Laviolette out, Maurice returns
RALEIGH, N. C. — Peter Laviolette won more games than any American-born coach in NHL history. But he didn’t win enough of them lately to keep his job with the Carolina Hurricanes, so they replaced him with their winningest coach — the same one Laviolette himself replaced five years earlier.
The Hurricanes fired Laviolette on Wednesday, brought back Paul Maurice to take over for him and moved Hall of Fame player and assistant general manager Ron Francis behind the bench as Maurice’s associate coach.
Laviolette led the team to its only Stanley Cup title in 2006, and last month, he became the NHL’s winningest American-born coach. But the Hurricanes — the only team in the league’s modern history to miss the playoffs two straight years after winning it all — have lost four of their last five games.
