Ronnie alerted those who may have been tempted to breathe a sigh of relief that they had been spared that, "nobody on the roster is untouchable." Whoa now Ronnie. You can't mean Eric Staal or brother Jordan or Cam Ward or Alexander Semin. Think of how much you are paying them. Let's not get carried away with that axe.
Does it really matter that this is the 3rd coach and assistants that "the core" has successfully led to the unemployment line? A friend and reader of this blog emailed me a question that seriously needs to be answered: "At what point is "the core" responsible for the Hurricanes' failure to make the playoffs?" Questions like that may just have Ronnie sharpening that axe sooner than later, if he truly is going to stand by his "nobody is untouchable" assertion.
I am not suggesting that E or J Staal need to be axed. I certainly feel like Semin is a huge asset to the team. And I'm not really in favor of lopping off Cam Ward, even though it would potentially free up cap space. The hockey media seem content to give Eric a pass due to his injury and possibly coming back to soon at the beginning of the season. Rutherford said that Jordan had a better season than what it may have seemed. And what's better than having Cam in the mix along with Khudobin in goal? But the question remains about this team and its recent run of coaching changes. Whose fault is it really?
(I'd really be bummed if GM Francis swung the axe at Chuck Kaiton. Even if nobody is untouchable, certainly the Hall of Fame voice of the Carolina Hurricanes is safe. I mean who else could pronounce all those French and Russian names?)
As to the hiring of the new coach, Ron Francis says that the team hopes to have someone in place prior to the draft. My friend also affirmed what a lot of Caniacs believe in telling me that "the new coach should have NHL head coaching experience." I agree. For all of his on-ice success, Muller had never head-coached in the league, and perhaps it led to his inability to get consistency out of his players. It's been said that he tried to get Eric Staal to play out of his normal comfort zone. The new guy will hopefully be able to draw out the best of the team's individual players without trying force them into roles for which they are not best-suited.
So Ron Francis is large and in charge. He is now "the man" in Carolina hockey. For fans, it could be just what the doctor ordered to end the long playoff drought. (Someone be sure to tell the new coach on day 1 that we are not "re-building" and don't care to wait 3-5 more years for playoff tickets.) I think undoubtedly Francis has the respect of the Hurricanes nation for his on-ice legend. We are hoping that he will engender the same respect for his off-ice management of this team. By the way, can someone tell him to axe the "Aftermath" radio show, or at least have them stop repeating themselves 6-8 times after a game, and calling it a post-game show. Take a tip from television, MM, 30 minutes is more than enough. I mean if nobody is untouchable...
