Rutherford gets 4-year extension

Canes owner Peter Karmanos today announced the team has re-signed president and general manager Jim Rutherford to a four-year contract extension. The new contract runs through the 2015-16 season.

Rutherford, 62, is in his 18th year as general manager in 2011-12, making him the longest-tenured general manager in franchise history and the second-longest tenured general manager currently serving in the NHL.

"I'm real happy to be settled," Rutherford said today. "I've loved being here right from the start and happy to be a part of building something like the Hurricanes. This solidifies that my family and I probably are going to make this our home forever now."

Under Rutherford, the Hurricanes have earned a 482-428-136-20 regular-season record since arriving in North Carolina prior to the 1997-98 season, including a pair of trips to the Stanley Cup Final and the first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history in 2006.

There have been some disappointments, and few bigger than losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the final game last season to miss the playoffs. But Rutherford said he has not seriously considered retirement in recent years.

"I plan on working a long time," he said. "Maybe not in the position I'm in right now, at some point in my life, but as long as I'm healthy I plan to work a long time."

Rutherford was recognized in 2002 and 2006 when The Hockey News named him “Executive of the Year,” and in 2006 when he was voted by his NHL management peers as the Sporting News’ “Executive of the Year.” In 2006, he was also named the Triangle’s “Businessperson of the Year” by the Triangle Business Journal.