ALBANY — After watching several of his players make the jump to the National Hockey League last season, Tom Rowe has done it himself.

Head coach of the Albany River Rats the past two seasons, Rowe was promoted today as an assistant with the parent Carolina Hurricanes. He will be replaced in Albany by former Canes' assistant Jeff Daniels who, like Rowe, will also serve as Rats' general manager.

Geordie Kinnear will remain as assistant coach with Albany. Rowe will work in the NHL with head coach Peter Laviolette and assistants Kevin McCarthy and Tom Barrasso.

"It was kind of in the works for the last five weeks or so," Rowe said by phone this afternoon. "I had talked to [Carolina GM] Jimmy [Rutherford] and he wanted to know if I was interested in coming up. Obviously, I was, and it went from there.

"It's probably the right move at the right time for me, and hopefully it will work out. I'm sure it will. It should be a lot of fun. I'm real excited about it, and looking forward to it."

Rowe compiled a coaching record of 156-130-14-20 in 320 career AHL games with Albany and Lowell. The Rats were 80-66-7-7 under Rowe, qualifying for the Calder Cup playoffs the past two seasons, ending an AHL-record six-year postseason drought.

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