and second periods as Calgary fended off the Hurr

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jim Rutherford stepped down as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, and the team promoted Hall of Fame player Ron Francis to replace him. In a series of moves, the Hurricanes also hired Mike Vellucci as assistant GM and director of hockey operations and promoted Brian Tatum to assistant general manager. Rutherford, who also owns part of the team, will remain in an advisory role as team president. He assembled the teams that won one Stanley Cup, played for another and reached the Eastern Conference final in 2009. The Hurricanes havent made the playoffs since then, the longest active drought in the East. "I look at this as a fresh start," Francis said. "I dont want to just kind of build a team that gets into the playoffs for one year. I would like to build it so that its a very solid franchise and we can do it on a yearly basis." Francis had long been considered the teams GM-in-waiting. The former team captain holds team records with 382 goals, 793 assists and 1,186 games played. He has been the teams vice-president of hockey operations since June 2012. He took over as the teams director of player development in 2006 and was an assistant coach under Paul Maurice from 2008-11 before returning to the front office that June as director of hockey operations. Now that hes running a team for the first time, it remains unclear just how much financial flexibility Francis will have. The four highest-paid players -- forwards Alexander Semin and Eric and Jordan Staal, and goalie Cam Ward -- are coming off subpar seasons. They made a combined $28 million last year and will do so again in 2014-15. "This year we were at the (NHL salary) cap, I believe. Didnt make a heck of a lot of difference, did it?" owner Peter Karmanos Jr. said. "Well set the budget wherever we think we can have the most competitive hockey team." One of Francis first jobs will be deciding whether Kirk Muller will receive a fourth year as coach. Muller is 80-80-27 in three seasons and the Hurricanes finished 13th in the 16-team East this year with a 36-35-11 record. "In fairness, I think its a decision that kind of needs due process," Francis said. Rutherford, 65, is a former NHL goalie who spent two decades as the clubs GM, and helped shepherd its move from Hartford to North Carolina. He said he and Karmanos casually discussed stepping aside and those talks grew increasingly more serious beginning in January and February and continued through the early off-season. "Twenty years is a long time for me," Rutherford said. "Ive thought about this for a few years, and certainly the time is right now." Vellucci, 47, will oversee the teams scouting and player development after spending the past 14 seasons as head coach and general manager of the Plymouth Whalers -- the Ontario Hockey League team owned by Karmanos. Tatum, 40, is entering his 17th year with the team and has been its vice-president of team operations since 2012 after spending five years as its senior director of team operations. Marcus Mariota Jersey . 3 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber from Germany. Defending champion Marin Cilic also reached the semifinals -- his fourth in Zagreb -- defeating fellow Croat Ivan Dodig. German qualifier Bjorn Phau beat Dudi Sela of Israel to reach his first semifinals in nearly five years. Kevin Byard Jersey . - Ryan Spooner scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a preseason game Friday night. http://www.titansstoreonline.com/Black-98-Jeffery-Simmons-Womens-Jersey/ . Forsman closed with a 3-under 69 in windy conditions Sunday for his third Champions Tour title. He beat Jay Don Blake by two shots. Curley Culp Jersey . CBS Sports Jon Heyman is reporting that Santana will sign a one-year deal, likely in the next two days with one of a trio of suitors, with the Toronto Blue Jays believed to be heavily involved. Eddie George Titans Jersey . Bookies were offering odds of 13/1 before kickoff that the home team Houston Dynamo would prevail by three goals to nil.PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. -- Mitchell Moroz and Curtis Lazar helped the Edmonton Oil Kings stretch their win streak to seven on Wednesday. Moroz and Lazar scored two goals each as Edmonton topped the Prince Albert Raiders 7-5 in Western Hockey League action. That seven game win streak has the Oil Kings at the top of the WHLs Eastern Conference. Aaron Irving, Lane Bauer and Brett Pollock also scored for Edmonton (21-9-1), while Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for the win. Dakota Conroy had a pair of goals for Prince Albert (17-13-2), while Leon Draisaitl scored and added two assists. Gage Quinney and Tim Vanstone had goals as well. Cole Cheveldave stopped 18 of 23 shots. He was pulled after Morozs second goal, 43 seconds into the third period. Nick McBride turned aside four of five shots in relief. The Oil Kings could not score on their one power play, while the Raiders went 1 for 5 with the man advantage. --- ROCKETS 6 WARRIORS 3 MOOSE JAW, Sask. -- Myles Bell struck twice as Kelowna dispatched the Warriors. Ryan Olsen and Nick Merkley had a goal and an assist each for the Rockets (24-3-2), while Damon Severson and Carter Rigby both had singles. Jordon Cooke made 35 saves for the win. Scott Cooke, Ben Duperreault and Miles Warkentine did the scoring for Moose Jaw (8-20-6).dddddddddddd Justin Paulic stopped 32 shots. --- BLAZERS 4 PATS 3 (SO) REGINA -- Jesse Shynkaruk was the lone scorer in the shootout as Kamloops upset the Pats. Matt Needham struck twice and added an assist for the Blazers (7-21-4), while Cole Ully scored and had two assists. Taran Kozun made 39 saves. Boston Leier had a pair of goals for Regina (17-13-2) and Dryden Hunt also found the back of the net. Nick Schneider turned aside 28 shots. --- HITMEN 5 HURRICANES 3 LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- Calder Brooks scored in the first and second periods as Calgary fended off the Hurricanes. Chase Lang, Brady Brassart and Jake Virtanen rounded out the attack for the Hitmen (19-7-5), while Mack Shields made 31 saves for the win. Josh Derko, Jamal Watson and Reid Duke replied for Lethbridge (5-25-4). Teagan Sacher stopped 28 of 32 shots. --- CHIEFS 5 SILVERTIPS 3 SPOKANE, Wash. -- Mitch Holmberg scored twice -- once into an empty net -- as the Chiefs beat Everett. Jeremy McIntosh, Mike Aviani and Dominic Zwerger also scored for Spokane (18-12-2), as Eric Williams made 34 saves. Jujhar Khaira, Tyler Sandhu and Carson Stadnyk supplied the offence for the Silvertips (21-6-4). Goalie Austin Lotz stopped 17 of 21 shots he faced. ' ' '