Intrigue continues to swirl around the Colorado Avalanche's head-coaching situation. Joel Quenneville's contract runs out June 30, and general manager Francois Giguere has yet to give him an extension or disavow speculation he might be thinking of a change.

Meanwhile, the coaching job with the Toronto Maple Leafs became vacant Wednesday when Paul Maurice was fired. That is the team Quenneville grew up idolizing in Windsor, Ontario, and it was the first team he played for in the NHL and the organization he got his coaching start with in 1991. The man who hired Quenneville as an assistant with the St. John's Maple Leafs is Toronto's general manager, Cliff Fletcher.

Fletcher, however, is serving only in an interim capacity.

"My objective is to create the best environment possible for the next Leafs general manager to bring in his own staff and to create a new culture around the team," Fletcher said.

It is unusual for coaches without a contract after a season ends to be kept in limbo.

(The Denver Post)

LIGHTNING'S HALPERN SERIOUSLY INJURES KNEE: Tampa Bay Lightning center Jeff Halpern ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the world hockey championships and is expected to be sidelined until late December or early January. He was injured during the United States' 5-4 loss to Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday.

FLYERS SAVOR TURNAROUND: Winning the Eastern Conference finals would be icing on the cake for the Flyers. Actually, it would mean another cake.

The Flyers savored a cake on Wednesday, the dessert becoming their tasty good luck tradition before the first game of each playoff series.

Coach John Stevens cooked up the idea as a motivational tool in the minor leagues, and he's using it as the Flyers prepare to start their conference finals series against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at Pittsburgh.

"It kind of symbolizes that all the ingredients by themselves aren't appealing, but when you mix them together and apply some fire, you come up with a better product," Stevens said.

(The Associated Press)

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