Are old pals the best ones?

RALEIGH -- That Peter Laviolette was fired as coach of the struggling team Wednesday was the mildest of surprises.

That Paul Maurice was named as his successor, returning to the post he held for 8 1/2 seasons before he was fired five years ago, might have been a shock -- but anyone who has followed this franchise for the past 11 years wouldn't have been taken aback.

To general manager Jim Rutherford, Maurice is an old friend, and there's always a place in the Hurricanes organization for old friends, for better or worse.

To many longtime fans, Maurice represents everything that was wrong with the Hurricanes before Laviolette came to town with an exciting new style that won the Stanley Cup.

Maurice was asked whether he felt he needed to win over fans who chanted "Mo must go!" -- and who saw the franchise flourish after he was gone.

"It will depend on whether we win or lose, and at the end of that, nothing else matters," Maurice said. "If you win games, people are going to come and cheer. If you lose, people are going to come and boo. That's what pro sports is all about. We would probably like more than a 24-hour period to try and accomplish that goal."

Only time will tell whether he can succeed with this roster when Laviolette couldn't. His two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs might have helped him grow and develop as a coach, and he did have success here in 2002. He expressed an appreciation for the wide-open style the team played under Laviolette and a willingness to embrace it, albeit with plenty of caveats. He said his old grind-it-out philosophy wouldn't work now, which should soothe some fearful fans.

But this isn't really about Maurice. This is about the organization.

Waiting and waiting

Rutherford and owner Peter Karmanos could have fired Laviolette last January, when all the same problems were manifest. They waited almost a year, and now that they've pulled the trigger, they brought back a coach they fired for the same set of problems the current team is exhibiting.

With an opportunity to set a new direction for a team searching for an identity, Rutherford picked a man closely linked with the franchise's past.

Rutherford and Karmanos have known Maurice since he was a teenager playing for his junior team. Rutherford made him the youngest coach in the NHL in 1995. Even the firing didn't alter a friendship that goes back decades.

Rutherford's reasons for hiring Maurice can be summarized as follows:

1. We like him.

2. He's a new voice in the dressing room.

3. He's learned a lot since the last time we fired him.

The first two would apply to the team's mascot, Stormy. As for the third, the Green Party could take a lesson from the Hurricanes when it comes to recycling. This is, after all, the franchise that happily traded away David Tanabe, only to re-sign him -- twice -- before attempting to buy out his contract, getting entangled with the players' union in the process. Ron Francis, Craig Adams and Josef Vasicek, among others, were sent packing, but returned.

What's next? Home games in Greensboro?

A lot's at stake here

The last time Rutherford went out of his comfort zone to hire a coach, the Canes ended up winning the Stanley Cup, but he apparently never considered anyone but his good friend Maurice to replace Laviolette.

Rutherford may be right about Maurice. After all, if being a general manager were easy, any fan could do it. Just because fans are angry doesn't mean they're right. And Maurice coached only four players on the current roster, so his message should be fresh.

But if the Canes fail to make the playoffs for a third year in a row, the long-term financial consequences could be dire. There's a lot more riding on this move than friendship.