The
only coach the Charlotte Checkers have known since the team joined the American
Hockey League will not be back next season.
Hurricanes
Executive Vice President and General Manager Ron Francis announced on Thursday
that the organization would not be renewing Jeff Daniels’ contract for the
2015-16 season.
Francis
said that the decision to part ways with Daniels – who has led the Hurricanes’
AHL affiliate for the last seven seasons – wasn’t one that he took lightly, but
that the organization as a whole was looking to build a new foundation.
With a
young core of players already in place in Charlotte (Brock McGinn, Trevor
Carrick, Phil Di Giuseppe) to go along with 10 draft picks in this year’s draft
and nine the following year, Francis said that the organization felt it needed a
“new voice and a new direction.”
The
Checkers, who will move their home games from Time Warner Cable Arena to the
Bojangles’ Coliseum next season, failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2014-15,
going 31-38-6-1 to finish 13th in the Western Conference.
Daniels,
who plans to stay involved in the game, said that he is going to take few days
to wrap his head around things before seeing what his next step will be.
Quote
"Every
coach has his own style. I don’t know if one is right or not right.
It reflects their personality. (Daniels) has been calm, cool,
collected and that’s how he coached as well. (Bill) Peters is a bit more fiery.
We're looking for ... someone like the coach we have here. Someone to go in
there, teach our young kids, make them better, and hold them accountable."
–
Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis.
"It's part of the business and it's never fun. I enjoyed my time in Charlotte. Working for the Checkers organization and Michael Kahn was a great experience. ... I want to stay involved in the game. We'll see what's out there and I'll do what's best for me and my family." -- Former Checkers coach Jeff Daniels.
"It's part of the business and it's never fun. I enjoyed my time in Charlotte. Working for the Checkers organization and Michael Kahn was a great experience. ... I want to stay involved in the game. We'll see what's out there and I'll do what's best for me and my family." -- Former Checkers coach Jeff Daniels.
Worth
mentioning
Daniels
has acted as head coach and general manager of the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate
since he took control of the Albany River Rats in 2008. Over that time he
registered a 268-225-51 record. … Daniels said that he harbors no hard feelings
and that Francis told him “It was just time for a change, a fresh face, fresh
message and fresh start.” Francis, in turn, expressed respect for all that
Daniels has done for the organization. … According
to Francis, the Hurricanes have taken steps towards streamlining not just the
same system, but terminology across all levels of their organization and that
he expected that to continue going forward.
What's
next?
Francis, citing the current number of big market National Hockey League clubs currently searching for coaches, said that the Hurricanes will likely “let the dust settle” before they make a decision on the Checkers next head coach. While there was initially speculation Hurricanes assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour could be in the running, Francis said this NHL staff would be remaining the same. Director of defensive development, Glen Wesley, is an interesting possibility, as well as current Iowa (AHL) assistant coach Steve Poapst, who has previously coached under Bill Peters. Francis did add that the Hurricanes are happy with the work of Checkers’ current assistant coach Geordie Kinnear and that he will be sitting down with Kinnear sometime next week to discuss where he sees his future in the organization.
Francis, citing the current number of big market National Hockey League clubs currently searching for coaches, said that the Hurricanes will likely “let the dust settle” before they make a decision on the Checkers next head coach. While there was initially speculation Hurricanes assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour could be in the running, Francis said this NHL staff would be remaining the same. Director of defensive development, Glen Wesley, is an interesting possibility, as well as current Iowa (AHL) assistant coach Steve Poapst, who has previously coached under Bill Peters. Francis did add that the Hurricanes are happy with the work of Checkers’ current assistant coach Geordie Kinnear and that he will be sitting down with Kinnear sometime next week to discuss where he sees his future in the organization.
Information from Chip Alexander and Cory Lavalette (twitter) helped with the writing of this story.
