Among their handful of restricted free agents, the Hurricanes have two that present a unique negotiating challenge: Tim Gleason and Tuomo Ruutu.

In Gleason's case, there's no question he's earned a substantial raise on the $1.175 million he made last season. The question is whether the two sides will look at a two-year deal that takes him up to his eligibility for unrestricted free agency or a longer deal that buys him out of a year or two of free agency.

"That’s been part of the negotiation," Rutherford confirmed Thursday.

Ruutu made $2.25 million last season, obviously more than the Hurricanes would like to pay for a player who, when everyone's healthy, slots into their third line (and a salary range of $1.5-$1.8 million, where Ruutu was in 2006-07). So some creative negotiations will be required there, although Ruutu could end up moving up the depth chart if the Canes trade a forward for a defenseman, which Rutherford has hinted he may do since the season ended.

Other contracts on the agenda this month, all restricted free agents: Patrick Eaves, Chad LaRose, Dennis Seidenberg. Any negotiations with Michael Leighton are on hold until June's hockey meetings, although he remains the front-runner for the opening as Cam Ward's backup.

Curt Johnson, the former N.C. State soccer player who joined the Hurricanes as director of marketing in January 2007, has left the team to become senior vice president of marketing for US Club Soccer, a South Carolina-based organization that … wait for it … promotes club soccer.

Johnson came to the Hurricanes after spending seven years as general manager of the Kansas City Wiz/Wizards of MLS.

During his 18 months with the Canes, he was in charge of the "Hurricanes 10th Anniversary Giveaway" promotion, which saw the Hurricanes give away a St. Lawrence Homes house in Wake Forest on the final day of the season. (And was not, as many fans surmised, a mission statement for the Carolina blue line.)

Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford said Wednesday he had not yet decided whether to replace Johnson or fill his role with existing personnel.

"We’re looking at that now," Rutherford said. "The majority of Curt’s job was obviously related to the house promotion."

A day after he was fired by the Maple Leafs, I spoke with Paul Maurice to see what he had planned for the future — and how this firing was different from when the Canes fired him in December 2003.

"My age, more than anything," Maurice said. "The first time it happens, it's a very personal thing — especially because of my relationship with those people. For 19 years, it's your family. That makes it very difficult.

"Fortunately for me, and this is something you learn as you go, the relationships I had there just got stronger. Jim (Rutherford) and I don't see each other on a daily basis, but the first call I got was from him. We've become better and better friends every year."

As for his future, Maurice said he doesn't plan to pick up any TV gigs over the duration of the playoffs, instead spending his time watching youth baseball and lacrosse.

"I'm not going to do much for the next couple months, anyway," Maurice said. "I'm going to take it easy and lay low."

That sounds a little tough to do in Toronto, where media scrutiny of the Leafs is unparalleled, but Maurice didn't expect it to be a problem.

"The nice part, actually, is they'll be on to something else tomorrow," he said.

Finland and Tuomo Ruutu loom large on the agenda Sunday for the United States at the IIHF World Championships. Up first, Dennis Seidenberg and Germany tonight.

The United States wraps up second-round play Monday against Norway, with all three games in Halifax. The U.S. team was second in its preliminary group behind Canada.

Ruutu scored Wednesday in a 3-2 win over Slovakia.

In other World Championships news, Niclas Wallin has been suspended for two games for a hit from behind Wednesday in Sweden's 4-2 loss to Switzerland.

=> Read more!

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired coach Paul Maurice, according to media outlets in Canada.

Maurice, who had one year remaining on a three-year contract, failed to guide the Leafs to the playoffs in his two seasons. The Maple Leafs have missed the Stanley Cup playoffs in three consecutive seasons — the first time that has happened since 1928.

The team has scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m. ET but did not specify the reason.

Assistant coach Randy Ladouceur has also been let go, according to the report.

In a reasonably significant moment for the development of hockey in North Carolina, a member of the Junior Hurricanes Midget AAA team was selected in the OHL draft Sunday, making Matt Gellatly, a junior at Enloe, a sort of trailblazer.

