Cardiac Cane
Fansided

Rewind: The 2002-03 Carolina Hurricanes were a Natural Disaster on Ice

By Jeb Bohn

RALEIGH, NC - JANUARY 15: Jeff O'Neill #92 of the Carolina Hurricanes is chased by Michal Rozsival #28 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the RBC Center on January 15, 2003 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Penguins shutout the Hurricanes 2-0. (Photo by Craig Jones/Getty Images/NHLI)
RALEIGH, NC - JANUARY 15: Jeff O'Neill #92 of the Carolina Hurricanes is chased by Michal Rozsival #28 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the RBC Center on January 15, 2003 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Penguins shutout the Hurricanes 2-0. (Photo by Craig Jones/Getty Images/NHLI) /
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Defenseman Sean Hill of the Carolina Hurricanes
2003 Season: Player Sean Hill of the Carolina Hurricanes. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images) /

The Defense

The Hurricanes improved their team defense in the season leading up to their Stanley Cup Finals run.  It didn’t last.  After limiting their goals-against to 217 during the 01-02 season, they saw that number balloon to 240 in 02-03.  That’s a -69 goal differential.  Not good and, by that, I mean NHL-worst -69.

The top-4 did the best that they could and the blame doesn’t fall solely on them; the team defense as a whole was atrocious.  As imperfect a stat as plus-minus is, the fact that Sean Hill was able to post a +4 on this team should have earned him a handful of Norris votes.

The previous season saw Carolina limit their opponent to 2 or fewer goals in 44 games, winning 29 of those.  The 02-03 crop of Hurricanes managed that feat 37 times, losing 14 times (16-14-7).  I’ll concede that barely being above .500 in those games speaks volumes about the team’s woeful lack of offense.

On the flip side, the Hurricanes surrendered 5 or more goals on 15 occasions, including a stomping to the tune of 8-2 at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings.  Their record in those 15 games?  You might want to have a sit-down, grab a drink, and make sure a trash can or toilet is within sprinting distance.

1-14.

I’m sorry, I really am.  I should be considerate and spare you such horrific stats but then I wouldn’t be telling the whole story.  Go back to that thrashing by the Kings, a team that boasted two forty-point scorers.  Not goals, points.  They were a middling team that missed the playoffs yet, facing the Hurricanes, they spent an evening cosplaying as the 83-84 Oilers.

With the Hurricanes clearly out of contention for a spot in the playoffs, veteran Glen Wesley was shipped off to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a second-round draft pick.  Of course, he returned to the team in the offseason, but I imagine the six weeks spent in Toronto were a nice detour from the train wreck of the Hurricanes’ defensive corps.

Get the Pepto ready:

Maybe the goaltending was a bright spot…

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