RALEIGH, N.C. -- A lot of people who know Ron Francis insist he never showed any interest in coaching.

But the person who knows him best -- Francis, himself -- says that really isn't the case, and that he had no qualms about moving from Carolina's front office to a job as the Hurricanes' associate coach Wednesday, when Paul Maurice replaced Peter Laviolette as head coach.

"It wasn't something I was actively looking to do, but Jim [Rutherford, Carolina's general manager] asked me about it and I looked around the league and saw guys like Ulfie [Samuelsson] and [Joel] Quenneville and [Dave] Tippett --a bunch of my good friends -- who are in head coaching or assistant coaching positions, and all seem to love it," Francis said yesterday.

He added that his wife endorsed the idea of him joining Maurice's staff -- "Mary Lou is remarkably supportive. When I talked with her about this, she was fine with it" -- and that he'll have the option of returning to his front-office duties if coaching doesn't suit him.

"We'll see if it's something I really want to do and pursue or if I want to go back into my suit," he said.

Francis, a core member of both of the Penguins' Stanley Cup-winning teams, is in the Hall of Fame, and many players as accomplished as he make poor coaches. Maurice, however, thinks there's no reason to believe that will be the case with Francis.

"There was a lot more to his game than natural ability," Maurice said. "He was not the fastest guy on the ice. It's very rare to have a player with that many points and assists also be a Selke Award winner [as the league's top defensive forward].

"Ronnie has had to learn the game a little more than most Hall of Fame players, [to whom] it might have just come naturally."

Minard, Pesonen recalled

The Penguins recalled forwards Chris Minard and Janne Pesonen from their minor league team in Wilkes-Barre after center Mike Zigomanis and winger Tyler Kennedy were hurt in Wednesday's 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers.

Minard is second in the American Hockey League with 30 points and tied for first in the league in goals (17), while Pesonen has five goals and 16 assists in 20 games with the Baby Penguins.

Brind'Amour plugs away

Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour is 38, played in his 1,350th NHL game last night and wears a clunky brace on his surgically repaired left knee.

But even though his productivity has suffered -- Brind'Amour had 14 points and a league-worst plus-minus rating of minus-18 before last night's game -- he doesn't see to have any serious interest in retiring.

"It's always on the radar, especially when you have bad nights," he said. "But you always have to take a step back and [think about] what is driving you to play. If you still enjoy coming to the rink and feel you can be productive, that's the key."

Despite all the hard miles on him, Brind'Amour said, "I actually feel better than I did years ago," and that his competitive fire hasn't begun to go out.

"I enjoy the competition and the chance of winning," he said.

More Staal tactics

Although Penguins center Jordan Staal has become used to playing against his brothers -- Marc, a New York Rangers defenseman, and Eric, a Carolina center -- that theme got a new wrinkle on this trip: Jordan faced them on consecutive nights for the first time.

Jordan Staal said he noticed that would be the case a day or so before the trip began and, while it hardly qualifies as one of the landmarks in his career, it is at least an interesting footnote for him.

"It's kind of neat," Staal said. "As long as I'm winning against my [brothers], I'm happy."

Slap shots

The Penguins canceled their game-day skate yesterday, but two injured players, defenseman Ryan Whitney and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, went on the ice, as did backup goalie John Curry. ... The Penguins will close out their three-game road trip at 2:08 p.m. tomorrow at Ottawa.