Francis says he told Canes' brass about abuse allegations toward Peters

Ron Francis said Saturday that during his tenure as Carolina Hurricanes general manager, he was made aware of physical incidents involving two players and then-Hurricanes coach Bill Peters. Francis says he took immediate action and briefed ownership.

However, three days ago, former Carolina principal owner Peter Karmanos denied knowledge of the event and said he would've fired Peters "in a nanosecond" if he'd been told about the abuse.

On Tuesday, ex-Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan accused Peters of physical abuse, saying the coach kicked him while on the bench during a game and punched another player in the head.

A day earlier, former NHLer Akim Aliu tweeted that Peters directed racial slurs toward him a decade ago while with the Rockford IceHogs, the Chicago Blackhawks' AHL affiliate.

Peters coached the Hurricanes for four seasons before taking the head coaching job with the Calgary Flames prior to the 2018-19 season. He penned an apology letter to Flames GM Brad Treliving on Wednesday where he admitted using a racial slur, but he did not address the physical abuse allegations. Peters resigned as Calgary's bench boss on Friday.

Francis served as Carolina's general manager for four years before he was let go in April 2018. He gave Peters a contract extension after the 2015-16 campaign - Jordan's last NHL season. Francis was hired as GM of the upcoming Seattle NHL team this past summer.

Karmanos is still a minority owner of the Hurricanes, but he was the majority owner from 1994 to 2018 before selling controlling interest of the club to Tom Dundon.