Paul Maurice is headed to Russia.
SovSport reported today that the former Hurricanes coach had signed a one-year cotnract to be the head coach of Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Maurice was fired by the Canes in November and replaced by Kirk Muller. He led the Canes to the Eastern Conference finals in 2009, but Carolina missed the playoffs in 2010 and 2011 and had a slow start last season.
Former Canes assistant coach and goaltending coach Tom Barrasso is expected to join Maurice's staff as an assistant. The Canes announced this week that Barrasso would be joining the organization's pro scouts.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
Best Wishes to Paul Maurice
Sat, 06/09/2012 - 16:42 — Skyliner1Necessity more often than desire drives business decisions and I certainly don't know what motivated this move to the KHL (have no idea of his financial standing), but I too wish Paul Maurice had stayed stateside.
He hasn't been a terribly successful coach (he's has a lot of company in that regard) but the man has a good hockey mind and can talk. I was impressed with his work as an analyst and several of my hockey buds though TV might have been a good niche for him...but that was not their decision to make.
At any rate, good fortune to a good and very nice man.
Curious Move
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 16:45 — CanarseI can understand Barrasso doing what he needs to do to get a shot, but Maurice? All the way to the middle of nowhere so he can be a head coach? Does he need the money that badly, or is his ego that large? I feel bad for his family. I can't image they'll be going with him.
buh bye
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 14:06 — WAStoutbuh bye
Off to the Gulag
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 12:41 — sftwareguygood luck
Good luck to them both!
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 12:06 — Caniac5I guess they are doing what my grandfather always told me. "You have to go where you can get a job!"
Good Luck!
It's 1000 miles east of
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 11:53 — ctillIt's 1000 miles east of Moscow, pretty much on the edge of civilization. A mining area that's not exactly the garden spot of Russia. Don't know about Magnitogorsk, but Chelyabinsk is one of the most polluted cities in the country. Maurice and Barasso are apparently willing to endure a lot in order to pursue their coaching careers.
One would think Maurice
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 15:30 — CharlotteCaniacOne would think Maurice would be content as a TV analyst given his failures as a coach. After his firing last year, the general consensus among the hockey community was that he had coached his last NHL game. The modern day Billy Martin obviously can't give it up, even if it means taking a job in Siberia. I'm shocked that Barasso would follow.
Two former Canes, Markov and
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 19:57 — ctillTwo former Canes, Markov and Tverdovsky, are on the Magnitogursk roster.
I always thought Barrasso
Fri, 06/08/2012 - 10:29 — HockeydogI always thought Barrasso had the goods to be a head coach one day. I am not surprised he left the organization to take a step towards that, but a little surprised he chose to go the KHL route. I am not surprised Mo took a job in the KHL. He is stubbornly ( as is his way) holding the notion that he can be professional head coach ! If he gets the right mix of players he could have some suceess, and I do wish him well. I am not sure what it would take for an NHL team to ever give him another head coaching job, so this maybe the best he can do moving forward.