It's Official - Carolina Retains Coaching Staff
by Bob Wage on Jun 15, 2009 11:06 AM EDT
25 comments
As expected, the Carolina Hurricanes just announced the signing of Head Coach Paul Maurice to a multi-year contract. Associate Head Coach, Ron Francis will retain his position but was also named, Director of Player Personnel. Previously the goalie coach, Tom Barrasso, got a promotion and is now an Assistant Coach, even though his primary duty will be to remain director of the goalies. Exact terms of the new deals have not yet been released.
Assistant coaches Tom Rowe and Kevin McCarthy will both remain on the team and keep their present roles.
This is good news, but it will be interesting to find out how long of a deal Maurice got. We will follow up as soon as we know more. (EDIT) Chip Alexander is reporting that Mo got a three year deal. Keep in mind, the Hurricanes are still paying Peter Laviolette one million USD per year.
Here is the press release from the Canes:
RALEIGH, NC—Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with head coach Paul Maurice on a multi-year contract. Rutherford also announced that Ron Francis will return as associate head coach and take on the additional title of director of player personnel, while Tom Barrasso will receive the new title of assistant coach. Assistant coaches Kevin McCarthy and Tom Rowe will remain in their roles moving forward and continue on their existing multi-year contracts.
"Keeping the coaching staff intact and better defining each coach’s role was an important offseason task," said Rutherford. "The team showed tremendous improvement in the second half of last season under the guidance of Paul and Ron. Their delegation of responsibilities to the other coaches created good chemistry in the coaches’ office and helped lead to success on the ice."
Maurice, 41, returned to the Hurricanes’ bench on Dec. 3, 2008, and guided the team to a 33-19-5 record in the final 57 regular season games of 2008-09, after the team started the season 12-11-2. Maurice led the team to the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, adding to his postseason success that includes Carolina’s 2002 Eastern Conference title. He is the franchise’s all-time winningest coach, having amassed 301 wins in his 731 regular-season games coached and Southeast Division titles in 1999 and 2002.
Francis, 46, remains with the Hurricanes coaching staff as associate head coach, and adds director of player personnel to his title, a change that better defines his role with team management in player signings, trades and acquisitions. The 2007 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Stanley Cup champion joined the Carolina coaching staff on Dec. 3, 2008, after serving two years in team management as director of player development and assistant general manager. The Hurricanes’ power play, a major focus for Francis, went 55-for-258 (21.3%) in the team’s 57 games following the coaching change, improving from 12.9 percent in the team’s first 25 games of 2008-09.
Barrasso, 44, completed his second season as the Hurricanes’ goaltending coach/director of goalie development in 2008-09. While his primary role will remain working with Carolina’s goaltenders, Barrasso’s title will change to assistant coach to better reflect his work in other areas such as the penalty kill and consulting with the other coaches on in-game adjustments.
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Hey JR:
+1 (repeating!)
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jun 15, 2009 11:14 AM EDT reply actions
Also...
Laviolette stops being paid if he picks up another coaching job, and he’s supposedly interested in the Wild position.
What’s the deal with Jeff Daniels? What’s his organizational contract status, him having been being groomed to be a big club HC at some point?
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jun 15, 2009 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions
Wild just hired Richards as HC… so for now, Lavi’s still on the books
by Andrea's evil twin on Jun 15, 2009 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions
It's about time!
I wonder why that took so long? Did we have to wait until the finals were over to make this announcement or something?
Hopefully this means we can find out about the free agents soon.
Still not a crook!
noooooooooooooo! maurice sucked the first time he was here and he still sucks now. any one that will stick with irbe deserves to be banished from the franchise for all time. he did not save the season, all the team needed was a change, didnt matter who the coach was.
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jun 15, 2009 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions
I know my head is in a fog all day…..
but WHAAAAA???
you can’t be serious…..
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Jun 15, 2009 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Living in the past ?
With a name like Brass Bonanza, I believe this person doesn’t change his mind once he’s made it up. Just a hunch. (by this guy’s reasoning Maurice’s rep was irrevocably determined in 2002 , and 7 years of experience, growing and learning, plus a stint in Toronto are irrelevent.).
Let's go Canes!
Hakkaa Paalle!
by hockeymomof2 on Jun 15, 2009 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions
i am serious. did you not watch as he became totally ineffectual for the team? i have been a fan of this team for almost 30 years, mostly bad ones, and i always thought he was one of the poorer coaches behind the bench for the whale/canes. bad decision after bad decision, no leadership skills, and downright terrible in a big game situation. i still think francis should have gotten the nod over maurice. and mom, by your reasoning we should bring back brendl and make him a top forward because he has grown in the khl. he was run out of toronto too for a reason. i love the canes but i will never like maurice.
by brass bonanza on Jun 15, 2009 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, Francis is SURE to be a great coach with all his experience running a team.
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jun 15, 2009 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Your opinion is great…. a little off base… but you’re certainly entitled to speak your mind :-)
Come on now… you can’t be serious??
If Mo didn’t take over when he did this team was bound for the golf course in early April…..
by Mateos_Canes_Lamp on Jun 15, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions
FWIW, Toronto just wasn’t a good team. Maurice was fired and Wilson brought in as a bargaining chip to land Burke from Anaheim, since Wilson and Burke were college roommates.
by Cory Lavalette on Jun 15, 2009 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions
It was actually a coaching Staff announcement
I think it’s important to note that JR emphasized today that it’s a team effort for the coaches too. Mo is not a unilateral dictator, guiding players and strategy- he may be the final “decider” but he seems to have a lot of great people with specific assignments (Francis, Rowe, Barrasso, McCarthy – and even the insight of JR). highly involved in designated roles. This isn’t just about Mo.
Let's go Canes!
Hakkaa Paalle!
by hockeymomof2 on Jun 15, 2009 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions
IMO I think Mo proved himself worthy of this signing. With all the interviews from the players and coaches since he returned they seemed to respect Mo and his coaching and that says a lot about a coach. Something I didn’t see from the players with Lavi. I think he has learned from his past mistakes and grown into a better coach because of them. He gets along with JR which is critical for teams and their GM’s. Lets see what he can do with new player signings and a new season under his leadership before we write him off.
I assume that Wesley will keep his position as Defensive Player Development?
other summer plans
I was listening to JR on 99.9 around 1:30 this afternoon, and he gives every indication that he intends to bring the team back exactly as it was in May (Is this proof positive of the problem Bubba wrote about last week?) Including Babs and Seids who he specifically mentions. He also gives himself a lot of excuses if it doesn’t happen, but it was interesting how adamant he was when speaking at the press conference that it was his hope and intention to pull it off.
Let's go Canes!
Hakkaa Paalle!
With the way THESE players performed under THIS staff...
I don’t see how retaining them could possibly be a “problem.”
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jun 15, 2009 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions
The Hurricanes website has a video of JR’ s comments from earlier on their front page now.
Let's go Canes!
Hakkaa Paalle!
by hockeymomof2 on Jun 15, 2009 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Absolutely fantastic- thanks for the post Bubba!
Regardless of whether or not caniacs are a fan of Maurice at this point- he did provide us with 18 post season games- and of which, we probably made a million dollars per game during. Not too shabby for a small market team that was not expected to make the playoffs! Hence why are budget this year may be higher!
Kudos JR- great move. After last season, it would be absolutely ridiculous to hire someone different!
by PittsburghCaniac on Jun 15, 2009 11:14 PM EDT reply actions
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