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Rewind: Revisiting the 2000-01 Carolina Hurricanes

By Jeb Bohn

15 Apr 2001: Dave Karpa #33 of the Carolina Hurricanes collides with John Madden #11 of the New Jersey Devils during Sunday's first round playoff game at Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Hurricanes with a final score of 2-0. Digital Image. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire/ALLSPORT
15 Apr 2001: Dave Karpa #33 of the Carolina Hurricanes collides with John Madden #11 of the New Jersey Devils during Sunday's first round playoff game at Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Hurricanes with a final score of 2-0. Digital Image. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire/ALLSPORT /
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Josef Vasicek of the Carolina Hurricanes
2001 Season: Josef Vasicek. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

The Offense

The Hurricanes finished the 1999-2000 season with the 18th ranked offense, their 217 goals coming in below the league average.  Rutherford didn’t directly replace the output of Gary Roberts, counting instead on his veterans to be consistent and the youth to continue their progression.  Winger Shane Willis, in his first full season, hit the 20-goal mark and finished with 44 points.

Despite playing in more games than the prior season, Bates Battaglia had a rough season.  Despite hitting a roadblock, Battaglia did finish with 12 goals and 27 points in 80 games played.  Rookie center Josef Vasicek chipped in 8 goals and 21 points.  The new additions (DiMaio, Langdon, and Pellerin) added 6 goals (all from DiMaio) and 31 points.

The biggest offensive story was Jeff O’Neill‘s breakout season.  The winger, in his sixth season, had a career year in which he posted 41 goals and 67 points.  Captain Ron Francis and Finnish winger Sami Kapanen continued their solid play and Rod Brind’Amour acquitted himself well in his first full season with the Hurricanes.

While they boasted five 20-goal scorers (O’Neill, Kapanen, Brind’Amour, Willis, and Martin Gelinas), the Hurricanes actually finished with fewer goals scored (212) than the prior season.  Their power play did show improvement, finishing 8th in the league (18.85%) and nearly 2% above the league average.  O’Neill scored 17 of his tallies on the man advantage while Francis picked up 26 of his 50 assists on the power play.

On the blueline, newcomer Sandis Ozolinsh picked up 12 goals and 44 points while sophomore David Tanabe added 7 goals and 29 points.  While Glen Wesley saw his offensive production continue to decline, the veteran did put up 5 goals and 21 points.  Marek Malik also hit the 20 point mark, adding 6 goals and 14 assists.

Through the course of the season, the Hurricanes scored 5 or more goals on 11 occasions (all wins), including a 7-3 rout of the Florida Panthers.

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