Hurricanes fire Laviollete and replace him with Maurice

From TSN:

Sources tell TSN the Carolina Hurricanes have fired head coach Peter Laviolette and in a unique about face, have replaced him with former Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice.

Read the entire article here.

Not overly surprising that the Hurricanes let Laviolette go, considering his job was said to be in jeopardy over the summer.  It appears the Canes gave him the first quarter of the season to prove he deserved to belong and he must not have made the grade.  That said, I’m not sure how good the Hurricanes are anyways.  Laviollete obviously didn’t get the most out of Eric Staal this season but this team isn’t as talented as past Hurricanes teams; plus, the team have been without Justin Williams the whole season.  Overall, Laviollete did a terrific job during his tenure as coach of Carolina (Stanley Cup Championship in 2006) and I’d say this firing has more to do with the players hearing the same voice and message over and over again that it does his actual coaching abilities.  He won’t be out of a job for long.

As for Maurice, this is clearly a situation where Jim Rutherford is comfortable with the new coach and knows what he brings to the table.  With this being an in-season move, it gives Rutherford a better idea of what to expect from his coaching staff and allows him to set certain expectations for his club the rest of the way.  Is Maurice the savior? I don’t think so.  He is a solid coach but the Hurricanes don’t have the horses to contend this year.

At least we can’t say the NHL is boring!