Hurricanes promote Francis to asst. GM

Already a Hall of Famer for his time on the ice, Ron Francis is quickly moving up the ranks in the second half of his hockey career. The Carolina Hurricanes promoted the fast-rising Francis, already the team’s director of player development, to assistant general manager on Thursday. He replaces Jason Karmanos, the 33-year-old son of team owner Peter Karmanos Jr., who resigned last week because of…