Carolina Hurricanes: Top Stanley Cup Playoff Moments

One of the drawbacks of missing the playoffs for a decade is it’s really easy to forget that your team was ever successful. But for the older Carolina Hurricanes’ fans, winning was something we were used to and something we expected.

Perhaps it wasn’t the decade of losing or how they lost that led to frustration but rather the success that proceeded it. Expectations for this fan-base in the early 2000’s were extremely high thanks to multiple memorable playoff moments.

As the current Carolina Hurricanes look to build their own playoff memories, it’s a good time to look back and remember what got us to this point. Why are so many people so positive about a 2-1 deficit against the Washington Capitals? Well, history tell us that this is nothing new for Carolina.

The fan base never forgot about it either. In their first home playoff game in almost a decade, the Carolina Hurricanes dedicated refilled PNC Arena and brought back the much talked about noise that is attached to so many memories:

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 10 best moments in Stanley Cup Playoff history for this franchise. From winning the Cup to the “Molson Miracle” to “The Save”, this franchise has quite the collection of memories that are always worth discussing, especially around playoff time.

Game 1, Round 2, 2006

We start this list with an honorable mention. In the year we won the cup, we played a game very much like game three against the Capitals. The only difference was that it was six goals instead of five.

A 6-0 Carolina Hurricanes victory in Game 1 of Round 2 doesn’t sound like anything worth discussing in a historical list; this game was a complete blow out from the opening draw. However, you have to understand how much of a shock the result of this game was – and the message it sent – when you begin to look at the 2006 Stanley Cup victory for the Hurricanes.

The Devils, led by future Hall-of-Famer Martin Broduer in net, were having quite a historic back half of their season. They won nine straight to open January and entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a franchise best 11 game win streak.

In round 1, they dismantled the New York Rangers in four straight outscoring them 17-4 in the process. This meant that heading into round 2 against Carolina, the Devils hadn’t lost in 15 straight games and were absolutely the hottest team in the NHL.

To beat any team in game one of a playoff series 6-0 sends a definitive statement. To do this to a hot team that was on a 15 game win streak completely set the tone for a series that the Hurricanes easily won in five games.  And ironically for Broduer, this massacre occurred on his 34th birthday. Happy Birthday to him.

The Save

This is one of those “where were you when this happened” type of moments; and any time a highlight is described so simply, you know it’s special. Simply referred to as “The Save,” Kevin Weekes, now an NHL analyst, made a game saving overtime glove save jumping across the crease on to his stomach.

Weekes was acquired to help out starting goalie Arturs Irbe at the trade deadline. Irbe and Weekes would go back and forth during this playoff run as the hotter goalie would get the start. It was game 5 against New Jersey and Weekes had gotten the call after back to back losses for Irbe.

Just a few minutes into overtime, Jamie Langenbrunner dug a puck out of the corner and found Stephane Richer wide open in the slot. Weekes made the save but gave up a juicy rebound. The puck bounced right onto the stick of John Madden.

To put in perspective how clear it was Madden had ended the game, dozens of fans in Raleigh began leaving the game assuming that it was over. But then, it happened. And thus, the save:

The late Josef Vasicek would score seven minutes later to give the Hurricanes the crucial 3-2 series lead. Weekes’ magic would not end there; he shut out those same Devils three days later as the Hurricanes moved on the second round.

Game 3, Round 1, 2006

The game 1 massacre of the New Jersey Devils in 2006 might have been the accelerator that pushed Carolina all the way to the Cup, but that series almost didn’t happen. Carolina barely got out of round 1 that year as they matched up with the pesky Montreal Canadians.

Carolina entered the playoffs as the Southeast Division Champion, the Eastern Conference’s two seed and were heavily favored against the Canadians. Losing four of their final six games, Montreal limped into the playoffs and were matched up with a Hurricanes team who just set a franchise mark for wins and points.

Montreal dismantled Carolina 6-1 in game one and then Carolina had blown 4-3 third period lead in game 2 before losing in overtime. It was a historic season for Carolina but the mindset of the fans and hockey media heading to Montreal down 2 was the magic was simply over. However, game 3 saw one major lineup change.

Rookie Cam Ward was given the start, relieving Martin Gerber, who had set a franchise record for wins that year that still holds to this day. Ward was magical stopping 27 of 28 and gave his team, whose offense hadn’t scored yet, a chance heading to the third.

Captain Rod Brind’Amour scored midway through and Eric Staal – fresh off a 100 point campaign in the regular season – scored just 3:38 into overtime to avoid the deadly 3-0 hole. Carolina went on to win the next three games before routing the Devils on their way to the Stanley Cup. The magic of 2006 almost didn’t happen – game 3 was the turning point that led to all the great memories. Sound familiar?

