Thursday, December 04, 2008

What was old is new again

Yesterday, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that they fired the winningest US born hockey coach of all time, Peter Laviolette, and have replaced him with the guy they fired 4 years ago. How weird!

I think Coach Laviolette is a great guy and I am sorry to see him go. Yes, the Canes have not done so well so far this season, but it is early. It's not like they are in last place in the division either - they are currently in second place, only 3 points behind the leaders. This is one thing that I dislike about the Canes. They are constantly jumping the gun and firing or trading someone as a "quick" fix. I know this game is all about the money, and you don't make money if you lose. Still, it feels like they never give players or coaches a fair chance to do better.

So, they have hired back Paul Maurice who was the coach until 2004. He did take the Canes to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002, but he also took the Canes to dead last place in the whole league in 2003. He was also fired by Toronto earlier this year. I like the guy, but can you imagine how that negotiation went?

Hey, Paul. We know we fired you a few years back, but we're in a bit
of a pickle now. So, since you're not doing anything, do you want to come
back to us? Oh, and we will probably fire you again later in the
season. Great - welcome back!!

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