Gellatly was the 15th and final pick of the Saginaw Spirit, which for a top Canadian prospect would hardly be a ringing endorsement, but it's an acheivement for any player from this area to even be considered for selection by one of the three Canadian junior leagues, which produce the majority of NHL prospects.

(Because North Carolina is OHL territory, Gellatly was apparently recommended to Saginaw by his coach, who serves as a regional scout for Red Deer of the WHL. Saginaw's general manager is former Hurricanes goalie coach Don Edwards.)

From the Hurricanes' news release:

Gellatly (5'10", 180 lbs.) notched 19 goals and 17 assists (36 points) in 36 games with the Junior Hurricanes in 2007-08, led the team in power-play goals and garnered attention during the team's appearance at a Nike Bauer tournament in Chicago. Gellatly, 17, twice represented the Carolinas at the Quebec International Pee-Wee Tournament, and, in 2004, was a member of the team that scored the Junior Hurricanes' first win at the annual tournament. He led his district-bound Tier II team in scoring the past two seasons, played at the Under-15 National Festival and has competed in the last four annual Southeast District player development blue/grey games. Gellatly began playing hockey in 1996 in the Raleigh Youth Hockey Association as a mini-mite.

MORE: For a different perspective of the growth of youth hockey in the area, don't forget Lorenzo Perez's piece on Ron Francis in our preview section last October.

John Forslund won't be working the conference finals for Versus, which may be bad news for the NHL. During his two rounds of work, Forslund called some of the most dramatic, even notorious, games of the playoffs.

"I was lucky to be a part of some unbelievable games," the Hurricanes broadcaster said. "It was a great experience last year but it didn't come close to the type of games I had this year. ... That was the kind of thing that made it special."

That includes, most notably, the "Avery Rule" game, when Sean Avery parked himself in front of Martin Brodeur and acted like a 4-year-old, prompting an overnight rule "clarification" from the NHL.

Others among the 12 games Forslund called: Alexander Ovechkin's first playoff game, with Ovechkin scoring the game-winner late in the third period; Boston's three one-goal comebacks in Game 6 against Montreal; Mike Richards' penalty shot against the Capitals; Mike Knuble's double-overtime winner for the Flyers; and Brendan Morrow's two disallowed goals in Game 2 of the San Jose-Dallas series.

Forslund had been scheduled to work Game 7 of the Dallas-San Jose series.

NBC Sports has an updated list of the ten longest games in NHL history, with last night's (this morning's) Dallas-San Jose game in the eighth spot. Full disclosure: I turned the viewing over to the DVR after the second OT.

Both of my predicted Stanley Cup finalists were ousted in the second round (San Jose and Montreal), so I'm taking Dallas over Detroit in seven and Phildelphia over Pittsburgh in seven. Really, both series are coin flips to me.

Detroit has dominated lesser competition while the Stars have clawed and battled their way to the conference finals. I'll take their battle-testedness and goaltending advantage (Marty Turco over Chris Osgood) instead of Johan "Mule" Franzen and the red-hot Wings.

The Penguins have been far better than I expected in the playoffs, both defensively and in goal, where Marc-Andre Fleury has played well -- and not just by his lowly standards, but by any measure. But the Flyers are a bigger and tougher team than the Pens have faced so far, and as long as Marty Biron continues to stay hot -- and he's usually been either hot or not, with no middle ground -- I'll take the Flyers.

Scratch Ray Whitney(it's down at the bottom) from the Team Canada roster for the World Championships.

The bursa problem in his ankle that required surgery in March and kept him out of all but the last three games of the season has yet to heal enough to allow him to play.

Given how long it has bothered him, you have to figure the Hurricanes aren't unhappy he'll stop skating and take some time off so it doesn't risk remaining an issue when informal workouts start in August.

I didn't make a Derby pick last year, so technically, I'm 1-for-1 after vouching for Barbaro two years ago.

(My horse last year, Chelokee, didn't have the earnings to get into the field then got hurt and missed the Preakness and Belmont; I didn't have any interest in the others. Chelokee won his next three races going into Friday's Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs, when he broke a foreleg.)

This year, I like Pyro. Like Barbaro, he's the most impressive horse I've seen among the 3-year-olds. And while he struggled in his last race, limping home 10th, I'm willing to ignore it because it was his first race on a synthetic track.

