Francis excited to return home with Hurricanes

For Ron Francis, it’s another opportunity to return home and bring a little something with him as well.

The executive vice president and general manager of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, Francis will be in town with the Hurricanes as the team faces the Buffalo Sabres in an exhibition game next week at the Essar Centre.

Though it’s not always easy to make the trip north during the busy times of the hockey season, Francis relishes the opportunity to get home when he can.

“I still get back there a fair amount and it’s always good to come home,” Francis said.

Francis will be honoured ahead of the game as well as the city names the lower part of Bruce St. near the Essar Centre after him.

Francis said he was honoured by the decision as he recounted his memories of growing up in the city and playing hockey on the outdoor rink at what is now Esposito Park downtown.

After a 23-year career that saw him play for the Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Hartford Whalers and Pittsburgh Penguins, Francis joined the Hurricanes in November 2006 as director of player personnel.

His playing career saw him play in 1,731 games, scoring 549 goals and 1,798 points and win a pair of Stanley Cup titles, both with the Penguins.

Prior to being drafted by the Whalers fourth overall in the 1981 draft, Francis played parts of two seasons with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. He scored 26 goals and 69 points in 64 games in his lone full season with the team (1980-81). The following season, Francis scored 18 goals and 48 points in 25 games before being called up by the Whalers for the rest of the season.

Francis is currently in his 10^th season as part of the management team with the organization and second season in his current roles.

The exhibition game locally will be the second-last pre-season game for the Hurricanes ahead of the team’s regular season opener on Oct. 13 in Winnipeg.

Entering the weekend, the Hurricanes have 51 players in camp, including former Soo Greyhounds Sergey Tolchinsky and Tyler Ganly.

Tolchinsky played in his first professional season with the Hurricanes’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, in 2015-16 and scored 14 goals and 36 points in 72 games. He also got into a pair of games with the Hurricanes where he picked up an assist.

Tolchinsky also received high praise for his play with the Hurricanes’ prospect team that competed earlier this month in the annual prospect tournament in Traverse City, Mich.

“He’s a very dynamic player, very energetic,” Francis said of the Russian. “He came in and worked extremely hard every shift of every game and helped lead the way to our success there and he’s carried that over into camp. He played well in our exhibition game (on Monday) playing on a line with Jordan Staal and Joakim Nordstrom. He’s continued to improve.”

Ganly played in 26 games with the Checkers, picking up two assists. He also played in 15 games with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.

“Tyler’s a character guy and a leader,” Francis said. “He comes and gives you everything he has every night and that’s what he’s continued to do is work at that and improve shift-by-shift.”

Francis said that Ganly won’t be available when the Hurricanes face Buffalo at the Essar Centre next week due to a shoulder injury suffered in Carolina’s Red/White game prior to the pre-season opener.

For Francis, the Hurricanes represent a team in the midst of a youth movement, especially on the blueline.

“It’s very exciting,” Francis said of the young players in the Hurricanes system. “It’s not the norm in the NHL to go with a very young defence but these guys played very good hockey for us the rest of the way.”

Francis joked that Justin Faulk is the “old guy” in the group at 24.

“It’s a very young defence corp.” Francis said.

The experience of being in a playoff hunt until the final days of the regular season was also an important thing for the youth on the Hurricanes roster last season.

“It was very important for the development,” Francis said. “I do think a lot of people counted us out at the deadline when we made the moves that we made in moving out veteran players. Our young guys stepped up to the challenge and our veteran guys led the way for them. It was very encouraging to see that down the stretch.”

The development will continue through the rest of the NHL pre-season schedule, including the Hurricanes’ contest against the Buffalo Sabres at the Essar Centre on Oct. 5.

Puck drop for the game is 7 p.m.