Rewind: Revisiting the 1999-2000 Carolina Hurricanes

After making their first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance, the Carolina Hurricanes were poised to start a new chapter in their existence.

NOTE: This is the third installment of my Rewind series, taking a condensed look back at individual seasons of the Carolina Hurricanes.  If you haven’t already, check out my 1997-98 and1998-99 articles.

Prior to the start of the 1999-2000 NHL season, the Carolina Hurricanes bid adieu to the Greensboro Coliseum and set up shop in Raleigh’s newly-completed Entertainment and Sports Arena.  GM Jim Rutherford didn’t do anything in the offseason to augment his team’s 15th ranked offense, as the only moves we saw were in net.
With the previous backup, Trevor Kidd, gone in the expansion draft, Rutherford sought out external help to offset established starter Arturs Irbe.  Veteran backstop Mark Fitzpatrick was plucked as a free agent while 24-year-old Eric Fichaud was brought in via a trade with Nashville.  In the end, it didn’t matter since Irbe saw the vast majority of the action.

The biggest news was captain Keith Primeau‘s holdout.  Over his first two seasons in North Carolina, Primeau put up 125 points (56 goals; 69 assists) and led the Hurricanes in goals and assists both years (though he tied with Sami Kapanen in both categories in 1997-98).  Primeau’s absence, along with the free-agent departure of Ray Sheppard, seemed to spell trouble for Carolina’s offense.

There was still excitement around the team finally completing the move to Raleigh.  The bumps and potholes experienced during the Greensboro years were a thing of the past.  As opening night approached, the focus moved to how the Hurricanes would respond after losing Steve Chiasson and with their leading scorer (and captain) holding out.

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.

The Goaltending

On the opening page, I mentioned that Arturs Irbe saw most of the action for the Hurricanes in net.  I wasn’t being hyperbolic.  Of the Hurricanes’ 82 games, Irbe played in 75.  No, that’s not a typo.  The little Latvian was a workhorse for Paul Maurice‘s squad.  That said, it should also be said that his backups didn’t perform exceedingly well.

Eric Fichaud, on his third team in 5 years, showed some solid play only to nullify it with extreme bouts of inconsistency.  His first appearance of the season, a 4-1 win in Vancouver on October 15, saw Fichaud surrender only one goal.  While not tested extensively, he did his job.  In his next appearance one week later, Fichaud was beaten 4 times on 15 shots before giving way to Irbe.

Eight days later, the Francophone pitched a 24-save shutout against the team that drafted him, the New York Islanders.  He followed that up by yielding 6 goals on 26 shots against Toronto.  Things went downhill for the young goalie after that point, the lone exception being a relief win against the Atlanta Thrashers in which he stopped all 23 shots he faced after relieving Irbe early in the 1st period.

Veteran Mark Fitzpatrick got into 3 games, surrendering 8 goals total in his first 2 appearances.  His third appearance was a brief stint in relief of Irbe in which he did not face a shot.  The 1999-2000 season was Fitzpatrick’s last in the NHL.

Here’s how the Hurricanes’ goalies fared once the fog lifted:

• Arturs Irbe – 75GP; 34-28-9; 2.42GAA; .906SV%; 5SO
• Eric Fichaud – 9GP; 3-5-1; 2.94GAA; .883SV%; 1SO
• Mark Fitzpatrick – 3GP; 0-2-0; 4.48GAA; .882SV%; 0SO

Irbe, like Cam Ward, was pressed into action more and more due to the inconsistent play of his backups.  He didn’t have a bad season, but there was only so much that he could do with a team that was still working to find its identity.

Closing Thoughts

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After winning the Southeast Division and making their first playoff appearance in North Carolina, the Hurricanes suffered a setback in the 99-00 season.  While their offense showed some improvement, it wasn’t enough to keep pace.  As a result, the Hurricanes finished third in the division and missed the postseason for the second time in three years.

The biggest detriment was a lack of offensive depth.  They did boast four 20-goal scorers (O’Neill, Kapanen, Francis, Roberts) but the production fell off after that.  The good news was that Jeff O’Neill seemed to be coming into his own, Francis has raised his play over the previous season, and Sami Kapanen was still a consistent performer.

To make significant strides, Jim Rutherford would need to add scoring depth and find a suitable backup for Irbe, who was firmly entrenched as the starter.

What do you think the Hurricanes were missing in the 99-00 season?  Be sure to stay tuned, I’ll be tackling the 00-01 squad soon!