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Get the latest news and information for the Carolina Hurricanes. season schedule, scores, car nhl, and highlights. Find out the latest on your favorite. The official calendar for the Carolina Hurricanes including ticket information, stats, rosters, and more. ESPN has the full Carolina Hurricanes Postseason NHL schedule. Includes game times, TV listings and ticket information for all Hurricanes games. Get the latest official stats for the Carolina Hurricanes. View the full team roster and stat leaders for the NHL season on CBS Sports.

2023-24 Schedule

Carolina Hurricanes Schedule 2023-24

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Can you complete the grid. We're Social Fast did not play in Saturday's Apr. Sebastian Aho. Frederik Andersen. Jackson Blake. Brent Burns. Jalen Chatfield. Tony DeAngelo. Jack Drury. Jesper Fast. Jake Guentzel. Seth Jarvis. In the playoffs, after losing the first two games of the Conference Quarterfinal series against the Montreal Canadiens , Laviolette lifted goalkeeper Martin Gerber , who had been struggling to regain his form after playing through a bout of intestinal flu, in favor of rookie Cam Ward.

This proved to be a consequential decision, as the Hurricanes went on to win both games in Montreal, tying up the playoff series and turning the momentum around, winning the series on a game six overtime goal by Cory Stillman. Carolina then faced the New Jersey Devils in the Conference Semifinals, which proved surprisingly one-sided, as the Hurricanes beat the Devils in five games.

Stillman struck again, once again scoring the series-winning goal. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hurricanes faced the Buffalo Sabres , who had finished just one spot behind the Hurricanes in the overall standings. The contentious series saw both coaches — Lindy Ruff and Laviolette — taking public verbal shots at each other's team.

In the deciding game seven, the Hurricanes rallied with three goals in the third to win by a score of 4—2. Rod Brind'Amour scored the game-winner as the Hurricanes reached the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in team history. The Hurricanes rallied from a 3—0 deficit in game one to win 5—4 after Rod Brind'Amour scored with 30 seconds left.

In Game 2, the Hurricanes shelled the Oilers 5—0 to take a two-game lead. The Oilers won game three in Edmonton , 2—1, as Ryan Smyth scored the game-winning goal with left to play. Carolina rebounded in game four with a 2—1 victory, and came home with a chance to win the Cup on home ice.

However, game five saw the Oilers come back with a stunning 4—3 overtime win on a shorthanded breakaway by Fernando Pisani. In Game 6 in Edmonton, Carolina was soundly defeated 4—0; the only bright point for the Hurricanes was the return of forward Erik Cole from a broken neck that had sidelined him since March.

In Game 7, before the then second-largest home crowd in franchise history 18, , the Hurricanes won 3—1, sealing the Hurricanes' first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. Cam Ward was honored with the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the playoffs' most valuable player , becoming just the fourth rookie to be honored with the award.

Several Hurricanes raised the Cup for the first time in their long NHL careers; Rod Brind'Amour and Bret Hedican had both played over 15 years without winning the Cup, while Glen Wesley , the last remaining member of the Hartford Whalers on the Hurricanes' roster, had waited 18 seasons.

On the managerial side, general manager Jim Rutherford finally won the Cup in his twelfth year with the franchise since joining the Whalers in The Hurricanes Stanley Cup championship marked the first professional major league sports title for a team from North Carolina. As well, they were the first NHL team to win the Stanley Cup despite losing at least nine playoff games in that year; the Boston Bruins, the Los Angeles Kings , the Pittsburgh Penguins , and the St Louis Blues are the only other teams to have achieved this feat.

The Hurricanes were unable to follow up their recent success. Losing four players to free agency in the off-season and man games to injury during the —07 , the team struggled throughout the regular season, [13] and once eliminated in the last game, the Hurricanes finished third in the Southeast and 11th overall in the Eastern Conference. In the —08 , Carolina again missed out as Washington Capitals stormed back to take the division title on the last day of the season, leaving the Hurricanes second in the division and ninth overall in the conference, and making the Hurricanes only the second club in NHL history to miss the playoffs for two seasons running after a Stanley Cup triumph.

