Rewind: Revisiting the 2001-2002 Carolina Hurricanes

After returning to the NHL playoffs in 2001, Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford made a few lineup changes that paid huge dividends for the team and their fans.

This is the fifth installment in my Rewind series, taking a look back at past Carolina Hurricanes’ seasons.  To check out my prior articles, click a season:

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

Despite a return to the postseason, the 2000-01 Carolina Hurricanes took a step back in both goals for and goals against.  With apparent faith in his offense, Rutherford’s first offseason move was to add toughness.  To do this, he flipped a 2001 5th round pick to the Colorado Avalanche in return for enforcer Chris Dingman.

Turning his attention to the defense, Rutherford sent a second-round pick in the 2002 draft to the Detroit Red Wings for veteran defenseman Aaron Ward.  Ward, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with Detroit, brought leadership and toughness to a Hurricanes’ blueline that was in need of both.

The summer also saw a handful of players leave the organization.  Rob DiMaio signed with the Dallas Stars.  Dave Karpa headed to the New York Rangers.  Scott Pellerin joined the Boston Bruins.  While none of these players were cornerstones for the team, the losses did chip a little away from the team’s depth.

The other key that Rutherford set out to address before training camp was to bring in a veteran goalie to backup Arturs Irbe.  Tyler Moss, the previous backup, was not brought back after posting subpar stats across the board (1-6-0; 3.99 GAA; .853 SV%), leaving Rutherford to scour the free-agent market.  He found a match in Tom Barrasso.  The two-time Cup champ was coming off of a down year split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators.

The Hurricanes treaded water early, closing out October with a 5-2 loss to the Red Wings that dropped their record to 6-5-0-2.  Things stayed much the same through November, where Carolina suffered a four-game skid that carried into December.  Feeling the need to shake things up, Rutherford swung a deal with the St. Louis Blues to bring Sean Hill back for his second stint with the Hurricanes.

The team responded by winning seven out of their next ten games and entering into 2002 with a 20-13-5-5 record.  Unfortunately, January brought with it a five-game stretch in which the Hurricanes salvaged a single victory.  With their up-and-down play continuing into March, Rutherford pulled the trigger on two more trades.  These deals set the table for a 7-4-3 finish and a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Let’s take a look at those trades.

The In-Season Trades

There were a number of moves completed during the season, but we’re going to focus on the two biggest.  The first came on January 16, 2002:

While he did manage 67 points in 118 games with the Hurricanes, Sandis Ozolinsh never really meshed well with the team.  Byron Ritchie, a former 7th round pick, only saw action in 33 games over 3 seasons with the Hurricanes, picking up 2 points.

Kevyn Adams and Bret Hedican were outstanding pickups for Carolina.  While neither possessed the raw talent of Ozolinsh, both fit in incredibly well with Paul Maurice‘s system.  Adams brought sound defensive play and tenacity on the forecheck while the slick-skating Hedican ensured that puck movement from the blueline wouldn’t fall off with the departure of Ozolinsh.

Tomas Malec would only see action in 41 games over 2 seasons with the Hurricanes, putting up 2 assists.

On March 5, a trade was made that didn’t have an enormous impact during the regular season but the player that Rutherford acquired came up huge in the playoffs:

This trade didn’t exactly set the hockey world on fire when it happened.  Barrasso, while not sterling, closely matched his stats from his previous season in Ottawa.  Kevin Weekes provided youth and potential to counter the veteran’s inconsistency.  He saw limited action during the regular season but, as I alluded to, he came alive in the postseason (more on that later).

Dingman had, in very limited action, delivered on the physicality that he was brought in for but was ultimately deemed unnecessary to the Hurricanes moving forward.  Shane Willis, on the other hand, added a layer of sadness to the deal.

Coming off of a 20 goal, 44 point effort in 2000-01, Willis was leveled by New Jersey defenseman Scott Stevens during the first round of the 2001 playoffs.  As a result of the ugly collision, Willis suffered a concussion.

As it turned out, that was just the beginning of trouble for the talented, young winger.  Back issues kept Willis out of the first three games of the 2001-02 season.  Once he was again in the lineup, he struggled to find the offensive touch that he had carried the previous year.  The worst, sadly, was yet to come.

