RALEIGH, N. Nicky Delmonico Jersey .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes hope they now have the leadership tandem in place to turn the franchise around. Bill Peters was introduced Friday as the Hurricanes new coach, the first big hire made by new Carolina general manager Ron Francis. Now its up to Peters to prove it was shrewd move. Carolina has made three coaching changes since 2006 and has only one playoff appearance to show for it. "When I did my due diligence and went to look at rosters ... were not far off," Peters said. "I think theres lots of pieces here and its up to us and our coaching staff ... to max our group out." He replaces Kirk Muller, who was fired last month — a week into Francis tenure as GM — and went 80-80-27 in three seasons with no playoff berths. Instead of an established NHL head coach or a popular ex-player, Francis went with Peters — a 48-year-old Detroit Red Wings assistant who has never been an NHL head coach but was in demand this off-season. Peters said he interviewed for two other jobs and Francis says he spoke to 10 candidates during "a pretty extensive search," narrowing that to a three-man short list before deciding on Peters and giving him a three-year contract. "You have to take the time to go through it and make sure you get the right guy," Francis said, "and thats what we did." What dazzled Francis was Peters attention to detail: He penned a booklet breaking down the team and brought it to his first interview with them, and his second one included a PowerPoint presentation, Francis said. "Hes extremely, extremely detailed," Francis said. "Hes going to communicate with our players. Our players are going to know where he stands, and theres no little detail that (will) be overlooked." From the outside, his challenge looks daunting: Making the Hurricanes a consistent playoff team. Muller couldnt do it in three years. Neither could Paul Maurice, at least during his second stint with the team. Even Peter Laviolette — the only Carolina coach to hoist the Stanley Cup — couldnt get the Hurricanes back in the post-season. Now Peters gets his chance to try to revive a club that has missed the playoffs in seven of the eight years since the Hurricanes won their only Stanley Cup in 2006. The lone post-season berth since that Cup run came in 2009, when the Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference final in the first year of Maurices second term as coach. Peters plan is to address three glaring problems from last season: Starting games strong, producing more on the power play and winning more often at PNC Arena. Carolina was the leagues third-worst team with the man advantage and was just 18-17-6 at home. "Weve got to become a harder team to play against here in Raleigh," Peters said. His hiring caps about two months of turbulence in the Hurricanes organization. Francis, a Hall of Fame player who has been both an assistant coach and an assistant GM with Carolina, was moved up a rung on the organizations ladder and his mentor, Jim Rutherford, stepped aside after two decades — and eventually wound up bolting to Pittsburgh to take over as the Penguins GM. Francis first big move came a week later when he fired Muller and put the players on notice that the responsibility for turning the team around is on them, too. After a 46-day search in which some recognizable names were floated, Francis plucked Peters from Mike Babcocks staff with the Red Wings. He spent the past three years working primarily with the Red Wings defencemen and penalty killers. Before joining the Red Wings staff, he coached Rockford of the AHL from 2008-11 and guiding that team to consecutive 40-win seasons. Eight of his Rockford players helped Chicago win the Cup in either 2010 or 2013, and he also coached Spokane (Washington) of the Western Hockey League for three seasons. "This is a guy that knows coaching," Francis said. ___ Follow Joedy McCreary on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joedyap Yoan Moncada Jersey . Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist as Phoenix held on to snap a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. Tim Anderson Jersey .C. -- Jackson Whistle made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Kelowna Rockets blanked the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-0 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. http://www.whitesoxteamshop.com/Customized/ .Y. -- That hangover from the Big East tournament is gone for Villanova.Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Jockeying for position in the top-heavy ACC, the 13th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels will take on the 10th-ranked Louisville Cardinals in a key conference battle at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday. Roy Williams Tar Heels come in with plenty of momentum, as they have won six straight games. UNC was most recently in action on Monday as the Heels knocked off Syracuse in a shootout, 93-83. With the win, North Carolina moved to 7-1 in conference play, good for third place behind No. 2 Virginia and No. 8 Notre Dame. Rick Pitinos Cardinals arent far behind, as they are sporting a 5-2 mark in their first season in the ACC. Louisville has won two straight and three of its last four games, including Wednesdays 81-72 victory at Boston College. North Carolina holds a 10-3 advantage in the all-time series with Louisville and is seeking the regular-season sweep after earning a hard-fought 72-71 decision over Louisville in Chapel Hill on Jan. 10. North Carolina trailed Syracuse by five points at halftime, but caught fire after the break, shooting .621 from the field and rolling up 58 points over the final 20 minutes of action to earn the 10-point decision. Star guard Marcus Paige came up huge in the win, posting 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Kennedy Meeks, Nate Britt and Brice Johnson each poured in 17 points, with Johnson completing a double-double with 11 rebounds in the win. That kind of offensive firepower is nothing new for North Carolina this season, as the team is averaging a robust 80.0 ppg and doing so on a solid .468 shooting. UNC also likes to enforce its will on the glass, wwhere it outrebounds foes by more than 10 caroms per game (+10. Miguel Gonzalez Jersey. 1). Scoring depth is apparent with four of the five starters averaging double figures. Paige is the straw that stirs the drink in Chapel Hill though, as he paces UNC in scoring (14.1 ppg), assists (4.2 apg) and steals (30). Meeks (13.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and Johnson (12.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg) are a potent one-two punch in the frontcourt. Justin Jackson (10.0 ppg) and J.P. Tokoto (9.0 ppg) add even more options. The Cardinals will attempt to slow down the Tar Heels with their stingy defensive play. It has been a staple with Louisville this season, as the team holds opponents to a mere 58.5 ppg. Opponents are shooting under 40 percent from the floor (.373) and under 30 percent from behind the arc (.293). The Cardinals have four double-digit scoring averages on the roster as well, with the best of the bunch being sophomore guard Terry Rozier and his 18.1 ppg (third in the ACC). Junior Montrezl Harrell is the teams top playmaker in the frontcourt, as he shoots .578 from the floor and averages 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game (fifth in the ACC). Chris Jones (13.4 ppg) and Wayne Blackshear (11.8 ppg) provide support. Despite shooting a sterling .580 from the floor in the game, Louisville was unable to really distance itself from Boston College until the end. It was the guard play which made the difference, as Rozier and Jones combined for 51 points in the victory. Jones was a stellar 10-of-13 from the floor and led all scorers with 28 points. Rozier poured in 23 points, while Harrell and Blackshear checked in with 12 and 10 points, respectively. ' ' '