After a slow start to the —09 season , Cup-winning coach Peter Laviolette was fired in early December and replaced by his own predecessor, Paul Maurice. Teetering on the edge of the playoff picture again, the club, on February 7, acquired utility forward Jussi Jokinen from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Wade Brookbank , Josef Melichar and Carolina's fourth-round draft pick in , then reacquired winger Erik Cole from the Edmonton Oilers at the March trade deadline and proceeded on a 12—3—2 run to close out the season.

The stretch run included nine straight wins, matching a franchise record from the —06 season, and capped off a streak of 12 straight home wins, which set a new franchise mark. The team finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with 97 points, the second-most points in franchise history. The Hurricanes' playoff run featured two tight series with dramatic finishes.

Then, in Game 7, the Devils took a 3—2 lead into the final two minutes of the game at the Prudential Center in Newark before the Hurricanes struck. With to play, Tim Gleason saved a puck on his knees at the right point, passed it to Joni Pitkanen on the left boards, who then hit Game 4 hero Jussi Jokinen at the far post for the tying goal. Just 48 seconds later, Chad LaRose sprang Eric Staal for a solo down-ice rush to give the Hurricanes 4—3 game and series win; Staal's goal was the latest regulation Game 7 winning goal in playoff history.

The Game 7 comeback would become known as the "Shock at the Rock". In Game 7 in Boston, Scott Walker scored the game and series winner into overtime to send Carolina to the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins, though, put a decisive end to the Hurricanes' string, sweeping the series 4—0 on the way to their own Stanley Cup championship.

As a result of their surprise run, very few changes were made in the off-season. Veterans such as Aaron Ward , Andrew Alberts , and Stephane Yelle were brought in to help drive the team further, but things did not go according to plan. The Hurricanes experienced a game losing streak spanning October and November, and midway through the year, the Hurricanes replaced their only post-lockout captain Rod Brind'Amour with Eric Staal.

Despite improved play during the second half of the season, they could not overcome the deficit from early on in the season. Brind'Amour retired over the off-season to take a coaching job with the club. The —11 season was widely expected to be a transitional year from the veteran-heavy, high-salary club that opened —10 to a younger, cheaper base.

The Hurricanes contended for a playoff slot for the entire season aided by Skinner's emergence as an offensive phenomenon who, as the youngest player in the league, would lead all rookies in points. The Hurricanes went into the final day of the season able to determine their own fate, but lost 6—2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning to finish ninth in the East.

Despite the signings of Gleason, Ruutu, and Tlusty, the Hurricanes would finish fifth in the Southeast Division and twelfth in the Eastern Conference during the —12 season, which forced them to miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season. Us open tennis predictions today Before the —14 season, the Hurricanes were realigned into the new Metropolitan Division.

They would finish seventh in the division during the —14 season ahead of only the New York Islanders and would miss the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, which prompted management to fire head coach Kirk Muller. On June 19, , Bill Peters was named head coach, becoming the fifth head coach in franchise history. Peters' teams would not break the Hurricanes' playoff drought.

During the —15 season, the team finished last in the Metropolitan Division and would miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Things did not improve in the —17 season. The Hurricanes finished seventh in the division, missing the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.

The Hurricanes also experienced uncertainty about their future in Raleigh during this time. Karmanos was looking to sell the team, something he'd been trying to do for years. Attendance at PNC Arena had declined at a consistent rate since It became so bad the team finished second-to-last in average league attendance in and Before the —18 season, the Hurricanes unveiled new uniforms.

On December 7, , it was announced that Thomas Dundon signed an agreement to purchase the Hurricanes, [28] which ensured that the team would not be relocated. Dundon wasted little time in overhauling the Hurricanes' front office. On March 8, , the team announced that general manager Ron Francis had been moved to the role of president of hockey operations. Early in the Hurricanes' search for a replacement general manager, it was reported that Dundon's salary offerings for the position could be prohibitive in attracting quality candidates.