Game 7, Round 2, 2009

2009 was a little different playoff run for the fans of the Carolina Hurricanes. The team was still only a few seasons removed from a Stanley Cup and success in the playoffs started to feel almost guaranteed. A round 2 match up with the Boston Bruins proved to be much more than Carolina bargained for.

Carolina rode a franchise tying best nine game win streak in March to vault up the standings. They matched up with New Jersey in round one (more on that later) before running into a Bruin team that had swept Carolina in the regular season outscoring the Hurricanes by 12 in their four match-ups.

Carolina jumped out to a 3-1 series lead before losing game 5 and game 6. However, the story heading to game 7 was not the typical “game 7, winner goes to the Eastern Finals” type narrative.

Scott Walker in game 5 got into an altercation with former Hurricane Aaron Ward and was fined, but not suspended. His availability to play in game 7 – back in Boston where game 5 occurred – was the big story.

Milan Lucic scored late in the third as game 7 headed to overtime. On a rush, Ray Whitney fired the puck at Bruin goalie Tim Thomas. The puck bounced off his pads right on to the tape of guess who: Scott Walker.

Carolina would move on the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in just seven seasons. But all the magic the Scott Walker goal generated was quickly stopped as the Pittsburgh Penguins swept the Hurricanes on route to their Stanley Cup Championship.

Brind’Amour’s Steal

It’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Carolina Hurricanes have just survived a Game 7 against the Buffalo Sabres and are matched up with the eighth overall seed from the West, the Edmonton Oilers. Carolina is rolling and everything is set up for this team to win the Cup.

But everything that could go wrong early in game 1, did.

Edmonton scored in the first and then Chris Pronger scored on a penalty shot – the first in Stanley Cup Playoff history –  in the second. Ethan Moreau then tallied Edmonton’s third goal with 3:37 left in the second.

Carolina stormed back, with Rod Brind’Amour scoring just 54 seconds later to cut the deficit to 2 heading to the third. Ray Whitney quickly tied it up with two goals 3:29 apart and Justin Williams put the Hurricanes up 4-3 half way through the third just before Ales Hemsky tied it right back up.

At this point, the Hurricanes had clawed back from a 3-0 defect to take the lead only to lose it. There was a lot going against them this night, but the Captain had other plans for how this iconic game should end.

Mike Commodore dumped the puck in on a line change and Edmonton goalie Ty Conklin went behind the net to play it. In typical Brind’Amour fashion, he skated hard and chased the puck just as Conklin got confused and mishandled the puck. The Captain stole the puck and scored a wrap around backhand go-ahead goal with just 31.1 seconds left.

The play is probably more remembered for Conklin’s blunder, but you can’t ignore the other aspects of this goal. Brind’Amour’s work ethic, the team coming back from a horrendous start and the eventual Cup winning team’s ability to score big timely goals.

The Molson Miracle

Here’s a pretty good rule of thumb in sports; if a game, player or moment is known by a nickname, there’s a really good reason why. That game, player or moment is iconic. The Molson Miracle by all means lives up to that standard.

There are two things you need to understand as to why this game is named what it is. The first part is rather straight forward – the game took place at the Molson Centre, home of the Montreal Canadians at the time. The Miracle part needs a little explaining.

It was 2002 and the Hurricanes, fresh off “The Save” and a series win against the Devils, were absolutely on fire. But their fire extinguisher came with the Canadians and Jose Theodore in net.

It’s not too hard to explain how good Theodore was in the 2001-2002 season; along with easily winning the Vezina, he also was awarded the Hart trophy for league MVP; one of only seven goalies in NHL history to accomplish this.

Theodore lead up to the hype in Raleigh in games one and two allowing just three goals on 84 shots as the series headed to Montreal tied at 1-1. Theodore stopped 33 of 34 in a game three overtime win and Carolina would need a game 4 win to avoid the dreaded 3-1 hole.

Montreal was all over Carolina that night and led 3-0 heading to the third. Every season has that moment as a fan where you know it’s over and that moment for Carolina came in that intermission. It would truly take a miracle, pun intended, for Carolina to get out of this series alive.

Cue the miracle:

Sean Hill scored on a 5 on 3 early in the third and then Bates Battaglia got the second with just over 7 minutes to play. With the game on the line and the goalie pulled, Erik Cole took a rebound on a Ron Francis shot, pulled it to the side of Theodore and jammed in the game tying goal with just 41 seconds remaining.

3:14 into overtime is where another playoff legend was born: the “Secret Weapon” Niclas Wallin. Wallin scored what would be his first of his multiple playoff overtime goals in his career (something that Wayne Gretzky nor Gordie Howe ever did once, much less multiple times) to give Carolina the stunning victory.

Carolina never looked back from this third period charge. They won game 5 in Raleigh 5-1 and then wrapped the series up with an 8-2 win back in Montreal; a game that is now referred to as the Molson Massacre, providing the closing chapter of this historic game.

