Maurice Fired

NHL teams

"He brings experience and an aggressive coaching style to the Hurricanes," general manager Jim Rutherford said. "I got to a point that I still felt that this team had a chance this year with 52 games left. I just felt that we needed to get some fresh ideas into our dressing room."

Assistant coach Randy Ladoceur and goaltending consultant Don Edwards were also fired. Hurricanes assistant coach Kevin McCarthy and recently retired Carolina forward Jeff Daniels will join Laviolette behind the bench.

Maurice has been the team's only coach since the franchise relocated to North Carolina in 1997.

"Paul has made a big contribution to the building blocks of this franchise," Rutherford said.

Maurice coached the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 2002 for the first time in franchise history. The Hurricanes lost to Detroit in the finals.

The Hurricanes took a turn to worse last season when they finished with a league-low 61 points. This season has also been a struggle as Carolina is 8-12-8-2.

Laviolette had 77 wins in two seasons as coach of the New York Islanders, ranking as the third-winningest coach in team history. He led the team to the playoffs in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons but was fired after the Islanders' first-round loss to Ottawa.

"Just a change in general and a new look, a fresh voice and fresh idea could very well be enough on its own," said Laviolette, who received a three-year contract.