Leading up to Kypreos' report, candidates such as Nashville Predators assistant general manager Paul Fenton , New Jersey Devils assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald , and Los Angeles Kings assistant general manager Mike Futa had all reportedly passed on the position. Ultimately, on May 8, , the Hurricanes announced the hiring of former Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell as team president and general manager.

Waddell had previously been serving as the team's interim general manager since the promotion of Francis. At the same time, it was announced that former team captain Rod Brind'Amour had been named head coach, after serving with the team as an assistant coach since On April 4, , the Hurricanes won 3—1 over the New Jersey Devils , clinching a playoff spot for the first time since and only the second time since their Cup win.

During their stretch run, the Hurricanes gained notice for their on-ice victory celebrations, which they called "Storm Surges". The Hurricanes adopted "Bunch of Jerks" as a battle cry, [40] even going as far as projecting it on the ice at PNC Arena before and after games. During the Stanley Cup playoffs , on April 24, the Hurricanes defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals , 4—3 in double overtime in game seven, winning their first playoff series since The team would then go on to defeat the New York Islanders in four straight games in the second round, recording the first best-of-seven playoff series sweep in franchise history, and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since On February 22, , on the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice , Hurricanes emergency goaltender David Ayres became the first emergency goaltender in NHL history to win a game, a 6—3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team whose minor league affiliate he works for as a Zamboni driver and maintenance man.

By beating the Rangers, the Hurricanes made the playoffs for a second straight season. However, they lost to the Bruins in five games. The —21 season concluded with the Hurricanes winning the Central Division , their first division championship since winning the Southeast Division in It was also the first time since moving to Raleigh that they had qualified for the postseason three years in a row and the first time in the history of the franchise that a head coach had taken the team to the playoffs in three consecutive years.

They defeated the Nashville Predators in the first round in six games but lost to the eventual champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round in five games. On June 30, , it was announced that Tom Dundon had purchased all remaining minority shares in the team. The off-season saw the Hurricanes overhaul the roster, resulting in many players departing.

The team also overhauled their goaltending, trading away Alex Nedeljkovic for a pick and signing Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta as the new goalie tandem. In perhaps their most talked-about moves, the Hurricanes signed Tony DeAngelo and signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet.

The —22 season concluded with the Hurricanes winning the Metropolitan Division for the first time in franchise history. This was the first time the Hurricanes had ever won division titles in back-to-back years since relocation. Car nhl The Hurricanes finished the regular season with 54 wins, the most in franchise history.

In the playoffs, the top-seeded Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins in the first round, before falling to the New York Rangers in seven games. The Hurricanes' primary logo has always been a stylized hurricane with a storm warning flag on a hockey stick as the secondary logo.

A stylized black triangle sat behind the flag, referencing the Triangle region. After the team's first season in , the team altered the color scheme to a slightly darker shade of red and kept the other colors. The Carolina Hurricanes currently wear black uniforms at home and white uniforms on the road. While black is one of the team's core colors, until , the Hurricanes kept its usage at a minimum, opting for red helmets and red pants while using black exclusively as a trim color along with silver.

Nevertheless, the Hurricanes have worn black alternate uniforms for select games since The initial Hurricanes uniforms featured the primary logo in front with the secondary logo on the shoulders. One enduring feature of this uniform was the red and black storm warning flags that dot the tail along with silver, red, black and white stripes.

In , black trim was added on the player's name, and upon moving to Reebok 's Edge template in , piping was added on the shoulder yoke. In , the Hurricanes unveiled their first black alternate uniform, featuring the flag logo in front and the primary logo recolored to dark grey on the shoulders. As with the primary uniforms, warning flag patterns dot the tail, albeit recolored to silver and black.

In , the Hurricanes replaced their primary uniforms with a new set. The biggest changes for these uniforms included the omission of black and silver. On the red uniform, black was relegated exclusively to the neck piping, letter trim and logo, while on the white uniform, it was featured more prominently on the numbers and striping. Silver was almost completely removed from both the red and white uniforms except for the logo outline.

