Of the former Hurricanes in the playoffs, it would be hard to single out a star performer other than Peter Laviolette. The Philadelphia Flyers coach, by trying to climb into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ bench during a late-season meeting between the two future playoff opponents, threw the Penguins way off their game.

Among players, Justin Williams leads the way with three goals in three games for the Kings, who have jumped out to a surprising 3-0 lead over the top-seeded Canucks.

UPDATE, 8:36 A.M. WEDNESDAY: Totally forgot Ian White, whose 39 games for the Hurricanes last season could aptly be described as forgettable. One goal and is minus-2 after Tuesday's games, averaging 18:01 in ice time.

Seeing Peter Laviolette take the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals hasn't changed Peter Karmanos' feelings about his former coach. The Hurricanes' owner, who famously blasted the coach who won the Stanley Cup a month after he was fired, had this to say Wednesday:

"Our biggest problem from a business point of view is we havent been consistent, OK?" Karmanos said. "One of the reasons Laviolette now is in Philadelphia is his lack of consistency. We missed the playoffs for two years after we won (the Cup) and we would have missed the playoffs again. Paul (Maurice) came in and took us to the final four and then this year we couldn’t even finish dead last, we had to finish somewhere around 23."

Karmanos also talked about the Rod Brind'Amour situation, the chances of the Hurricanes moving up to get Tyler Seguin, who plays for Karmanos' junior team in Michigan, and his relationship with Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch.

The official NHL transcript of Peter Laviolette's media session today in Chicago, prior to Saturday's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals:

Q. There's been a little bit of a layoff for both teams. Some of the players have been talking about the fact that two teams that don't see each other, don't know each other very much, there might be a tendency in the first game to lay off a little bit and just a feeling-out process at the beginning of the game. That's not the style you play. Do you worry about that, that you would be a little bit looking instead of initiating the first period?

COACH LAVIOLETTE: It's not the style they play either. I don't have a crystal ball to see how the first game is going to play and who benefited from four or five days off and who didn't benefit from that.

Mike Milbury once fired Peter Laviolette from his first job, but it was a decision Milbury would come to regret and the two maintained a friendly relationship long after they had both moved on from the New York Islanders.

On a conference call Thursday, Milbury, the outspoken former Islanders general manager who is now an NBC analyst, credited his former coach with getting the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals.

When Peter Laviolette took over the Hurricanes in December 2003, it took him two months to get the Hurricanes playing the way he wanted them to play. By February, he saw results. The Hurricanes finished the season 11-7-7

Laviolette doesn’t have nearly that much time with the Flyers. Expectations are higher. There’s more money on the line. And anything less than a return to the playoffs, where the Flyers were eliminated by the Penguins in the first round last season, a year after advancing to the conference finals, won’t be good enough.

A little more than a year after being fired by the Canes, Peter Laviolette is back in the NHL, coaching the Philadelphia Flyers.

And while Laviolette is in the Eastern Conference, while the Canes still have two games left with the Flyers, the players -- and Canes coach Paul Maurice -- seem happy to see him back behind the bench in the league and with Kevin McCarthy as his assistant coach.

"Absolutely, for himself and for Kevin McCarthy," Canes defenseman Tim Gleason said. "I know it's huge for him because I know he was hungry to get back on the bench. That's where he belongs. That's where he wakes up every day wanting to be.

"I'm happy for both those guys. I was kind of wondering why it was taking Lavy a bit longer to get back in the game because I know he was missing it. He's a talented coach and he's a players' coach."

A year and a day after he was fired as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, Peter Laviolette was hired to coach the Philadelphia Flyers.

Laviolette is taking Carolina assistant coach Kevin McCarthy with him.

This slipped through the cracks last week, but it should be noted that Peter Laviolette is making his return to coaching the same way he did the last time he was fired from an NHL job.

USA Hockey announced Thursday that Laviolette would coach a team of Europe-based pros in the Deutschland Cup, a relatively minor international tournament but one with great significance for Laviolette.

The Hurricanes sit today at 33-27-5, effectively two points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They hope Wednesday's trade for Erik Cole will help them close the gap. A little statistical analysis shows what a tall order it's going to be.

Six weeks into Paul Maurice’s tenure in charge of the Carolina Hurricanes, it’s clear that he’s made some progress — but not nearly enough.