The
Hurricanes played in a temporary arena in Greensboro their
first two years, where they pulled in fewer fans than they
did in Hartford. Doubts were raised over whether North Carolina
could support NHL hockey.
On the
ice, however, the Canes were out of the doldrums by 1999.
Led by Keith Primeau's 30 goals and Gary Roberts's 178 penalty
minutes, they won the new Southeast Division by eight points
and made the playoffs for the first time since 1992. The Canes
played lackluster hockey in 2000 and 2001, but broke out in
the 2002 playoffs. They survived a late charge from the Washington
Capitals to win the division, but expectations were low entering
the first round against the defending Eastern Conference Champion
New Jersey Devils. Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes were solid
in goal, and two games were won by the Canes in overtime as
they put away the Devils in six games.
The second
round matchup was against the Canadiens, who were riding a
wave of emotion after Saku Koivu's return from cancer treatment.
In the third period of game 4 in Montreal, the Hurricanes
were down 2-1 in games and 3-0 in score, before the Hurricanes
rebounded to win 4-3 on Niklas Wallin's overtime winner. The
Habs were dejected and Carolina easily won the next two games
to win the series.
The conference
final was against the heavily favored Toronto Maple Leafs.
In game 6 in Toronto, the Leafs' Mats Sundin tied the game
with 22 seconds remaining to send it to overtime. The Canes
took over from there. Martin Gelinas scored in overtime to
send them to their first Stanley Cup final, against the Detroit
Red Wings, thought to be the prohibitive favorite all year.
After
the first game of the final, where Ron Francis scored in the
first minute of overtime, it almost looked like Carolina would
have another upset, but Detroit stormed back to win the next
four in a row to win the Stanley Cup. Despite the loss, it
was by far the best year in franchise history.
Founded:
1972-1973 (awarded November 1971)
Former Leagues: World Hockey Association
(1972-1979)
Formerly Known As: New England Whalers (1972-1979),
Hartford Whalers (1979-1997)
Arena: RBC Center (capacity 18,176)
Uniform colors: red, black, white
Logo design: a hurricane symbol
|