In addition, a red nameplate with white letters and black trim was placed near the red shoulder yoke of the white uniforms. Both sets removed the flag logo and warning flag patterns while letters were updated to Univers Condensed font. The front logo also reduced in size compared to the prior set. Despite these changes, the Hurricanes continued to wear the prior black alternate uniform with this new set.

Upon moving to Adidas ' AdiZero template in , the Hurricanes made little changes to their white uniform. However, their new red uniform brought back a few elements from the original set, including black striping and the warning flag pattern now recolored with a dark red shade on the tail.

In , the Hurricanes unveiled a new black alternate uniform, featuring an updated flag logo corrected to a hurricane warning flag. This flag logo also became the new additional logo. On the dark grey shoulder yoke, the primary logo was placed on the right while the Flag of North Carolina was added to the left.

Both logos were recolored in black and grey. The logo also features the state of North Carolina in the negative space between the flags. This alternate has since become the Hurricanes' primary home uniform during the playoffs. In , a new white uniform was released, replacing the one worn since This new uniform featured the "CANES" nickname written diagonally in front with the flag logo returning on the shoulders.

The warning flag patterns and red letters with black trim also returned from the original set. The new uniform came at the behest of owner Tom Dundon, who was not a fan of the previous white uniform. The Hurricanes have not worn variants of their uniforms often. On April 5, , the Hurricanes wore their alternate black pants with the white road uniforms for the first time in a game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Two nights later, also against the Sabres, the Hurricanes paired their alternate black helmets and pants with the primary red home uniform. On December 23, , against the Pittsburgh Penguins , the Hurricanes began wearing red helmets with the white road uniforms. In August , the Hurricanes officially promoted their black uniform to their full time home uniform.

For the Hurricanes' appearances at the NHL Stadium Series , they wore black uniforms with red accents, but without any white elements. The uniform features the primary logo in front and enlarged numbers. In , the Hurricanes began wearing green "Heritage" uniforms from the team's Hartford years. In its first season, the throwbacks were used twice, both against the Boston Bruins ; for the —20 season, the Hurricanes wore them once at home against the Los Angeles Kings , and in the —22 season, they wore them once against the New Jersey Devils.

In —23, the Hurricanes wore the Whalers "Heritage" uniform against the Bruins. During home games with the Whalers uniforms, the Brass Bonanza theme would be played after the horn. For the —21 season, the Hurricanes would wear a "Reverse Retro" uniform, using the template of the s Whalers uniforms but with a grey base - grey being the only color used by both teams - as a nod to the — uniforms.

In the —24 season, the Hurricanes resurrected the white version of the Whalers uniform, wearing them against the Devils. They also wore Cooperalls during warmups as a tribute. This is a list of the last five seasons completed by the Hurricanes. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Carolina Hurricanes seasons.

Updated April 12, [54] [55]. The Carolina Hurricanes have retired three numbers: 2, 10, and In addition, Wayne Gretzky 's No. The Hurricanes also honor three numbers within the organization, but do not display their banners publicly:. Glen Wesley who wore No. In addition, longtime franchise radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Kaiton received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in , an honor granted by the Hall of Fame.

The regional broadcasting rights for the Carolina Hurricanes is presently held by Bally Sports South. Chuck Kaiton was the team's radio play-by-play announcer from to , dating to the team's days in Hartford. Carolina advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in , where they were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings.

The Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup over the Edmonton Oilers , giving the state of North Carolina its first major professional sports championship and its only major championship as of — For the first two years of their existence, the club played their home games at the Boston Arena and Boston Garden. With the increasing difficulty of scheduling games at Boston Garden owned by the NHL rival Boston Bruins , the owners decided to move the team to Hartford, Connecticut , beginning with the —75 season.

On January 11, , the team played its first game in front of a sellout crowd at the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum , and would maintain its home there through They peaked in the mid-to-late s, winning their only playoff series in over the Nordiques before bowing out in the second round to the Montreal Canadiens , taking the Habs to overtime of Game 7 in the process.

