It was announced tonight that Luke DeCock will be stepping into a new role and will no longer be covering the Carolina Hurricanes on a full-time basis. DeCock has been the Canes beat writer since the fall of 2000. He posted an article in Lord Stanley's Blog this evening saying that he will now be a general sports columnist. Chip Alexander will be taking over the Hurricanes blog on the News and Observer, as well as taking over Luke's old duties covering the Hurricanes.

DeCock has always been the ultimate professional while covering the Canes and did a tremendous job. Fans will certainly miss him. On a personal level, I thank him again for doing a very interesting interview for the Canes Country Blog last year.

I'm sure that the writer will still have plenty to say about the Canes, even as a columnist, but his expertise reporting the daily happenings of the team will be difficult to replace.

Best of luck to Chip Alexander!