and adapted them to our culture to be successful. It’s the same here," he told reporters before the start of Thursday's game, which saw the Panthers pick up the team's second victory against the St. Louis Blues to go 2-1 on the newly minted 2017-18 season.

Odierno, who is credited with helping to take down and capture Saddam Hussein, was named to his new job by team owner Vincent J. Viola, who was himself nominated by President Trump to serve as secretary of the Army before withdrawing from consideration.

While Odierno conceded that he never played hockey, he said that he has been around sports his entire life.

"Being part of a team is everything I’ve done since I was 17-years-old and so it’s exciting to me to be part of something, and working with others to really develop greatness," he said. "I think that’s what we’re going to do here and I’m excited about it."

Since March, Odierno has been working with Viola behind the scenes to help "chart a course forward for the Panthers organization," according to the team owner, who credited Odierno's vision and advice with getting the team back on the right track after a disappointing 35–36–11 season last year in which the club failed to capture a playoff berth.

Viola decided the winds of change needed to blow through the BB&T Center.

"He realized things didn’t go well last year, both from an organizational perspective and on the ice," said Odierno. "He wanted to make some change."

One of the most important changes involved the club's culture.

"I want other players to say, 'I want to go play for the Florida Panthers. That is a first-class organization. They do everything the right way. They take care of their players. They play a fun game on ice. They are a tough team to play against and they are winners," Odierno explained. "That’s what I hope to do over time."

The 63-year-old Odierno was the 38th Army chief of staff who commanded the U.S. Joint Forces Command in Iraq from 2010 to 2011. He served as command general from 2008 to 2010 and commanding general, III Corps from May 2006 to May 2008.

"The first thing we had to do is streamline the organization and that’s what we’ve done," he said of the present challenges facing the Panthers. "We’ve streamlined our organization. It’s very simple. We have [General Manager Dale Tallon] in charge of hockey. We have [President and CEO] Matt Caldwell in charge of business operations and we’ve really gotten rid of a lot of other people that were kind of hanging around. And, we’ve done that for a really specific reason — so the players understand who’s in charge."

During his time as head of the Army, Odierno wasn't always politically correct. He stirred the pot during his final Pentagon news briefing in August 2015 when he suggested that sectarian rifts in Iraq might lead to the country being partitioned into Sunni, Shia and Kurdish sectors, according to Military.com.

A graduate of West Point, Odierno is only the second American military officer to command at the division, corps and army level during the same conflict since the Vietnam War. He is probably the only American military officer to also command a professional hockey club.

It remains to be seen whether the Panthers will one day be as feared as the U.S. Army.

"What we’re now developing is a winning culture. When we brought in Coach [Bob] Boughner, he in my opinion amplifies that idea of a winning culture," said Odierno, also pointing to the two assistant coaches recently hired by the team. "It's all about developing a long-term culture that leads to long-term success. I think we will start to see that over time as we continue to move forward."

The Panthers were scheduled to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Pittsburgh. The team opened its 2017-2018 season last weekend with a 1-1 split with Tampa Bay.

For ticket information call 954-835- PUCK (7825) or visit FloridaPanthers.com/TicketCentral.

Then Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno salutes before a 2014 football game between Army and Air Force in West Point, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)