The next year , the club secured the regular season Adams Division title, only to fall to the Nordiques in six games in the first round of the playoffs. In , the Whalers made the playoffs for the final time, but were bounced in the first round in seven games by the Canadiens. Two years later, the team hired Jim Rutherford as general manager , a position that he would hold within the franchise for twenty years.

For years, the organization maintained many Whalers connections among its off-ice personnel; in addition to many members of executive management and the coaching staff, broadcasters Chuck Kaiton , John Forslund and Tripp Tracy at the time a minor-league player , and equipment managers Wally Tatomir , Skip Cunningham and Bob Gorman all made the move to North Carolina with the team.

Kaiton and Forslund would both eventually leave the franchise; Kaiton in and Forslund in The Whalers were plagued for most of their existence by limited marketability. Hartford was the smallest American market in the league and was located on the traditional dividing line between the home territories for New York City and Boston teams.

It did not help matters that the Hartford Civic Center was one of the smallest arenas in the league, seating under 16, spectators for hockey. The Whalers' off-ice problems were magnified when the start of the s triggered a spike in player salaries. Despite assurances made when he purchased the team in that the Whalers would remain in Hartford at least through , in March , owner Peter Karmanos announced that the team would move elsewhere after the —97 season because of the team's inability to negotiate a satisfactory construction and lease package for a new arena in Hartford.

Due to the relatively short time frame for the move, Karmanos himself thought of and decided upon the new name for the club, the Carolina Hurricanes , rather than holding a contest as is sometimes done. Later that summer, the team dropped the Whalers' colors of blue, green and silver for a new black-and-red scheme, matching the colors of the North Carolina State University Wolfpack , with whose men's basketball team they would share the arena in Raleigh.

The Hurricanes inherited the Whalers' place in the Northeast Division. Unfortunately for the team, the ESA would not be complete for two more years. The only arena in the Triangle area with an ice plant was year-old Dorton Arena ; at 5, seats, it was too small even for temporary use. The Hurricanes chose to play home games in Greensboro , 90 minutes west of Raleigh, for their first two seasons after the move.

However, the team would be based in Raleigh and practice in nearby Hillsborough —effectively saddling the Hurricanes with 82 road games for the next two years. This choice was disastrous for the franchise's attendance and reputation. With a capacity of over 21, people for hockey, the Greensboro Coliseum was the highest-capacity arena in the NHL.

However, Triangle-area fans balked at making the mile drive down I to Greensboro. As a result, even with the first game hosting more than 18, fans, most games in Greensboro attracted crowds of 5, or fewer. The crowds looked even smaller than that in the cavernous environment. Furthermore, only 29 out of 82 games were televised over-the-air and cable combined , and radio play-by-play coverage on WPTF was often pre-empted by Wolfpack basketball for whose broadcasts WPTF was the flagship station , leaving these games totally unavailable to those who did not have a ticket.

With by far the smallest season-ticket base in the NHL and attendance figures routinely well below the league average, Sports Illustrated ran a story titled "Natural Disaster", [7] and ESPN anchors mocked the "Green Acres" of empty seats; in a interview, Karmanos admitted that "as it turns out, [Greensboro] was probably a mistake.

For —99 , the Hurricanes curtained off most of the upper deck lowering the Coliseum's listed capacity to about 12, Attendance continued to lag. Most games attracted crowds of well under 5, Conversely, on the ice the Hurricanes' performance improved led by the return of longtime Whalers' captain Ron Francis , Keith Primeau 's 30 goals, and Gary Roberts ' penalty minutes.

They tallied their first winning season and playoff appearance since They also won the newly formed Southeast Division by eight points, only their second division title as an NHL team following the Adams Division title as the Whalers. Tragedy struck hours after the team's first-round loss to the Bruins, when defenseman Steve Chiasson was thrown from his pickup truck and killed in a single-vehicle drunk-driving crash.

