franchise that has made the playoffs just once in
RALEIGH, N. Darius Leonard Jersey .C. -- Ron Francis wasted little time putting his stamp on the Carolina Hurricanes. One week into his new job as general manager, Francis fired coach Kirk Muller and most of his staff. Now leading a franchise that has made the playoffs just once in eight years, Francis cited the need for a "fresh start" and warned that nobody on the roster -- from the marquee names, to the grinders at the end of the bench -- is untouchable. "I dont think changing the coaches lets the players off the hook," Francis said. "I think there has to be a lot of responsibility on their shoulders as well to turn this thing around. Hopefully we can do that going forward." Francis, a Hall of Fame player and former captain and assistant coach with the Hurricanes, took control of the team last week when Jim Rutherford stepped aside after a two-decade run as its GM. As part of his first big housecleaning move, assistants John MacLean and Dave Lewis also were fired and goaltending coach Greg Stefan was reassigned back to the teams pro scouting department. Rod BrindAmour, a third-year assistant who was the captain of Carolinas only Stanley Cup-winning team in 2006, was retained because Francis said "Roddy really didnt have, in my estimation, a prominent role on this staff." Francis says its "an open search at this point," is looking for "a guy whos a teacher" with strong communication and leadership qualities and ideally would like to hire his new coach before the June 27-28 draft. "I dont really have anybody in mind," he said. "Well start (with) a few names were putting on the list, and well go forward looking at that list and see who is the best fit for our team going forward." Muller was 80-80-27 in three seasons with the Hurricanes, who havent made the playoffs since 2009, the longest active drought in the Eastern Conference. Carolina finished 13th in the 16-team East this season. "The biggest thing was our inconsistency," Francis said. "Some nights we looked like a great team and other nights, we really struggled, looked like we didnt know how to play the game at times." Muller, 48, made six All-Star teams during a 19-year career with six clubs, most notably New Jersey and Montreal. He had never been a head coach in the NHL and was in his first season coaching the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL when he was hired during the 2011-12 season to replace the fired Paul Maurice. The relentlessly positive Muller spent the past month in limbo, saying in mid-April that upper management had not told him anything about his job status and that he was going about his business as if he would remain the coach. While owner Peter Karmanos Jr. said late in the season that he liked the coaching staff, he added last week that it would be entirely Francis call whether to retain Muller. During his formal introduction as GM, Francis said his impending decision on Mullers status "needs due process." Mullers final year was plagued by subpar years from the four highest-paid players on the roster -- forwards Alexander Semin and Eric and Jordan Staal, and goalie Cam Ward. When Ward was asked during his exit interview if it was tough for Muller to get his message across in the dressing room, the goalie said "for me, obviously, Im going to avoid that one." Francis said he didnt sense much friction between Muller and the players. "You look at our team, theres guys who didnt play well. They were told that by us in the exit meetings," the GM said. "Theres always going to be situations where, as a player, if you dont like the coach, youve still got to perform." Matthias Farley Jersey .J. -- After getting permission from his 7-year-old daughter, New York Giants offensive lineman David Diehl has retired after an 11-year career that included two Super Bowl championships. Margus Hunt Jersey . He was 26. Edwards, the Supercup Championship leader, was in the passenger seat as an instructor for a private training session at Queensland Raceway at Willowbank, outside Brisbane, Porsche Motorsport said.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Kerry, I would like your opinion on the Joe Pavelski shootout goal. It appears that Pavelski comes to a stop, waits and then shoots. Should this goal have counted in the shootout? Unapologetic Ducks fan. Kerry, On Saturday night during the shootout, San Joses Joe Pavelski appeared to come to a complete stop while moving towards Jonas Hiller. Immediately after stopping he shot the puck and scored the only goal (for either team) during the shootout. I thought that the rules were that both the puck and the shooter had to keep up uninterrupted forward momentum for the goal to count? A little clarification would be great because Id hate to think that yet another game this season was decided by a refs blown call, there have been FAR too many of those already. Love the column, thanks for helping further everyones education and knowledge about the game that we all love. Greg Lykes Greg and our Unapologetic Ducks fan, Welcome to another shootout "razzle-dazzle" which should be redefined in the rule book as an NHL skills competition where anything goes. Its about time to change the wording in rule 24 to include, "any move that resembles a skilled hockey play." The lacrosse-like whip and spin-o-rama are approved for use as skilled moves and both involve continuous motion. It might be argued that Joe Pavelski maintained a semblance of forward motion when he slammed on the brakes resulting in a forward slide and then immediately turned his blades from that sliding stop to a continuation of his glide momentum towards Jonas Hiller. There was also an ever so slight forward rotation of the puck only detected by video replay as Pavelski executed a stickkhandle move in conjunction with his sliding stop. Reggie Wayne Jersey . Pavelskis stick motion, from back to front, throughout this stickhandle maneuver is deemed legal puck possession as he teed the puck up for a shot. All this allows the execution of Pavelskis shootout move to be deemed "legal" by a technicality. Rule 24.2 presently reads, "However, should the puck come to a complete stop at any time during the shot attempt, the shot shall be stopped and no goal will be the result." To the naked eye in real-time, it appears that both the puck and Pavelski came to a complete stop. Slow-motion video review can provide a different picture; especially if the viewer desires all of these "hockey plays" to be deemed legal. My take is that an attacker is given a distinct and unfair advantage over the goalkeeper on most of these "stop and go" type maneuvers. While it might be entertaining for fans during an All-Star Game Skills Competition where there is little on the line except bragging rights, a regular season shootout is worth a point in the standings. Shootout wins can make a huge difference in the final standings for playoffs. The integrity of the final standings is being compromised by circumventing the spirit of Rule 24 through unfair advantages shooters are being given over the goalkeepers. Short of a rule change, the referees should be empowered to kill the play whenever they determine (with their naked eye) that the puck has not been kept in motion towards the goal as the current rule states. It would take a large measure of courage on the part of the refs to make that call, in addition to support offered from a Hockey Operations Dept. that has set the existing standard. Dont expect a change anytime soon unless the goalkeeper fraternity revolts en masse. 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This is a list of National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise post-season appearance droughts. This list includes the all-time and the active consecutive non- playoffs . Aside from the NBA playoff appearance droughts
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