Some horses just don't like different surfaces (unlike Barbaro, whose early wins on grass and breeding suggested he might be just as dangerous, if not more, on the turf -- which makes his eventual demise all the more heartbreaking, because he could have won the Triple Crown here before taking on Europe's best later in the summer on grass, a true horse for the ages). Even (an ailing) Secretariat had an off day in his last Derby prep, finishing third. Pyro is back on dirt, where he's 3-for-6 lifetime and 2-for-2 as a 3-year-old, in the Derby.

So Pyro it is today, and an excellent wagering value at 6-1 in the morning line. (No doubt he'll be bet down to half that by post time.)

Both of the Albany papers had their postmortems on the River Rats today, with a general theme that ought to sound familiar to Canes fans.

Albany Times-Union: Personnel losses left Rats shadow of former selves

(Schenectady) Daily Gazette: Disappointing finish doesn't mar River Rats' season

Among the pertinent info:

Two players who ended the season in Carolina were on the Rats' playoff roster, but neither was a factor. Defenseman Tim Conboy received an eight-game suspension for an altercation late in Game 1, and forward Jeff Hamilton opted for hip surgery now rather than delay it.

"When we were headed out of the playoffs in Carolina, I was hoping I might get the chance to go on a nice little run down here," Conboy said. "It ended up not working out."

Both games (Pittsburgh at New York and Detroit at Colorado) are on Versus, with John Forslund calling the 10 p.m. half of the doubleheader.

If all the teams that have three wins end up winning their series (Philadelphia and Dallas are the other two) I will have predicted zero of the four remaining teams — which is pretty much par for the course given my record.

And if you're wondering what happens if the Rangers and Penguins go five OTs, blotting out the second game, the NHL has an answer for you:

In the event tonight’s New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game extends beyond the scheduled 10 p.m. ET starting time of the Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche game, VERSUS will adjust its exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Conference Semifinals.

-- Cable viewers in the Detroit and Colorado markets will be switched automatically to the beginning of Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche semifinal Game 4.

-- Cable viewers in the rest of the country will join the Detroit vs. Colorado game in progress at the conclusion of the New York vs. Pittsburgh game.

-- Satellite viewers on DirecTV and Dish Network will be able to watch the Detroit vs. Colorado game in its entirety on an auxiliary channel. (DirecTV - Ch. 659, Dish Network - Ch. 452)

...but not for DIVErticulitis.

So in case you haven't heard, Sean Avery was hospitalized early this morning for a lacerated spleen, although he was not, as first reported by the Daily News when it broke the story, unconscious and not breathing (the article has since been "sanitized").

Avery probably won't get many get-well cards from his fellow NHLPA members, least of all Andrew Ladd, who suffered a broken face in December when Avery sucker-punched him as Ladd was being held back by a linesman.

-- Luke DeCock

Peter Karmanos' intention to take a more hands-on role with the Hurricanes' sales force this summer parallels his actions last summer at Compuware, when he fired the head of sales, eliminated multiple salespeople selling different products to the same customers and produced a 51 percent increase in revenue in the next quarter.

David Rudow, an analyst with Thrivent Financial, one of Compuware's biggest institutional stockholders, said that while it's too early to make a full assessment of Karmanos' changes at Compuware, the results so far are positive.

"Absolutely," Rudow said. "He made some big changes, moved people around and promoted Bob Paul, who in my opinion is the next CEO. They made some changes on the pricing side designed to change the structure of their sales force. They flattened out their sales force to get them more engaged with customers. So far so good. For all intents and purposes, it's worked."

Michael Leighton has worked miracles in Albany this year, but he can't score goals. That was the River Rats' downfall in a 2-0 Game 7 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday, particularly when Leighton gave up a goal on the game's first shift:

Over the final 235:22 of play in the series, the Rats managed to beat Munroe for just one goal on 103 shots.

The two teams also combined to set an AHL record for fewest goals in a seven-game series, 23. Defenseman Bryan Rodney, who is not under contract to Carolina, led the Rats with six points.

Leighton allowed 10 goals in the series, with two shutouts and a 1.18 goals-against average, but he'd like the first one back Tuesday.