The team finally moved to their newly-completed arena in Raleigh in They became the first major sports team to play in Raleigh, and remain the only such team there as of However, the Hurricanes played lackluster ice hockey in — and failed to make the playoffs. Despite this, they managed to record a significant improvement at the gate compared to their tenure in Greensboro, although attendance remained below league average at 12, per game.

The aforementioned season was marked by an ultimately franchise-altering mid-season trade which saw Primeau dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers for several players, including future captain Rod Brind'Amour. With the move to the new arena, the Hurricanes introduced the "Storm Squad", the very first cheerleaders for professional ice hockey in North America.

In —01 , the Hurricanes managed to claim the eighth seed, nosing out the Boston Bruins, and landed a first-round match-up with the defending champions, the New Jersey Devils. The Devils eliminated the Hurricanes in six games. Down 3—0 in the series, the Hurricanes extended it to a sixth game, thereby becoming only the 10th team in NHL history to do so. Game 6 in Raleigh featured their best playoff crowd that year, as well as their loudest.

The Hurricanes made national waves for the first time in the 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.

However, Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes were solid in goal and the Hurricanes won two games in overtime as they defeated the Devils in six games. Their second-round matchup was against the Montreal Canadiens , who were riding a wave of emotion after their captain Saku Koivu 's return from cancer treatment.

In the third period of game four in Montreal , down 2—1 in the series and 3—0 in the game, Carolina would tie the game and later win on Niclas Wallin 's overtime goal. The game became known to Hurricanes fans as the "Miracle at Molson "; Carolina won the next two games by a combined 13—3 margin over a dejected Habs club to take the series.

In Game 6 in Toronto , the Leafs' Mats Sundin tied the game with 22 seconds remaining to send it to overtime, where Carolina's Martin Gelinas would score to send the franchise to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance. During this series, several Hurricanes fan traditions drew hockey-wide media attention for the first time: fans met the team at the airport on the return from every road trip and echoed football -season habits honed for games across the parking lot by hosting massive tailgate parties before each home game, a relative novelty in the cold-weather-centric NHL.

Though the Hurricanes stunned the Wings in game one when Ron Francis scored in the first minute of overtime, Detroit stormed back to win the next four games. Game three in Raleigh featured a triple-overtime thriller eventually won by Detroit's Igor Larionov , the oldest player to score a last-round goal. The Hurricanes looked poised to pick up where they left off in the —03 , but never recovered from a loss January and finished dead last in the league with 61 points.

After a similarly slow start to the —04 season , Paul Maurice , who had been the team's coach since midway through their next-to-last season in Hartford, was fired and replaced with former New York Islanders bench boss Peter Laviolette. Under Laviolette, Weekes remained tough, but the offense was suspect; center Josef Vasicek led the team with a mere 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points.

Many of the new fans attracted to the team and to hockey itself during the playoff run lost interest and attendance declined. One of the few positive results of these losing years was the team's drafting of Eric Staal in The Hurricanes turned out to be one of the NHL's biggest surprises, turning in the best season in the franchise's year history including the years as the Whalers.

They finished the regular season with a 52—22—8 record and points, shattering the previous franchise records of 94 points in the WHA set by the —73 Whalers and 93 points in the NHL set in — It was the first time ever that the franchise had passed the win and point plateaus.

The point figure was good for fourth overall in the league, easily their highest overall finish as an NHL team tied with the third-overall Dallas Stars in points, but with one fewer win than the Stars and second in the East one point behind the Ottawa Senators. The Hurricanes also ran away with their third Southeast Division title, finishing 20 points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Attendance increased from the —04 season, averaging just under 15, per game, and the team made a profit for the first time since the move from Hartford. In the playoffs, after losing the first two games of the Conference Quarterfinal series against the Montreal Canadiens , Laviolette lifted goalkeeper Martin Gerber , who had been struggling to regain his form after playing through a bout of intestinal flu, in favor of rookie Cam Ward.

This proved to be a consequential decision, as the Hurricanes went on to win both games in Montreal, tying up the playoff series and turning the momentum around, winning the series on a game six overtime goal by Cory Stillman. Carolina then faced the New Jersey Devils in the Conference Semifinals, which proved surprisingly one-sided, as the Hurricanes beat the Devils in five games.

