It’s been a disappointing season or six for the Carolina Hurricanes. The spring cleaning began when Jim Rutherford was removed from his position as general manager, though keeping him on as team president is more of a spring job title shifting than cleaning. The Canes then promoted alumni Ron Francis to general manager, after which eyes shifted to the coaching staff. It was only a matter of time for them.
That time came to an end today, when the Hurricanes fired Kirk Muller, along with assistants John MacLean and Dave Lewis. There is a name left on the coaching staff that remained untouched: former captain Rod Brind’Amour will remain with the team in his coaching capacity. It must be nice to be a franchise legend who is friends with the other franchise legend who is running the show now.
Will this help the Hurricanes get over the hump? Not until they start tinkering with the lineup. Unfortunately for the franchise’s affection for old heroes, Stanley Cup winner Cam Ward is a candidate for a buyout. In 30 games, Ward had a .898 save percentage and a 3.06 GAA. Those aren’t the kind of numbers that you want to see from someone with a cap hit of $6,300,000.
