Carolina Hurricanes: A Season to Be Proud Of

After a Cinderella like run, the Canes topped out in the ECF, in what many Canes Players, Coaches, and Fans would describe as bittersweet, as we all search for the silver-lining. I would say don’t look too hard, the answer is right in front of you.

The Carolina Hurricanes amazing season came to an end Thursday after getting swept by the Boston Bruins.  Although it hurts now, I cant help but think about all the reasons to be proud of this team.

From being at the bottom of the barrel mid-season to being a final four team in the Eastern Conference Final, it really was a roller-coaster season from top to bottom.

From a first year coach breaking franchise records, to an amazing forgotten goalie tandem, to our team and fans becoming a family. Let’s take a look at 5 things to be proud of this season.

1. The Coach

It was truly a long time for Canes fan but it finally happened. Carolina got their coach and it couldn’t have been a better fit. After years and years, coach after coach, the Canes got hometown hero Rod Brind’Amour to lead them to one of the most unforgettable seasons in franchise history.

Brind’Amour set records in just his first season. He was the fastest head coach in franchise history to reach 80 points (68 games). He also lead the Canes to an amazing 99 point season, which is the second highest mark in franchise history, only behind the 2006 Stanley Cup Champion, Carolina Hurricanes team.

At one point this team was just two point out of last place. Can you even fathom that? just two points.

We had to overcome being down 10 points out of the 2nd wild-card spot. Even after that we had to get through the Washington Capitals, the defending cup champs, to make it through the first round, and then immediately play a team that swept their first round opponent in the New York Islanders, and we swept them.

None of this happens without Rod Brind’Amour. He really changed the mindset in Carolina and changed it from just being a team, to being a true family, and that something that Carolina has missed for years.

Brind’Amour came and said he was going to change the culture here in Carolina. Even though he didn’t promise anything right away, he immediately came in and succeeded and has brought hockey back in Carolina in a way that no one could’ve ever imagined.

2. The Goalies

Going into the season no one really knew what was going to happen with our goalies. After signing Petr Mrazek in the off-season no one was sure what was gonna happen. Now we have two starters in Darling and Mrazek, is it just going to be like the years before with Cam Ward and whoever was the chosen back-up that year?

Then it got even more confusing once 35 year-old Curtis McElhinney was acquired through waiver giving the Hurricanes three goalies to chose from. That all changed after injury and play struggles to Darling.

Once McElhinney he really never looked back, playing in 33 games which was a career high, along with a career high of wins with 20, and posted his second best save percentage with a .912 (min 25 games played).

Petr Mrazek signed his contract this off-season because he had something to prove. He wanted to show he could be a #1 and well he sure proved himself. In 40 games played this season Mrazek won 23 with his best save percentage since his 2015-2016 season with a .914.

For the first time in a long time the Cardiac Canes were able to watch a Hurricanes team without having to worry about how the goalies would perform, which is a huge sigh of relief. Carolina also did this without paying the big bucks. Mrazek’s contract was for only $1.5 million for one season and McElhinney’s contract was for $850 thousand.

Meaning Carolina paid only $2.35 million for stellar goal-tending. Compare that to Carey Price who’s getting paid over 10 million a year and the Canadiens cant even make the playoffs. No matter what happens with the goalie situation this off-season, this season was something to be proud of with our goalies, and its nothing I’ll be forgetting anytime soon.

3. The Youth

Another thing to be proud of was the contributions from the Canes youth. From Svechnikov’s rookie campaign to Aho’s amazing season. Oh did you forget Aho is only 21? Yeah he’s younger than Warren Foegele who also had a rookie campaign worth talking about.

Svechnikov was last years second overall pick and had a lot of expectations coming into this season and he didn’t disappoint. Svechnikov ended the year with 20 goals and 17 assist for a final rookie total of 37 points. At 18 just being able to play in the NHL is big but to be to score 20 goals and succeed at the high he did is HUGE.

There’s no doubt that this is just the beginning to what will become an amazing career for him, and i’m excited already to see what he does next in the Red and Black.

While we’re at it lets talk about the amazing success from our finnishers….see what I did there..finish=finnish, like they score goals. You’re right the off-season is killing me, but it’s okay, because our Finnish point leaders Aho and Teravainen had career best years and they’re just getting started.

At 21, Sebastian Aho finished his season with 83 points with 33 goals and 50 assist. Yeah those are superstar numbers for a seasoned veteran. When you post those numbers at 21, get ready for hall of fame type career because that’s where you’re headed. Teuvo Teravainen also continues to improve year after year as he also got a career best 76 points, scoring 21 goals and 55 assist as he continues to shape into a superstar type player.

All this is something to be very excited about and proud of, and I didn’t even mention Foegele’s underrated rookie season and his huge influence on how well we did in the playoffs. I didn’t even talk about all the youth that could be coming up with Saarela, Necas, Bean, Fluery, and Nedeljkovic.

We have a lot to be excited about and its just beginning.

4. The Fans

Hey, why not be corny?

This year was different. Everyone and their mother has said that but it’s true, it was just different. The team and the fans just connected different and I’ve never seen anything like it, and i’m talking about way more than just the Storm Surge, even though it was part of it.

It was something that was astonishing to watch and be apart of at games, because it felt like we were on that bench and that we felt every emotion those guys felt, and it showed with how different we embraced the team and they embraced us.

Fans showed up this year like I haven’t seen in years and it was such an amazing thing to witness. We showed up and the players noticed, they played better because they were

playing for more than a check this time, they were playing for a whole community. Which you really cant say if that’s how it was in previous years. They wanted to win for us.

I will always be proud of this team and I know they feel like they owe us more but I mean they gave us everything. I keep hearing players talking about their indebtedness to the fans because they couldn’t finish how they wanted, but they gave me something I’ve never felt watching sports. They allowed me the feeling like I was one of them. They’re so wrong when they say they owe us more because I couldn’t be more proud to be a Caniac and I couldn’t be more exicited to see what they do next year.

Question for the readers: I know I didn’t include everything, but what do you think we should be proud of? I encourage you to leave comments, even if it has been mentioned! This season was something to reminisce about. Tell me your favorite part!