In Carolina yesterday, Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford delivered his year-end state of the team speech to the local media, and it's probably safe to say the performance came a couple of weeks early as far as Rutherford was concerned. Coming a little less than a week after a loss in the regular season finale against Florida that effectively opened the door to Washington stealing the Southeast Division title, it's understandable that Rutherford was a tad cranky -- especially as GM of a team that missed the playoffs for a second year in a row after winning a Stanley Cup in 2006.
Given that Rutherford telegraphed his intention to shake up his roster at the trade deadline in a radio interview back in January, Joe Ovies of 850 AM The Buzz made sure to ask Rutherford about the status of head coach Peter Laviolette:
[L]et me just say I don't think Peter Laviolette is going to get the axe. However, when I gave Rutherford an opportunity to clear up his status, he continued to keep it vague and offered up verbal clues as to why he wants to remove himself from the end of the season before having a serious talk. Bottom line for Rutherford, "everyone in our business is under review."Or as Dan Patrick used to say, he's listed day to day, but aren't we all?
