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Rewind: Revisiting the 1999-2000 Carolina Hurricanes

By Jeb Bohn

19 Nov 1999: Bates Battaglia #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes stands on the ice during a game against the Washington Capitals at the MCI Center in Washington,D.C. The Capitals tied the Hurricanes 3-3. Mandatory Credit: Doug Pensinger /Allsport
19 Nov 1999: Bates Battaglia #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes stands on the ice during a game against the Washington Capitals at the MCI Center in Washington,D.C. The Capitals tied the Hurricanes 3-3. Mandatory Credit: Doug Pensinger /Allsport /
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Center Ron Francis of the Carolina Hurricanes
6 Nov 2001: Center Ron Francis #10 of the Carolina Hurricanes looks on during warm ups before the NHL game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Pengiuns tied the Hurricanes 2-2.Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones/Getty Images/NHLI /

The Offense

The absence of Primeau and Sheppard gave the outward appearance that the Carolina Hurricanes could struggle to score goals.  By year’s end, they had actually managed to put up 217 goals, besting the prior season’s total of 210.  With so much offense out of the lineup, how did they manage to pull this off?

It all started with Ron Francis.  The veteran center did all he could to carry the extra slack.  Without a significant change in ice time, Francis put up 23 goals and 50 assists, besting his previous season by 21 points.  Meanwhile, Gary Roberts (23g, 30a, 53p) posted his best offensive season since the 1993-94 campaign.  Twelve of Robert’s goals came on the man-advantage, leading the team in that category.

Fifth-year winger Jeff O’Neill continued his upward trajectory, netting 25 goals, 38 assists, and 63 assists.  Speedy Finn Sami Kapanen continued to prove his worth as a reliable player, notching 24 goals and an equal number of assists.  Rounding out the top-5 scorers was defenseman Sean Hill.  Hill, posting the best offensive season of his career, picked up 13 goals and 31 assists and did so while being held to only 62 games.

Thanks in large part to Roberts and Hill, the Hurricanes’ power play saw a dramatic improvement.  Their conversion rate of 16.96% was good enough for 9th place in the league and represented a 6% increase from the year before.  The Hurricanes also saw improvements in shots (2161; 26.35/game) and shooting percentage (10%).

As the calendar rolled over into 2000, the Primeau Holdout Saga finally came to an end.  On January 23, Rutherford sent Primeau and a 5th round draft pick to Philadelphia for Rod Brind’Amour, Jean-Marc Pelletier, and a 2nd round pick.  Brind’Amour, the centerpiece of the trade for the Hurricanes, had only suited up for 12 games due to a preseason foot fracture.  In 33 games in Carolina, Brind’Amour posted 4 goals and 10 assists.

A fun aside (for me at least) was being at Brind’Amour’s first game with the Hurricanes, during which Raleigh was struck by the January 2000 North American Blizzard.  Making the 77-mile trip home was incredibly interesting as most of 64 East was completely covered.  Fun times.

The Hurricanes had a few offensive outbursts, putting up 5 or more goals on 9 occasions (including a 7-3 victory over the Boston Bruins), winning all but one.  Bates Battaglia scored the team’s only hat trick in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

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