Captains of the Carolina Hurricanes: A Retrospective

Kevin Dineen

Kevin Dineen served as the final captain of the Hartford Whalers, carrying that title over into the team’s first season as the Carolina Hurricanes.  A reliable scorer in his early years, Dineen came to embody the very definition of heart for a hockey player.  Chances are you’ve had a manager or mentor who would never ask you to do something that they weren’t themselves willing to do.  That was Dineen.

In his lone season as captain of the Hurricanes, Dineen put up 23 points (7G, 16A) in 54 games.  It would, however, be imprudent to measure his contributions solely from the score sheet.  The son of a coach, Dineen understood the mechanics of the game better than most.  He may never have been the most talented guy on the ice but you would be hard-pressed to find a player who worked harder.

As their inaugural season came to a close, the newly-minted Hurricanes posted a record of 33-41-8 and failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Dineen, sans the captains ‘C’, appeared in 67 games for the Hurricanes the following year, notching 18 points before signing as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators.

While his time in Carolina was short (and his captaincy shorter), Kevin Dineen set the bar for the work ethic expected of a captain.  Following in his father’s footsteps, Dineen became a coach after retiring as a player, spending time with the Florida Panthers, the Canadian Women’s National Team, and Team Canada’s Under-18 Men’s team, among others.

Memorable moment: After scoring the Whalers’ final goal in Hartford, Dineen scored the first goal in Hurricanes history on October 1st, 1997 against Daren Puppa and the Tampa Bay Lightning.