BREAKING NEWS

"Carolina fires head coach Peter Laviolette, Paul Maurice reportedly takes over."

This screams greasy inside dealings.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you ask me. Laviolette took them to the Stanley Cup in 2006. The team is currently sitting above .500 with a 12-11-2 record with 26 points putting them second in their division behind Washington.

They'd probably be better if Eric Staal wasn't in a slump in a major way: 15 points in 25 games (and 3 of them came in one game).

Their last couple of games (a losing streak) have been against contenders like Philadelphia and Anaheim. Hardly easy wins.

Although this is good for Maurice, who I think is a good coach. (He just made a bad team choice by becoming the sacrificial lamb in Toronto.) see: Toronto hires Brian Burke.


Canadian Press:
The Carolina Hurricanes have fired head coach Peter Laviolette, who led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2006.

The Hurricanes scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. ET but confirmed the coaching change. TSN.ca reported that Paul Maurice will take over behind the bench.

The Hurricanes are eighth in the Eastern Conference at 12-11-2. Laviolette, a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year in his championship campaign, was in his fifth season as
Hurricanes coach.

The 44-year-old native of Franklin, Mass., was named Carolina's 11th head coach on Dec. 15, 2003. Prior to joining the Hurricanes,

Laviolette coached two seasons with the New York Islanders. Laviolette also served as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins in 2000-01 after two years of running Boston's American
Hockey League affiliate in Providence.