RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has hired Sheldon Ferguson as an amateur scout. In addition, Rutherford announced that the team did not renew the contracts of scouts Greg Stefan, Phil Horner or Mario Marois.

Ferguson most recently worked as the Assistant General Manager of the Swift Current Broncos (Western Hockey League). Prior to returning to junior hockey, Ferguson spent 12 seasons with the Hurricanes organization, serving as the Hurricanes’ director of amateur scouting until 2007. Under Ferguson’s leadership, Carolina selected several of the players who form the team’s current foundation, including Eric Staal, Cam Ward and Erik Cole.

Before working with the Hurricanes organization, Ferguson served as the director of scouting for the Canadian National Junior Team for four seasons, helping the team win three consecutive gold medals from 1993-95. A graduate of Northeastern University, Ferguson spent two seasons as an assistant coach in the WHL before beginning his scouting career in 1979 for the Quebec Nordiques, covering Western Canada. After six seasons with the Nordiques, Ferguson helped form the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL in 1985, and served as the team’s general manager and coach for three seasons. In 1989, he accepted a position as the director of scouting for the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he worked two seasons before joining the Canadian National Junior Team.