The Shock at the Rock

Sticking with the theme of “games with names are iconic”, we now arrive at the Shock at the Rock. This game took place in game 7 of the first round of the 2009 playoffs. Matched up with the New Jersey Devils once again, Carolina had one of the most memorable minute and thirty seconds in franchise history.

Let’s set the stage. It was game 7, which typically needs no introduction, but this epic series deserves it. Game 1 and game 6 were the “worst” games of the series and saw each team take home a regulation win. Games 2 and 3 had overtimes to which both teams won a game.

Game 4 featured Jussi Jokinen scoring with 0.2 seconds left in regulation to win, the latest game winning regulation goal in Stanley Cup Playoff history. Game 5 saw a goaltender battle of the ages where Martin Broduer and Cam Ward combined to make 85 saves on 86 shots before the game was over.

The stage was now set for game 7, back in New Jersey’s Prudential Center – sponsored by Prudential Bank and their large rock logo (hence the “at the Rock” part of the name). The Devils carried a 3-2 lead heading to third and Broduer fought off the charging Hurricanes offense throughout the period.

With less than a minute and half left and Cam Ward on the bench, a puck was being cleared out of the offensive zone. Tim Gleason dove, kept the puck in the zone and passed the puck, all in one sequence, to Joni Pitkanen. Pitaken passed it through what looked like 56 people to find a wide open Jokinen who scored with a 1:20 left to tie it.

As the announcer was announcing the Jokinen goal, Eric Staal took a rush pass form Chad LaRose and beat Broduer with a wrister. The goal clinched the win and the series.

John Forslund, in the moment, said it was “one of the greatest comebacks you will ever see” as the Carolina Hurricanes turned a series lost into a series won in less than two minutes. So far, that statement has withheld the test of time.

Martin Gelinas

By this point in the 2002 playoffs, Carolina is starting to feel like a team of destiny. They survived New Jersey, had the amazing comeback against Montreal and were scoring big goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference Finals. The next step, get to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Carolina won three of the first four games before dropping game 5 1-0. Heading back to Toronto for a second chance to win the Prince of Wales trophy, Carolina broke a scoreless game midway through the third off the stick of Jeff O’Neil.

Much like most of the series, the team down was able to score with an extra attacker as Mats Sundin finally solved Arturs Irbe – who was now the starter again – to send the game to overtime.

Deep into overtime, Josef Vasicek got a loose puck in the corner and threw it to the middle of the ice. Sitting there to receive it and wide open was Martin Gelinas who fired it past Curtis Joseph to send the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Finals.

This moment gave us Steve Levy from ESPN providing one of the of the most memorable lines in franchise history. It was so simple, yet so beautiful.

“Martin Gelinas in sudden death overtime! And it’s strange but true. Folks, the Carolina Hurricanes are going to the Stanley Cup Finals.”

Game 1, Stanley Cup Finals, 2002

So what happens now? No one expected Carolina to beat New Jersey in round 1, no one expected them to solve Theodore and no one expected them to beat Toronto. Now, even fewer expected Carolina to beat a Detroit Red Wings team that featured nine future hall of famers. With that in mind, the ending of Game 1 completely shocked the hockey and sports world.

The Red Wings jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on a goal by Sergei Fedorov. Sean Hill and Jeff O’Neil scored in the second period sandwiched around a Kirk Maltby goal to have the game tied heading to the third. A scoreless period would send the game to overtime.

Just 58 seconds into overtime, Jeff O’Neil found Ron Francis wide open in front of Dominik Hasek as Frances one timed it home. The goal would give Carolina a 1-0 series lead for their first Stanley Cup Final win.

Francis celebrated wildly and was rushed by his teammates as the Red Wings skated off shocked – a microcosm of the sports and hockey world’s reaction. The Hurricanes had done something absolutely no one expected and it was a moment that we will never forget.

Sadly for Carolina, the hockey world ended up being right. Detroit quickly recovered and won the next four games winning the Cup on home ice. But that image of Francis scoring is one of the most iconic moments in the team’s history.

Game 7, 2006 Stanley Cup Finals

It is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If there was an alternative definition, it would be not defining this game as the top moment in franchise history.

There isn’t a lot that needs to be said about June 19, 2006 that you already don’t know. There’s the insane Cam Ward saves. Justin Williams scoring into the empty net and jumping around. Rod Brind’Amour so excited to grab the cup that Gary Bettman had to actually tell him to hang on.

So here’s a story you haven’t heard. I was one of the 19,000 or so lucky enough to be there that night. I sat in the next to last row in 333 in front of a couple from Edmonton that drove all the way from Edmonton to see the game.

“You drove all the way here?!?” I asked confused. “Either way, I get to see the Cup presented” he responded.

And that is why we do this.

Question For CC Readers: What are your favorite Carolina Hurricanes Playoff Memories?