Laviolette deserves another chance

RALEIGH -- After letting Peter Laviolette dangle for more than a month after the season, Jim Rutherford made sure to underline the coach's job security long before this season ever started.

"I don't want to enter the season with anybody being under the gun," Rutherford, the Carolina Hurricanes' general manager, said before training camp opened. "I don't think that's fair. We made the changes we felt were necessary in the offseason.

"If I wanted to put somebody under the gun, I would have made whatever change ... in the offseason."

That was the smart thing to say. Now, Rutherford has to stick to his guns.

If the Hurricanes don't get off to a good start, and they face a difficult early schedule, Laviolette may be shopping for asbestos pants.

It shouldn't be an issue.

With the talent the Hurricanes have, a third straight season out of the playoffs would be unacceptable. If that's the case, then Laviolette should go, for the sake of change as much as anything else. But we're not there yet. Not even close.

While Laviolette bears some share of the blame for the Hurricanes' struggles the past two seasons, he's hardly alone in that department. He has shown he can win at every level, and there's no reason he can't win again this season.

If the Hurricanes wanted Laviolette gone, the time to fire him was the middle of last season, when the team was struggling and Laviolette appeared powerless to change the situation.

As it turned out, he wasn't, and the addition of Joe Corvo and his willingness to give larger roles to minor league call-ups gave him the resources he needed to get the Canes pointed in the right direction (his much-debated decision to rush Matt Cullen, Ray Whitney and Justin Williams back into the lineup during the final week of the season aside).

Instead, the Canes waited until after the season to let it be known how unhappy they were with his performance -- Rutherford practically begged a radio reporter to ask him if Laviolette was "under evaluation" during his end-of-season news conference -- but the team let the issue simmer until a meeting between Laviolette and team owner Peter Karmanos on May 16 put the situation to rest.

Only later did we find out Laviolette never held exit meetings with his players, a breach of protocol that could have cost him his job. But if it didn't then, it shouldn't now.

It doesn't do anyone any good to have Laviolette's job status hanging over this team. Rutherford has said the right things so far, but it's easy to say the right things in September and a lot tougher to do it when a team is struggling in November.

The Canes owe Laviolette the security to coach the team the way he feels he needs to do it, with long-term goals in mind instead of a must-win mentality. Coaches worried about the next game in November end up with tired goalies and worn out top-line players in April. It's a long season.

Now, if the Canes reach January or February mired in the same malaise that cost them a playoff spot last season, by all means a coaching change should be considered. But not right away.

It's a new season. The roster, particularly on defense, is practically built from scratch, and Laviolette deserves a clean start as well. Holding him responsible for past transgressions isn't fair to him, the players or the fans.

It was the right decision to stick with him. Now the team needs to stick with that decision.