"Quite honestly it's not the place that I want to be in. I'd rather be playing in the NHL," Irbe said Thursday from Lowell, Mass. "But I understand the circumstances. The Hurricanes believe it's in their best interest to have me here in Lowell. I will do my best to help the team here. I'm a total professional and I'll go along with it."

The woeful Hurricanes, 13th in the 15-team Eastern Conference, demoted the lovable Latvian to the Lowell Lock Monsters on Thursday after he cleared NHL waivers.

"We've been trying to move him for quite some time," assistant GM Jason Karmanos said Thursday from Raleigh, N.C. "Obviously we haven't been able to do that.

"We put him on waivers and we hoped, although we didn't expect, another team to pick him up."

Karmanos said the situation may be cleared up when Jim Rutherford returns from Toronto, where the Hurricanes GM was mourning the loss of this father this week.

Irbe practised with the Lock Monsters on Thursday, having last appeared in the minors in 1995-96 with Kansas City of the IHL. He'll play AHL hockey until the matter is resolved.

"I'm trying to stay optimistic," Irbe said. "It's like the trampoline, the deeper you sag in the trampoline the higher it's going to throw you up and that's how I'm approaching this situation.

"I know it's going to be resolved and I feel good about it. I'm still very confident in my abilities."

He's been unwanted before in previous NHL stops in Vancouver and San Jose. He'll bounce back.

"He's a warrior, he's gone through so much adversity," Irbe's agent Paul Theofanous said Thursday from New York. "I wouldn't want to be the guy that wagered against him coming back and being a significant goaltender and helping a team succeed in the playoffs in the very near future."

Carolina hopes to move Irbe before the March 11 trade deadline but his contract is a stumbling block. Irbe, making $2.5 million US this season, is slated to earn $2.75 million next season and another $2.75 million in 2004-05.

"The last year of his contract in particular, with all the uncertainty with the CBA expiring, it would seem that there might be some reason for him to think about changing his contract around a little bit," Karmanos said.

The Hurricanes say Irbe should rework his deal in order to make him easier to trade.

There's little chance that will happen. Theofanous says Irbe is still capable of being a No. 1 goalie and at $2.75 million that's still a decent deal.

"He hasn't changed. It's still Archie, it's still the same guy that went to the Stanley Cup final," Theofanous said. "It's still the guy that put Carolina on the map.

"He's got to move somewhere else and help another team make a name for itself. It may take a week, it may take a month, but Archie's prepared to work this thing out and play no matter where he is."

Irbe, who turned 36 on Feb. 2, lost his starting job to Kevin Weekes, 27, coming out of training camp and was never able to regain it. It's a sensitive situation for Theofanous, who also represents Weekes.

"I cheer them both on," said Theofanous. "We're open and honest, the three of us.

"There's never been an issue on anything where we couldn't talk about it, whether it was on-ice or off-ice."

Irbe, who was sensational last spring and especially in the Eastern Conference final when his team eliminated the Leafs, has gone 7-17-2 this season with a 3.06 goals-against average and an .884 save percentage.

"They always say you win as a team and you lose as a team," Irbe said. "I feel that's what happened last year when we won.

"And we were losing as a team this year and everybody is responsible for that, including myself. Some of that responsibility is on my shoulders."

Said Theofanous: "And let's be serious, the Carolina team itself has had a lot of injuries."

The Hurricanes have been without top scorer Rod Brind'Amour (hand), as well as David Tanabe (shoulder injury), Jeff Heerema (broken wrist), Erik Cole (broken leg) and most recently Jaroslav Svoboda (back).

Meanwhile, the new backup to Weekes is Patrick DesRochers, 23, called up from Lowell on Thursday as the Hurricanes look to next season.