As the Carolina Hurricanes prepare to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Stanley Cup victory, everyone knows what happened during the postseason, but we don't give much thought to the regular season. If not for the work they did for those 82 games, the Hurricanes might not have been in a position to win the Cup.
The Hurricanes enjoyed the best season in franchise history in 2005-06, winning 52 games and recording 112 points to capture the Southeast Division for the third time. They owned a comfortable advantage in the division race, and it set them up for success as the second-best team in the conference. Here are some of the biggest moments from the regular season.
1. First win of the season (10/7/05)
The team's first outing of the season didn't go as planned, falling 5-2 to the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Radim Vrbata scored the first goal of the season. Things went a little smoother in their home opener two nights later. Their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins marked the first NHL start for Cam Ward, who made his NHL debut in Tampa by relieving Martin Gerber.
The Canes led 2-0 through two periods, but a pair of goals on the power play, including the tying goal with 1:24 left, sent the teams to overtime. Neither side scored in overtime, leading to the first shootout game in franchise history. Ward stared down the trio of Mario Lemieux, Ziggy Palffy, and rookie Sidney Crosby, stopping all three to earn his first NHL win, and the team's first of 52.
2. 9 wins in a row (10/22-11/11/05)
The team set itself up for success very early in the season. After a 3-3-0 start, the Hurricanes exploded for a franchise-record nine straight victories, beginning with a 4-0 shutout win over the Washington Capitals. The offense exploded, especially on the power play. In nine games, the Canes struck 15 times with the man advantage.
Over this nine-game stretch, the Hurricanes allowed just 20 goals. Six of their 20 against came in one game, a wild 8-6 victory over the Flyers. Eric Staal recorded the first of his two hat tricks in the win. They also recorded three shutouts as a group, including two in six days against the Florida Panthers by Gerber. It wouldn't be the last time the Canes went on a run like this.
3. Kevyn Adams hits the trifecta twice (11/17/05, 12/6/05)
No one on the planet would mistake Kevyn Adams for a goal scorer. The 31-year-old future GM of the Buffalo Sabres knew his role and played it well. That's why he wore an "A" with the team. However, twice early in the season, Adams couldn't be stopped. After 380 NHL games without a hat trick, Adams accomplished the feat twice in 10 days.
His first hat trick came against Henrik Lundqvist, doing it naturally over the second and third periods for his first three goals of the season in a 5-1 victory. 10 days later, he did it again, the natural way, roasting the Ducks out of the gate in a 6-2 Canes win. Adams scored a career-high 15 goals in the 2005-06 season while producing his second-highest points total (23).
4. 9 wins in a row...again (12/31/05-1/19/06)
The Canes had so much fun winning nine in a row that they decided to do it again to ring in the new year. Beginning with a 5-3 win on New Year's Eve, the group rattled off nine straight into mid-January, outscoring their opponents 36-21 over the 20-day stretch. The win to start the streak was especially tense, getting a goal from Rod Brind'Amour with 1:52 left, serving as a sign of things to come.
The win streak sparked the team to one of the best months in franchise history. In 14 games that January, the Hurricanes went 13-1-0, losing their only game on January 21 to the Washington Capitals. The team rebounded from the loss by winning its next five games, putting a stranglehold on the Southeast Division.
5. Doug Weight becomes a Carolina Hurricane (1/30/06)
Amidst the team's January success, the Hurricanes still saw an opportunity to improve their group before the 2006 trade deadline. In late January, the front office struck a deal with the New York Islanders to bring Doug Weight aboard. The future U.S. Olympian knew a thing or two about playing in the postseason, adding more veteran presence to a strong group.
He didn't set the world on fire with the start of his tenure as a Hurricane, but Weight put up a respectable 13 points in 23 games with the Canes while playing 17:35 per night. He added 16 points in 23 postseason games. Weight was injured in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, forcing him to miss the remainder of the series, though he got his chance to lift Lord Stanley.
6. The Canes rout the Habs, make team history (1/31/06)
To close their historic January, the Hurricanes evoked feelings of the 2002 playoffs. The team stormed into Montreal and laid the Habs out. To be fair, the Canadiens led 2-1 a little over 11 minutes into the game, but the Canes commandeered the game late in the first. They chased Jose Theodore after scoring five times on 10 shots in an eventual 8-2 victory at Centre Bell.
The victory altered the record books, with 13 players combining to record 23 points in the game. This broke the previous record of 21, set in 2001. Erik Cole led the way with a hat trick and an assist, while Eric Staal scored twice and added a helper. It was a fitting way for the team to finish a month that they controlled from start to finish.
7. Brooks Orpik becomes Public Enemy #1 (3/4/06)
In his fourth full season in the NHL, Erik Cole was enjoying his best year yet. He was set to sail past 30 goals and was playing at a near point-per-game pace. During the Canes' meeting with the Pittsburgh Penguins in early March, he hit the 30-goal plateau for the first time, scoring twice through 40 minutes as the Canes led, 6-3. That's when it all unraveled.
At 5:18 of the third period, Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik sent Cole head-first into the boards with a vicious hit from behind. As Cole lay motionless on the ice, Bret Hedican jumped into confront Orpik. The hit sent Orpik to the showers and forever made him the most hated man in Raleigh during later visits. While the Canes won the game, 7-5, it signaled an abrupt end to Cole's incredible season.
8. Mark Recchi becomes a Carolina Hurricane (3/9/06)
Then-GM Jim Rutherford scoffed at the notion that Cole's injury forced him to make a move at the trade deadline. Still, just five days after the hit, the Canes and the Penguins connected. In it, the Canes acquired veteran Mark Recchi, who'd scored a hat trick against Carolina during that game. Like Weight, Recchi had plenty of postseason experience.
Recchi was excellent throughout the playoffs, capping it with a great Stanley Cup Final to capture his second of three Stanley Cups. He finished with 16 postseason points, five of which came against Edmonton. Both trades the Hurricanes made in 2006 proved to be excellent for the group.
9. Martin Gerber nabs his 38th win (4/14/06)
Cam Ward drew all of the attention during the playoffs, but the heavy lifting during the regular season was done by Martin Gerber. In his first, and only, season with the Canes, Gerber made 60 appearances. On April 5th, he tied Arturs Irbe's franchise record for wins in a season, picking up his 37th against the Capitals. With plenty of time left in the season, the record would be his.
To claim the record, Gerber didn't play his best game, but he gave the Hurricanes a chance to win. The Canes and the Lightning battled to a 4-4 tie through regulation. With nothing settled in overtime, Gerber got some help from the iron to push his team over the edge. The Canes won it 5-4 in the shootout, putting Gerber on a pedestal of his own before his successor eventually surpassed him.
10. Eric Staal reaches 100 points (4/15/06)
One night after Gerber's history-making win, Eric Staal added his name to the record books. While Staal was in his sophomore season, the 2004 lockout put him in a unique spot. He used the time between NHL seasons to his advantage, becoming a beast for the Canes in 2005-06. While he flew past the 40-goal mark, a rarity for the franchise, he put himself in a league of his own on this night.
Starting the game with 98 points, Staal got #99 midway through the third with an assist on Cory Stillman's goal. Just over three minutes later, Staal hit the century mark. His second helper of the night got him to 100 points, helping the team tie the game, though they'd lose in overtime in Tampa. To date, no Hurricane has matched his work, with Sebastian Aho's 89 in 2023-24 being the closest.