RALEIGH, N.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 a 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." A few hours after Peters formal introduction, the Hurricanes made another addition to their management team, hiring 44-year-old Ricky Olczyk -- the younger brother of former NHL coach and current NBC Sports analyst Ed Olczyk -- as an assistant general manager. The younger Olczyk spent six years as Edmontons assistant GM and was the Oilers NHL liaison for all collective bargaining agreement matters. Peters 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 to 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. Bobby Tolan Jersey .Y. -- The Montreal Canadiens have had few reasons to celebrate this season as they have been mired near the basement of the Eastern Conference. Dominic Leone Jersey . Felton was in court as the Manhattan district attorneys office outlined the agreement, which would resolve a gun case that arose amid the breakup of his marriage. Hes expected to admit June 30 to at least one charge, attempted criminal possession of a weapon -- he wont have to come to court to do so -- and get a $5,000 fine and 500 hours of community service. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/ . Founding members of the Genie Army, a group of Eugenie Bouchard supporters who cheered for the rising tennis star during the Australian Open in January, will be in the city for the Rogers Cup, beginning this weekend. Roger Maris Cardinals Jersey . The Wizards gave up two seldom-used players — forward Jan Vesely and point guard Eric Maynor. Vesely goes to the Nuggets, while Maynor gets shipped to the 76ers. Philadelphia receives two second-round draft picks, one from the Wizards in 2015 and one from the Nuggets in 2016. Bruce Sutter Cardinals Jersey . For the Athletics, hes extremely important at the top of the order, especially with Coco Crisp hurting. Jaso drove in three runs Sunday night, helping Scott Kazmir and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-3. DETROIT -- R.A. Dickey exited the game, leaving a bases-loaded mess in the sixth inning. Afterward, he could thank reliever Aaron Loup for a remarkable escape. "It doesnt get any better," Dickey said. Loup pitched out of that bases-loaded, nobody-out jam, helping Toronto hold onto to what at that point was a one-run lead. Then the Blue Jays broke the game open late, beating the Detroit Tigers 8-2 Wednesday night. Adam Lind doubled twice to drive in three runs and Melky Cabrera added a homer and three hits for Toronto. The AL East-leading Blue Jays scored three runs in the eighth and two in the ninth in winning for the 18th time in 22 games. "Were picking each other up," said outfielder Jose Bautista, who also had three hits for the Blue Jays. "The day that one guy doesnt come through, then somebody else does. Its what winning teams do, and were enjoying it. Winning baseball is much more fun." Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler homered for Detroit, but Kinsler also left the bases loaded twice. The AL Central-leading Tigers left 11 runners on base in their fourth straight loss. Detroit has dropped 12 of 16. "I still think of it as a funk," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "I still think this team is way better than were playing in the last few weeks." Detroits Rick Porcello (8-3) seemed to be cruising, but he allowed a two-out double to Melky Cabrera in the sixth, followed by a walk to Bautista. Lind then hit a drive over Austin Jacksons head in Comerica Parks cavernous centre field, scoring both runners to put the Blue Jays ahead 3-2. Dickey almost gave the lead right back, allowing a single in between two walks. But with the bases loaded, Loup came on and struck out pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez before getting Rajai Davis and Kinsler on foul popups. "Youre almost thinking, youre bound to give up at least one, possibly two," Loup said. "But you try to liimit the damage as much as possible.dddddddddddd Tonight was, I guess, one of those lucky nights, you kind of pull a rabbit out of your hat." Dickey (6-4) allowed two runs and seven hits in five-plus innings, walking four and striking out four. Loup pitched two scoreless innings in relief. "I was trying every trick I had," Dickey said. "I was kind of on the tightrope all game, having to use everything in my arsenal, and some days its like that. Thankfully, I minimized the damage in a couple of the innings, and then Loup did that incredible thing in the sixth, and that was really the turning point in the game." Toronto padded its lead in the eighth. Melky Cabrera hit an RBI single and Lind added a run-scoring double in that inning. By the time the game ended, it seemed there were as many Blue Jays fans left at the ballpark as Tigers fans. Bautista added a two-run double in the ninth. Melky Cabrera opened the scoring in the first with a solo shot, but Miguel Cabrera answered in the bottom half with his 11th homer of the year. Kinslers home run in the third put the Tigers ahead 2-1. Tigers shortstop Eugenio Suarez made his major league debut after being called up from the minors before the game. He entered as a substitute in the seventh, and his first plate appearance was eventful. With men on first and second in the eighth, he hit a grounder to third. Brett Lawrie fielded it and stepped on third for a force, but his throw to first hit Suarez around the upper back for an error, leaving runners at second and third. The Tigers left them on base too. NOTES: Detroit also loaded the bases with two out in the fourth, but didnt score when Kinsler flied out to right. ... Bautista made a diving, backhanded catch to retire Torii Hunter in the third on his flyball to right. ... Detroits Justin Verlander (6-4) takes the mound Thursday against Torontos J.A. Happ (4-2) as the Tigers try to avoid a three-game sweep. ' ' '