The Carolina Hurricanes have fired Cam Abbott, the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

Assistant coach Spiros Anastas will take over as Chicago’s interim head coach. Chicago is third in the Central Division with an 11-7-3-1 record. Anastas has previous head-coaching experience in the ECHL level as well as internationally for China, Estonia, Greece, Serbia, and South Korea.

Aside from promotions to NHL parent teams, in-season head-coaching changes are extremely rare in the AHL. Last season Utica Comets head coach Kevin Dineen was replaced by the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 6, 2024 after an 0-10-1-2 start. The Rockford IceHogs also saw head coach Anders Sorensen move up to the Chicago Blackhawks after Luke Richardson’s firing.

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Abbott had come to the Carolina organization with considerable fanfare being hired June 20, 2024. The Hurricanes-Wolves affiliation had ended following the 2022-23 season just one year after Chicago had won the Calder Cup. Chicago spent the 2023-24 season operating as an independent team while the Hurricanes had to scatter their prospects across the AHL, ECHL, and Europe. The two sides reunited in May 2024 with a new three-year affiliation agreement.

Abbott had a successful SHL head-coaching career with Rogle and was named that league’s coach of the year in 2021-22. That same season Rogle also won the Champions Hockey League title. The Chicago post was his first in North America.

Last season Chicago finished fourth in the Central Division with a 37-31-4-0 record before a first-round elimination by Rockford. Abbott’s dismissal comes after a pair of wins against the Milwaukee Admirals last weekend in which the Wolves scored a combined 11 goals. The team has taken at least a point in five of its past six games (4-1-0-1).

Anastas will not have much time to adjust to his new position. The Wolves go on the road to face Milwaukee on Saturday night before a Sunday matinee against the league-leading Grand Rapids Griffins.

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