Early in a match against the San Jose Sharks on November 9, 2001, Willis took an elbow to the head from San Jose defenseman Bryan Marchment.  Marchment was suspended for six games and Willis was left with a split lip and his second concussion in seven months.  While the argument could be made that Stevens’ hit was clean, Marchment’s play was absolute garbage.  The fact that it derailed Willis’ once-promising career makes it look even worse in hindsight.

Anyway, now that my blood pressure is up, let’s take a look at the offense.

The Offense

The Carolina Hurricanes saw a slight improvement in their offense, finishing with 217 goals scored, good enough for 13th place in the 30 team league.  Captain Ron Francis led the way with 77 points, 12 points higher than his previous season total.  This marked the second time in four seasons that Francis led the team in scoring since returning to the franchise in 1998.

Jeff O’Neill, the previous season’s leader, saw a drop from 67 to 64 points, though his goal output dropped from 41 to 31.  Speedy winger Sami Kapanen continued to produce, setting career highs in goals, assists, and points.  This was the high water mark of the Finn’s career as Kapanen wouldn’t come close to this output again.

After Shane Willis’ breakout year, another rookie was set to make waves for the Hurricanes in the person of Erik Cole.  Teaming up with Rod Brind’Amour and Bates Battaglia to form the vaunted BBC Line, Cole racked up 16 goals and 24 assists in his first NHL season.  Battaglia benefited greatly, seeing a 19 point jump in his performance as the gritty winger set career highs across the board.

There wasn’t a ton of offense from the backend, though it is worth noting that Sean Hill picked up 7 goals and 23 assists for 30 points in only 49 games after being reacquired by the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes managed 5 or more goals in 10 separate games, posting a record of 8-1-1 in those contests.

The Defense

The Hurricanes managed to cut down their goals against slightly, which is good.  Much of the league managed to surpass them in this respect, which is bad.  Once again, Carolina utilized ten defensemen over the course of the season and again there were varying levels of success.

Improving on their mark from the year prior, the Hurricanes held their opponent to 2 goals or fewer in 44 games (29-4-11).  Yes, eleven ties.  The Hurricanes actually led the league with a grand total of 16 ties at the end of the season.

At the other end of the spectrum, they surrendered five or more goals in ten games, posting a record of 0-9-1.  Unsavory.

The Goaltending

Arturs Irbe thankfully got some rest during the season, appearing in only 51 games (versus 77 in 2000-01).  His stats did take a small dip, though not enough to prevent the Hurricanes from returning to the postseason for the second consecutive year.

Barrasso got off to a slow start and while his play evened out, he was a bit inconsistent through his time with the Hurricanes.  That time proved short-lived, as Barrasso was shipped off to Toronto shortly after Kevin Weekes was acquired.

Speaking of Weekes, he didn’t see much action after his late-season arrival, though his numbers in the limited time he did see were impressive.

Round One

The Hurricanes drew a tough opponent in the opening round, facing off against the Martin Brodeur led Devils squad that had eliminated them the year before.  An insanely raucous crowd welcomed the Hurricanes to the ice for the start of Game One.

That was the first playoff game that I ever attended and loud is not a strong enough word; I was sure that my eardrums were going to explode at any moment.  You know that high pitched, squealing sound you get when something is really loud?  I had that all night.

The home team won each of the first five games, a trend that the Hurricanes broke with a 1-0 victory in Game Six at the Continental Airlines Arena.  Despite New Jersey outscoring Carolina 11-9, the Hurricanes came away with the series victory, exorcising their playoff demons.

Of course, you can’t talk about this series without mentioning Kevin Weekes’ jaw-dropping save on John Madden in overtime of Game Five:

Round Two

Carolina’s second-round opponent was the Montreal Canadiens, one of the (if not the) most storied franchises in professional hockey.  The series got off to a fortuitous start with the Hurricanes picking up a 2-0 victory on the back of a 25 save shutout by Weekes.

The next two games featured much less desirable results with the Hurricanes being outscored 6-2.  Montreal went into Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead on home ice.  The Canadiens were poised to take a stranglehold on the series, leading 3-0 as the third period started.

Cue the dramatic music.

The final period of regulation saw the birth of what quickly became known as the “Molson Miracle“.  Goals from Sean Hill, Bates Battaglia, and Erik Cole tied the game and shocked the Montreal faithful.  While the team had shown flashes, this game showed that the Hurricanes had something special going and, with overtime looming, looked to be primed to win the game.

Enter “The Secret Weapon”.

