Ron Francis fired?
It'll seem unthinkable for anyone who's followed his Hall of Fame career, including his eight seasons and two Stanley Cup championships with the Penguins, but the Hurricanes surprisingly removed him from the role of general manager Wednesday night, euphemistically promoting him to the title of president of hockey operations while also acknowledging they'll search for a new GM.
The move was made by Tom Dundon, who bought the franchise Jan. 11 and had urged Francis to make aggressive moves to end Carolina's absence from the playoffs, which dates to 2009. The Hurricanes lost, 6-2, Tuesday night, at Minnesota, leaving them 29-27-11 and four points out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. A 2-6-2 slide, coupled with Francis' inaction at the NHL trade deadline, clearly was too much.
“Since I took control of the team, I’ve had a good chance to be around and assess the operations,” Dundon told reporters in Raleigh, N.C. “There are a lot of good people working in the organization, but I feel that a change in direction is needed when it comes to hockey personnel decisions.”
Dundon added of his personality, "I'm not the kind of guy to wait around."
Francis, 55, was famous for his patience on the ice, but it didn't pay as an executive. In four years after taking over for Jim Rutherford in Carolina, he never made a player-for-player trade. His moves were aimed primarily at adding draft picks or staying within the team's historically tight budget under Peter Karmanos' ownership. Francis went 130-130-53, and his one major move of the past offseason -- signing goaltender Scott Darling as a free agent for four years at $16.6 million -- proved disastrous, as Darling is 10-16-7 with a 3.09 goals-against average and .889 save percentage.
Francis did not comment.
