RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jim Rutherford stepped down as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, and the team promoted Hall of Fame player Ron Francis to replace him. In a series of moves, the Hurricanes also hired Mike Vellucci as assistant GM and director of hockey operations and promoted Brian Tatum to assistant general manager. Rutherford, who also owns part of the team, will remain in an advisory role as team president. He assembled the teams that won one Stanley Cup, played for another and reached the Eastern Conference final in 2009. The Hurricanes havent made the playoffs since then, the longest active drought in the East. "I look at this as a fresh start," Francis said. "I dont want to just kind of build a team that gets into the playoffs for one year. I would like to build it so that its a very solid franchise and we can do it on a yearly basis." Francis had long been considered the teams GM-in-waiting. The former team captain holds team records with 382 goals, 793 assists and 1,186 games played. He has been the teams vice-president of hockey operations since June 2012. He took over as the teams director of player development in 2006 and was an assistant coach under Paul Maurice from 2008-11 before returning to the front office that June as director of hockey operations. Now that hes running a team for the first time, it remains unclear just how much financial flexibility Francis will have. The four highest-paid players -- forwards Alexander Semin and Eric and Jordan Staal, and goalie Cam Ward -- are coming off subpar seasons. They made a combined $28 million last year and will do so again in 2014-15. "This year we were at the (NHL salary) cap, I believe. Didnt make a heck of a lot of difference, did it?" owner Peter Karmanos Jr. said. "Well set the budget wherever we think we can have the most competitive hockey team." One of Francis first jobs will be deciding whether Kirk Muller will receive a fourth year as coach. Muller is 80-80-27 in three seasons and the Hurricanes finished 13th in the 16-team East this year with a 36-35-11 record. "In fairness, I think its a decision that kind of needs due process," Francis said. Rutherford, 65, is a former NHL goalie who spent two decades as the clubs GM, and helped shepherd its move from Hartford to North Carolina. He said he and Karmanos casually discussed stepping aside and those talks grew increasingly more serious beginning in January and February and continued through the early off-season. "Twenty years is a long time for me," Rutherford said. "Ive thought about this for a few years, and certainly the time is right now." Vellucci, 47, will oversee the teams scouting and player development after spending the past 14 seasons as head coach and general manager of the Plymouth Whalers -- the Ontario Hockey League team owned by Karmanos. Tatum, 40, is entering his 17th year with the team and has been its vice-president of team operations since 2012 after spending five years as its senior director of team operations. Juan Thornhill Jersey . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. Kendall Fuller Jersey . Adam LaRoche will take that. "I like our position in the standings and I like how our team is playing," LaRoche said after Washington swept a day-night doubleheader from the Cubs on Saturday. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom...large-306n.html. That Ginette Reno can sing. Neil Smith Jersey . The time off didnt slow them down. Tyler Zeller scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, Kyrie Irving added 14 points and the Cavaliers pushed their winning streak to five games Tuesday night with a 114-85 victory over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers. Blake Bell Jersey . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City.CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Justin Martin had 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds on Saturday, and Xavier led most of the way during a 75-69 victory over No. 9 Creighton in front of the largest crowd in the 14-year history of the Musketeers arena. It was a long-awaited rematch for Xavier, (20-9, 10-6), which lost one of the Big Easts most wide-open games at Creighton in January. Martin led the way. The junior guard helped Xavier control the tempo and build a 13-point lead early in the second half that was more than enough. Creighton (23-5, 13-3) couldnt catch up despite 27 points by Doug McDermott, who leads the nation in scoring. McDermott had 35 points during the Bluejays 95-89 win at home on Jan. 12, a game that showed the reconfigured Big East was a whole different conference. Xavier had more going for it in the rematch. Semaj Christon scored 21 points, Dee Davis added 15, and the Musketeers shot 50 per cent from the field. Xavier got its first victory over a Top 10 team since it beat No. 8 Indiana 80-65 on Nov. 24, 2007. Right after their loss at Creighton in January, several Musketeers said they couldnt wait for the rematch. Xavier sold standing-room tickets for the first time in the Cintas Centers 14 seasons, resulting in a record crowd of 10,483. Xavier led for most of the first half, pushing the lead to six points on several occasions. The Musketeers built it to double-digits with a seven-point run that featured Davis 3-pointer and a pair of baskets by Christon, making it 41-30 with 2:22 left in the half. The Mussketeers took a 43-34 lead into halftime despite not shooting a free throw.dddddddddddd Instead, the Musketeers shot 57.6 per cent from the field and went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. Martin led the way, getting nine points and matching his career high with 12 rebounds. Martin came out aggressive again to start the second half. He hit a pair of 3s and Xaviers first two free throws for a 54-42 lead with 15:49 left. At that point, Xavier was 8 of 10 from beyond the arc, with Creighton more concerned about stopping drives to the basket. Christon fell down while nearly getting a steal, got up and swiped Creightons next pass and was fouled as he headed for the basket, bringing the crowd to its feet. His free throw gave Xavier a 13-point lead. Creighton couldnt make any headway as Xavier controlled the boards and pushed the pace for layups. McDermott scored 11 points in the first 7 minutes of the half, but nobody else hit any shots consistently. Xavier finally hit a cold spell, and Creighton took advantage with a 10-2 spurt. McDermotts fall-away 3-pointer cut it to 61-58 with 5:18 to go, prompting a Xavier timeout. Davis made an uncontested 3, and Jalen Reynolds drove for a lay-in that rebuilt the lead to 68-60. Creighton never got closer than five points the rest of the way. Creighton redshirt freshman guard Isaiah Zierden went down hard on a fast-break play in the first half and hurt his right knee. He was on crutches in the second half with ice wrapped on the knee. Zierden averages 11 minutes and 3.3 points. ' ' '