Nic Wallin flung a shot from the point that found its way past Jose Theodore at 3:14 of the first overtime.  Just like that the series was tied and the fickle mistress known as momentum on the side of the Hurricanes.  They went on to win games five and six by a combined score of 13-3 and punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.

There, they would face another storied, Original Six franchise.

Round Three

This series started out in the opposite manner of the Montreal series before it, with the Hurricanes dropping Game One at home.  Games two and three both went to overtime and both games saw the Hurricanes pick up victories.

Game four was an anomaly in this series, being the lone game not to be decided by a single goal.  Jaroslav Svoboda, Sami Kapanen, and Ron Francis each picked up a goal while Arturs Irbe turned aside all 31 Toronto shots.

Game five was a goaltending duel, eventually won by Toronto’s Curtis Joseph, with Darcy Tucker picking up the only goal of the game.  The series stood three games to two in favor of Carolina, but the Maple Leafs were headed home to a packed Air Canada Center.

The sixth and final game was another netminding showdown for 50 minutes with Irbe and Joseph trading saves.  It was the Hurricanes who broke through first as Jeff O’Neill finally bested Toronto’s goaltender.  Carolina held on to their one-goal lead for just over ten minutes and seemed destined to finish the game in regulation.

Mats Sundin, Toronto’s star player and captain, dashed those hopes with under a minute left.  The crowd erupted, the Leafs had new life, and the Hurricanes looked flat.  Carolina, who had already played six overtime games in the postseason (winning 5), regrouped and resumed their attack as the extra period started.

Joseph held his ground early, keeping Toronto alive as long as he could.  The trouble was the tenacious forechecking that the Hurricanes threw at him.  Then, as the clock ticked down under twelve minutes remaining, Martin Gelinas glided through the top of the crease and tapped home a pass from Josef Vasicek.

As a fan since the Greensboro days, it was surreal.  It sent a shock through the NHL, this upstart team in a “non-traditional market” had eliminated two Original Six teams and was now set for a trip to the Finals and a battle for the greatest trophy in professional sports.

Don’t take my word for it, just listen to Steve Levy’s call for ESPN:

The Finals

Talk about an underdog story.  The Carolina Hurricanes had punched their ticket to the Finals with hard work, grit, and guys.  Yes, it all sounds cliché, and maybe it is, but that’s how they did it.  Yes, they had some solid talent on their roster, but their matchup against the Red Wings was a tale of two payrolls.

The Hurricanes squeezed every ounce out of their $32 million payroll.  Short of their 38-year-old captain, the team was light on star power, relying on a strong team game to win.  On the other end of the spectrum, Detroit marched into the final series with a $66.6 million lineup.

Now, I realize that alone doesn’t signify money well spent (Glen Sather‘s tenure with the Rangers says “hello”), but just take a glance at their roster: Nicklas Lidstrom, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, Dominik Hasek, Pavel Datsyuk.  The Hurricanes faced a steep challenge and they got off to a pretty good start.

Both teams traded goals through the first 40 minutes of Game One before clamping down in the third period.  As regulation wound down, the tie held and the Hurricanes headed to overtime for the eighth time of the playoffs.  The extra period wasn’t a record-breaker as, at just 58 seconds in, Francis scored the biggest goal in Hurricanes’ history at that time, beating Hasek and giving the underdogs a 1-0 series lead.

The Red Wings came back with a vengeance in Game Two, putting up three goals while holding Carolina to only 17 shots.  The horn sounded with a 3-1 Detroit victory evening up the series as the teams trekked to Raleigh for Game Three and what would become an instant classic.

Another see-saw affair saw no winner after 60 minutes.  The same held true after 80 and then 100 minutes.  Halfway through the third overtime, you could forgive an onlooker from thinking that the game would never reach a conclusion.  Instead of a combined 2002-03 Cup Final, Igor Larionov finally ended the contest and gave Detroit a 2-1 lead in the series.

This game was the turning point in the series.  Had Carolina won, who knows how the rest of the series may have played out.  The Red Wings’ victory made that a moot point and effectively ended the series.

Game Four was a 3-0 shutout, the Hurricanes seemingly drained by their deep, overtime riddled postseason run.  Game Five yielded much the same result, although this time Jeff O’Neill broke another potential Hasek shutout.

That was it.  The Red Wings hoisted The Cup and the Hurricanes were left to reflect on how close they had gotten.  The loss stung for fans and players alike, as did the uncertainty of ever making it that far again.