Stillman struck again, once again scoring the series-winning goal. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hurricanes faced the Buffalo Sabres , who had finished just one spot behind the Hurricanes in the overall standings. The contentious series saw both coaches — Lindy Ruff and Laviolette — taking public verbal shots at each other's team. In the deciding game seven, the Hurricanes rallied with three goals in the third to win by a score of 4—2.

Rod Brind'Amour scored the game-winner as the Hurricanes reached the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in team history. The Hurricanes rallied from a 3—0 deficit in game one to win 5—4 after Rod Brind'Amour scored with 30 seconds left. In Game 2, the Hurricanes shelled the Oilers 5—0 to take a two-game lead.

The Oilers won game three in Edmonton , 2—1, as Ryan Smyth scored the game-winning goal with left to play. Carolina rebounded in game four with a 2—1 victory, and came home with a chance to win the Cup on home ice. However, game five saw the Oilers come back with a stunning 4—3 overtime win on a shorthanded breakaway by Fernando Pisani.

In Game 6 in Edmonton, Carolina was soundly defeated 4—0; the only bright point for the Hurricanes was the return of forward Erik Cole from a broken neck that had sidelined him since March. In Game 7, before the then second-largest home crowd in franchise history 18, , the Hurricanes won 3—1, sealing the Hurricanes' first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. Cam Ward was honored with the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the playoffs' most valuable player , becoming just the fourth rookie to be honored with the award.

Several Hurricanes raised the Cup for the first time in their long NHL careers; Rod Brind'Amour and Bret Hedican had both played over 15 years without winning the Cup, while Glen Wesley , the last remaining member of the Hartford Whalers on the Hurricanes' roster, had waited 18 seasons. On the managerial side, general manager Jim Rutherford finally won the Cup in his twelfth year with the franchise since joining the Whalers in The Hurricanes Stanley Cup championship marked the first professional major league sports title for a team from North Carolina.

As well, they were the first NHL team to win the Stanley Cup despite losing at least nine playoff games in that year; the Boston Bruins, the Los Angeles Kings , the Pittsburgh Penguins , and the St Louis Blues are the only other teams to have achieved this feat. The Hurricanes were unable to follow up their recent success. Losing four players to free agency in the off-season and man games to injury during the —07 , the team struggled throughout the regular season, [13] and once eliminated in the last game, the Hurricanes finished third in the Southeast and 11th overall in the Eastern Conference.

In the —08 , Carolina again missed out as Washington Capitals stormed back to take the division title on the last day of the season, leaving the Hurricanes second in the division and ninth overall in the conference, and making the Hurricanes only the second club in NHL history to miss the playoffs for two seasons running after a Stanley Cup triumph.

After a slow start to the —09 season , Cup-winning coach Peter Laviolette was fired in early December and replaced by his own predecessor, Paul Maurice. Teetering on the edge of the playoff picture again, the club, on February 7, acquired utility forward Jussi Jokinen from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Wade Brookbank , Josef Melichar and Carolina's fourth-round draft pick in , then reacquired winger Erik Cole from the Edmonton Oilers at the March trade deadline and proceeded on a 12—3—2 run to close out the season.

The stretch run included nine straight wins, matching a franchise record from the —06 season, and capped off a streak of 12 straight home wins, which set a new franchise mark. The team finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with 97 points, the second-most points in franchise history.

The Hurricanes' playoff run featured two tight series with dramatic finishes. Then, in Game 7, the Devils took a 3—2 lead into the final two minutes of the game at the Prudential Center in Newark before the Hurricanes struck. With to play, Tim Gleason saved a puck on his knees at the right point, passed it to Joni Pitkanen on the left boards, who then hit Game 4 hero Jussi Jokinen at the far post for the tying goal.

Just 48 seconds later, Chad LaRose sprang Eric Staal for a solo down-ice rush to give the Hurricanes 4—3 game and series win; Staal's goal was the latest regulation Game 7 winning goal in playoff history. The Game 7 comeback would become known as the "Shock at the Rock".

