Jim Rutherford and Paul Maurice once handled the thankless duties.
Then Rutherford and Kirk Muller.
The past three years, it has been Ron Francis and Bill Peters.
With the Stanley Cup playoffs about to begin, the Carolina Hurricanes’ general manager and coach were facing the media Wednesday, answering questions, again assessing what went wrong this season and explaining what has to be done moving forward to be a playoff-caliber team.
The Hurricanes have missed the playoffs for an eighth straight season — first with Rutherford as GM and Maurice the coach, then Muller coaching, and now Francis as GM and Peters the coach.