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Former Hurricanes owner criticizes how Francis handled allegations against Peters

Hurricanes Head Coach Bill Peters

New Carolina Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters and Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis speak to the media during a press conference at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, June 20, 2014. (Jill Knight/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Tribune News Service via Getty I

Former Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karamanos told the Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker that then-Hurricanes GM Ron Francis didn’t tell Karamanos about physical abuse allegations Bill Peters faced (from Michal Jordan and others) during Peters’ and Jordan’s time with the Hurricanes.

Karamanos said to Baker that, if Francis had told him about such claims against Peters, Peters would have been fired in a “nanosecond.”

“I’m pretty upset,” Karamanos told Baker. “And I have my calls in to Ronnie as well. I think he’s the one who’s going to have to tell people what he did when he found out that the coach had done these things.”

If Karamanos’ claims that Francis never told him about the allegations regarding Peters are correct - Karamanos noted to Baker that Francis kept things “close to the vest” - then the chain of actions would have indeed stopped with the front office.

Current Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour backed up Jordan’s claims about multiple instances of abuse (with an anonymous other Hurricanes defenseman also being an alleged victim), with Brind’Amour stating that the incidents “for sure happened.”

Brind’Amour said that he was satisfied with whatever actions Francis & Co. took, for what it’s worth:

”Management handled it directly and never heard of it again and never saw anything else after that,” Brind’Amour told reporters on Wednesday, according to the AP. ”So it was definitely dealt with, in my opinion, correctly. … We’ve definitely moved past that.”

Whether Peters moved on or not, Karamanos provided some troubling insight to Baker about Jordan’s career path, as the 29-year-old has been playing in the KHL since the 2016-17 season.

“I never could figure out why the kid wouldn’t take the contract we had offered him,” Karmanos said of Jordan, who left to play in the Kontinental Hockey League. “He was an excellent seventh defenseman as far as I was concerned. And now I can understand why.’’

It’s haunting to consider Karamanos’ comments about Jordan in light of Akim Aliu telling TSN’s Frank Seravalli that he feels like the fallout from Peters’ alleged racist remarks “ruined my career before it started.”

Peters submitted a statement in the form of letter to Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving on Wednesday, addressing Aliu’s claims -- while not mentioning Aliu by name. Peters did not address the allegations from his time with the Hurricanes, however.

At the moment, the Flames have not announced whether Peters will be fired or not, although he wasn’t on the bench for Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres.

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.