Good morning, class.

So.

Tonight the Hurricanes pay tribute to one of the greatest (and classiest) players to ever play the game--Ron Francis. This is the guy who helped the 'Canes gain a stronger foothold here in the Carolinas (after Kevin Dineen helped hold the team together during the turbulent Greensboro years), and who will forever be remembered as a Whalercane.


He also must have taken all the class with him when he left Hogtown, if Steve Simmons' latest little gem from the Black Hole Sun is any example:


"Paul Maurice coached Jeff O'Neill for years in Carolina. Shouldn't he have warned the Leafs about him?"


Wow. LeafsNation's been coveting Jeffy O for years, they welcome him with open arms and all kinds of sympathy over the death of his eldest brother, and now that he turns out to not be the next Frank Mahovlich, they turn on him.

Wow, talk about your class.

Tonight the 'Canes will be honoring somebody who's the epitome of class--while somebody who was once a franchise cornerstone continues to struggle in a town that is infamous for eating their young and throwing class out the window at the drop of a puck.

Very sad.