In Game 7 in Boston, Scott Walker scored the game and series winner into overtime to send Carolina to the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins, though, put a decisive end to the Hurricanes' string, sweeping the series 4—0 on the way to their own Stanley Cup championship. As a result of their surprise run, very few changes were made in the off-season.

Veterans such as Aaron Ward , Andrew Alberts , and Stephane Yelle were brought in to help drive the team further, but things did not go according to plan. The Hurricanes experienced a game losing streak spanning October and November, and midway through the year, the Hurricanes replaced their only post-lockout captain Rod Brind'Amour with Eric Staal. Despite improved play during the second half of the season, they could not overcome the deficit from early on in the season.

Brind'Amour retired over the off-season to take a coaching job with the club. The —11 season was widely expected to be a transitional year from the veteran-heavy, high-salary club that opened —10 to a younger, cheaper base. The Hurricanes contended for a playoff slot for the entire season aided by Skinner's emergence as an offensive phenomenon who, as the youngest player in the league, would lead all rookies in points.

The Hurricanes went into the final day of the season able to determine their own fate, but lost 6—2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning to finish ninth in the East. Despite the signings of Gleason, Ruutu, and Tlusty, the Hurricanes would finish fifth in the Southeast Division and twelfth in the Eastern Conference during the —12 season, which forced them to miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season.

Before the —14 season, the Hurricanes were realigned into the new Metropolitan Division. They would finish seventh in the division during the —14 season ahead of only the New York Islanders and would miss the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, which prompted management to fire head coach Kirk Muller. On June 19, , Bill Peters was named head coach, becoming the fifth head coach in franchise history.

Peters' teams would not break the Hurricanes' playoff drought. During the —15 season, the team finished last in the Metropolitan Division and would miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Things did not improve in the —17 season. The Hurricanes finished seventh in the division, missing the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.

The Hurricanes also experienced uncertainty about their future in Raleigh during this time. Karmanos was looking to sell the team, something he'd been trying to do for years. Attendance at PNC Arena had declined at a consistent rate since It became so bad the team finished second-to-last in average league attendance in and Before the —18 season, the Hurricanes unveiled new uniforms.

On December 7, , it was announced that Thomas Dundon signed an agreement to purchase the Hurricanes, [28] which ensured that the team would not be relocated. Dundon wasted little time in overhauling the Hurricanes' front office. On March 8, , the team announced that general manager Ron Francis had been moved to the role of president of hockey operations.

Early in the Hurricanes' search for a replacement general manager, it was reported that Dundon's salary offerings for the position could be prohibitive in attracting quality candidates. Leading up to Kypreos' report, candidates such as Nashville Predators assistant general manager Paul Fenton , New Jersey Devils assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald , and Los Angeles Kings assistant general manager Mike Futa had all reportedly passed on the position.

Ultimately, on May 8, , the Hurricanes announced the hiring of former Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell as team president and general manager. Waddell had previously been serving as the team's interim general manager since the promotion of Francis. At the same time, it was announced that former team captain Rod Brind'Amour had been named head coach, after serving with the team as an assistant coach since On April 4, , the Hurricanes won 3—1 over the New Jersey Devils , clinching a playoff spot for the first time since and only the second time since their Cup win.

During their stretch run, the Hurricanes gained notice for their on-ice victory celebrations, which they called "Storm Surges". The Hurricanes adopted "Bunch of Jerks" as a battle cry, [40] even going as far as projecting it on the ice at PNC Arena before and after games. During the Stanley Cup playoffs , on April 24, the Hurricanes defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals , 4—3 in double overtime in game seven, winning their first playoff series since The team would then go on to defeat the New York Islanders in four straight games in the second round, recording the first best-of-seven playoff series sweep in franchise history, and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since On February 22, , on the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice , Hurricanes emergency goaltender David Ayres became the first emergency goaltender in NHL history to win a game, a 6—3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team whose minor league affiliate he works for as a Zamboni driver and maintenance man.