After the River Rats parent team missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight season, there was plenty of speculation that head coach Peter Laviolette would lose his job.

Canes GM Jim Rutherford instead opted to keep Laviolette, and today he promoted River Rats head coach-GM Tom Rowe to be Laviolette's assistant. Rowe will join assistants Kevin McCarthy and Tom Barrasso in his first NHL job.

Replacing Rowe as coach-GM in Albany will be Jeff Daniels, who was a Canes assistant for four years, winning a Stanley Cup in 2006 and as a player in 1992 with Pittsburgh.

The job that Rowe and Rats assistant Geordie Kinnear -- who will be staying on in Albany with a new three-year contract -- did in providing several game-ready players for the NHL club enabled Carolina to stay in the playoff hunt to the bitter, and it was bitter, end. The decision to sit them out in favor of older, less-than-healthy veterans down the stretch may have led to their demise.

In any event, it is a wonderful and well-deserved opportunity for Rowe, who is as demanding and professional and well-respected as they come. He will be missed for his candor, knowledge, experience and sense of humor. Here's wishing him all the luck in the world. It won't be long before he's a head coach again ..... in the NHL.

Sudden thought: Now I have an in for free Canes tickets! Wonder if that includes a free flight?

Daniels, who turns 40 later this month, is the sixth man to serve as Rats head coach in their 16-year history. Believe it or not, he is the first one that is not a native New Englander (he was born in Oshawa, Ontario).

The others:

* Robbie Ftorek (Needham, Mass.) 1993-96, 2004-06
* John Cunniff (South Boston, Mass.) 1996-01
* Bobby Carpenter (Beverly, Mass.) 2001-02
* Red Gendron (Berlin, N.H.) 2002-04
* Tom Rowe (Lynn, Mass.) 2006-08