RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ron Francis wasted little time putting his stamp on the Carolina Hurricanes. One week into his new job as general manager, Francis fired coach Kirk Muller and most of his staff. Now leading a franchise that has made the playoffs just once in eight years, Francis cited the need for a "fresh start" and warned that nobody on the roster -- from the marquee names, to the grinders at the end of the bench -- is untouchable. "I dont think changing the coaches lets the players off the hook," Francis said. "I think there has to be a lot of responsibility on their shoulders as well to turn this thing around. Hopefully we can do that going forward." Francis, a Hall of Fame player and former captain and assistant coach with the Hurricanes, took control of the team last week when Jim Rutherford stepped aside after a two-decade run as its GM. As part of his first big housecleaning move, assistants John MacLean and Dave Lewis also were fired and goaltending coach Greg Stefan was reassigned back to the teams pro scouting department. Rod BrindAmour, a third-year assistant who was the captain of Carolinas only Stanley Cup-winning team in 2006, was retained because Francis said "Roddy really didnt have, in my estimation, a prominent role on this staff." Francis says its "an open search at this point," is looking for "a guy whos a teacher" with strong communication and leadership qualities and ideally would like to hire his new coach before the June 27-28 draft. "I dont really have anybody in mind," he said. "Well start (with) a few names were putting on the list, and well go forward looking at that list and see who is the best fit for our team going forward." Muller was 80-80-27 in three seasons with the Hurricanes, who havent made the playoffs since 2009, the longest active drought in the Eastern Conference. Carolina finished 13th in the 16-team East this season. "The biggest thing was our inconsistency," Francis said. "Some nights we looked like a great team and other nights, we really struggled, looked like we didnt know how to play the game at times." Muller, 48, made six All-Star teams during a 19-year career with six clubs, most notably New Jersey and Montreal. He had never been a head coach in the NHL and was in his first season coaching the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL when he was hired during the 2011-12 season to replace the fired Paul Maurice. The relentlessly positive Muller spent the past month in limbo, saying in mid-April that upper management had not told him anything about his job status and that he was going about his business as if he would remain the coach. While owner Peter Karmanos Jr. said late in the season that he liked the coaching staff, he added last week that it would be entirely Francis call whether to retain Muller. During his formal introduction as GM, Francis said his impending decision on Mullers status "needs due process." Mullers final year was plagued by subpar years from the four highest-paid players on the roster -- forwards Alexander Semin and Eric and Jordan Staal, and goalie Cam Ward. When Ward was asked during his exit interview if it was tough for Muller to get his message across in the dressing room, the goalie said "for me, obviously, Im going to avoid that one." Francis said he didnt sense much friction between Muller and the players. "You look at our team, theres guys who didnt play well. They were told that by us in the exit meetings," the GM said. "Theres always going to be situations where, as a player, if you dont like the coach, youve still got to perform." Tramon Williams Packers Jersey . The two-time former Formula One champion downplayed his third-place finish three weeks ago in China and said progress is going slow for Ferrari as it tries to make up ground on Mercedes. 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Napoli and Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one out in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied past Minnesota 2-1 Wednesday, sending the Twins to their fifth straight loss.RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico - Brian Stuard birdied seven of his first 12 holes in windy conditions to take the first-round lead in the Puerto Rico Open on Thursday. Stuard finished with a 6-under 66, dropping a stroke on the par-4 seventh hole — his 16th of the day — in gusts of up to 20 mph (32 kph) at Trump International Golf Club-Puerto Rico. "Wind is blowing pretty good out there, so got to hit some good shots," Stuard said. "I did well. I kept it in play nice off the tee, didnt get in much trouble, and only made the one bogey." The highest ranked player in the field in the FedEx Cup standings at No. 13, Stuard finished second in November in the OHL Classic in Mexico. He also had a strong run in January, fishing sixth in the Sony Open in Hawaii and sixth the next week in the Humana Challenge in California. "Ive just been playing prettty solid, but been putting well," Stuard said.dddddddddddd. "I putted really good to start off the year and then kind of last few weeks not quite as good and then good today." Jason Gore and Danny Lee shot 67, and Y.E. Yang was another stroke back along with Ricky Barnes, William McGirt, Tim Petrovic, Chesson Hadley, Eric Axley and Ben Martin. "It wasnt easy out there," Lee said. "It was very windy, and theres some tough pin placements out there, but I played very smart today and I hit it where I wanted to hit it, and I rolled it really nicely with the putter. It was a really good day for me." Defending champion Scott Brown opened with a 70. Brooks Koepka, a field-high 70th in the world ranking, shot 72. John Daly had a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 12th hole in a round of 74. 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