Carolina Hurricanes: Three memorable moments from a wild, wacky campaign

The Carolina Hurricanes survived a three-month playoff push to end the NHL’s longest active postseason drought, providing its fans with many memorable moments along the way. With the second season looming, it’s time for a look back at the best moments from the season.

A team that had been missing from the national spotlight vaulted itself back into hockey prominence thanks to its wacky post-game celebrations. But for the first three months of the season, it seemed like the Storm Surge would be the only reason to pay the team any attention.

A hot start was a distant memory by the time the team finished a dismal 4-9-2 stretch in late December. A different story erupted in the second half of the season. By the trading deadline, hockey pundits started to pay attention for what was happening on the ice before the final whistle.

During that time the team managed to create several moments that will always be remembered by the fans and the team alike. There are also several more moments coming up for the Carolina Hurricanes as they prepare to play hockey well past game 82.

It is impossible to distill an 82-game season into a handful of moments, but that won’t stop me from trying. Here are three of my favorite moments from this past season.

The Legend of Poke-Czech Petr

The Eastern Conference was in full playoff mode after the Feb. 25 trade deadline. When the Hurricanes and Florida Panthers went into overtime on March 2, a crucial point was up for grabs.

Carolina tried its darndest to give the point away in overtime, allowing the Panthers three breakaways on goalie Petr Mrazek in the first 100 seconds of the extra session. But like a modern-day Wyatt Earp staring down a group of bank robbers, Mrazek stood tall between the pipes.

He stoned Vincent Trocheck 20 seconds in. He made a memorable poke check on Mike Matheson, who caught the Canes making a change, then stymied Jonathan Huberdeau on yet another breakaway 10 seconds later after a careless pass by Aho.

After the final save, Aho gathered the loose puck, fed it to Nino Neiderreiter and raced up the ice to put away Neiderreiter’s centering pass for a scintillating 4-3 victory that demoralized the Panthers and kept the Canes’ playoff hopes afloat. And helped grow the legend of Poke-Czech Petr.

Holyfield joins the Jerks

The Storm Surge provided many memorable moments to Canes fans this year, from Duck, Duck, Goose to an homage to the Final Four. But none were more memorable than four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield’s guest appearance following a 4-2 win over Buffalo on March 16th.

Like a lot of things about this season, the celebration just sort of came together. Holyfield was in the area to support his son, who was promoting an event in Roanoke Rapids. The team invited him to attend the game as a special guest.

Brind’Amour, who was clearly having a “fan-boy” moment when he met Holyfield in the locker room prior to the game, offered to let the champ speak to the team. The boxing legend provided a rousing pregame pep talk and even agreed to participate in The Surge.

“The Holyfield one is great. You can’t make that up. I just love the fact he was right into it. You get an icon like that who’s willing to step out of his comfort zone and do something fun, that’s what it’s all about. He’s in the entertainment business. He understands.”—RBA on SportsNet.

Television announcer John Forslund’s impromptu boxing announcing was spot-on, and Micheal Ferland and Justin Williams dragging the vanquished Jordan Martinook to the bench by his stakes added the icing on the cake.

On the next broadcast, TV analyst Tripp Tracey admitted he had watched the video of Holyfield v. Martinook at least a hundred times in his hotel room. The YouTube video posted by the NHL has been seen more than 75,000 times, and the version on Sportsnet had been viewed more than 68,000 times, making it the most viewed of all the post-game celebrations.

A memorable moment that brought smiles to thousands of Caniacs everywhere in a season full of them. And the good news is, the Canes have the chance to make even more.