Success doesn't spring from a revolving door. (Insider).

If there has been one lesson to be learned from this year's playoffs, it's that stability behind the bench pays off.

The final four that battled it out in the conference finals were proof positive. Carolina's Paul Maurice is second in seniority with one team, having coached Carolina/Hartford for seven years. Scotty Bowman, in his ninth year in Detroit, is the league's longest-serving coach. Pat Quinn completed his fourth year at the helm of the Maple Leafs, the same number of years Bob Hartley has called the shots for the Avalanche.

At the other end of the spectrum are the deep-pocketed Rangers and Flyers. These two clubs should take note of the conference finals and quit playing the revolving-door game with their coaches.

Since the Rangers captured the Stanley Cup in 1994 with Mike Keenan as coach, they have had Colin Campbell, John Muckler, John Tortorella and Ron Low behind the bench. Not coincidentally, the struggling franchise is working on a dubious streak: five successive years out of the playoffs. G.M. Glen Sather is looking for the team's sixth coach in nine seasons, so the trend continues.

The Flyers have a worse track record. Since Terry Murray coached Philadelphia to the 1997 Stanley Cup finals, where the team was swept by Bowman's Red Wings, Flyers G.M. Bob Clarke has fired Murray, Wayne Cashman, Roger Neilson, Craig Ramsay and Bill Barber. Clarke and Flyers chairman Ed Snider seem to have it right this time. After signing new coach Ken Hitchcock to a four-year deal, the two executives contended Hitchcock would serve the duration of his contract.

"To me, stability is so important," Hurricanes G.M. Jim Rutherford says. "Every team has to go through tough periods, and every once in a while a team tunes out a coach and getting rid of him is the best solution. But too many coaching changes are made just for the sake of change."

Red Wings senior vice president Jim Devellano knew his team was guilty of just that. He hired and fired six coaches in Detroit between 1982 and 1993, so Devellano knew his next hire had to stop the revolving door from spinning.