Leiweke vouches for GM Francis

One of Tod Leiweke’s first moves as the president and CEO of NHL Seattle was in naming Ron Francis the team’s general manager.

It is a decision that he still stands by today even after Francis has been criticized for how he handled allegations of abuse regarding former head coach Bill Peters while the two were working for the

Carolina Hurricanes.

“He’s been an absolute pleasure to work with,” Leiweke told Postmedia. “And I really believe in fundamentally in his character. He’s been fantastic.”

Peters, who resigned as the head coach of the Calgary Flames late last month following allegations of uttering racial slurs while coaching in the minors, has also been accused of kicking former Hurricanes defenceman Michal Jordan and punching a second player in the head while coaching in Carolina. According to current Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who was an assistant coach at the time, both incidents were relayed to Francis from players and staff members.

Where they went from there is up to debate.

At first, Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. told The Seattle Times that he had not been made aware of the allegations. Had he, Karmanos said he would have fired Peters “in a nanosecond.”

But Francis recently issued a statement contradicting that report, indicating that not only were the allegations handled internally — and that the abuse never recurred — but that he “briefed ownership”

about it.

As for Francis’ future with the Seattle franchise, it did not seem as though Leiweke had any desire to part ways with his GM.

“I haven’t commented on it and I’m not really going to start now. But I do think that it’s a really important story in the world of sports, how we all behave going forward,” Leiweke said. “I will tell you this: Ron Francis is a man of enormous character.”