Seeking a new start, Toronto fires Maurice

Paul Maurice was fired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday after the team failed to make the playoffs during his two years. The dismissal was the first big move in what is expected to be an active off-season for the team.

“This is a start of a new era for the Maple Leafs,” interim General Manager Cliff Fletcher said at a news conference at Air Canada Centre.

The Maple Leafs finished 12th in the Eastern Conference and missed a playoff spot by 11 points.

They are looking for a full-time general manager after firing John Ferguson in January. In other moves Wednesday, assistant coach Randy Ladouceur was dismissed and assistant Dallas Eakins was offered a position elsewhere in the organization.

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Tampa Bay center Jeff Halpern ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the world hockey championships and was expected to be sidelined until late December or early January.

Halpern also sprained the medial collateral ligament and suffered a small tear to the lateral meniscus in the United States’ 5-4 loss to Canada on Tuesday.