Rewind: The 2003-04 Carolina Hurricanes Took On Water and Sank

After their worst season since relocating to North Carolina, the Carolina Hurricanes looked to rebound.  Would their efforts be enough to earn a playoff berth?

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

Despite finishing dead-last in the NHL in scoring for the 2002-03 season, the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t see a huge influx of talent to rectify those issues.  General manager Jim Rutherford did add some help to the 27th ranked blueline, acquiring Danny Markov and Bob Boughner.  The team bid adieu to the underachieving David Tanabe, sent to the Coyotes in the Markov deal.

Up front, Rutherford picked up bottom-six forward Marty Murray from the Philadelphia Flyers, a solid depth move but hardly the offensive shakeup that was needed.  As it turned out, the biggest move of the offseason came at the entry draft where the Hurricanes selected big center Eric Staal.  The OHL standout jumped straight into the NHL, showing glimpses of what he was capable of.

In the crease, the Hurricanes returned the duo of Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes.  While Weekes’ play had been consistently reliable, the 36-year-old Irbe was mired in decline.  To help address this, Rutherford signed former first-round pick (1994, 7th overall) Jamie Storr from the Los Angeles Kings.

As the season started, things looked much the same as the year before.  The Hurricanes dropped their first two games and, while they did earn points in their next three games, they wouldn’t get their first win until a 2-0 shutout of the Boston Bruins on October 23 of 2003.

Unfortunately, the lackluster play continued and, on December 15, head coach Paul Maurice was fired.  At the time of the firing, the Hurricanes sported a record of 8-12-8-2.

Former New York Islanders’ head coach Peter Laviolette was brought in as Maurice’s replacement and the team responded by winning the first two games under their new coach.  This success would be short-lived as the team quickly begin underperforming again.  As 2003 drew to a close, the Hurricanes carried a 12-15-8-2 record and gave fans little reason for hope as 2004 dawned.

With the bad mojo continuing, Rutherford knew that more change was needed.  On January 20, 2004, he pulled the trigger on a trade that would end up having a huge impact on the franchise:

At the time of the trade, Justin Williams was a 22-year-old who was on his way towards setting a new career-high in points.  Philadelphia, however, needed depth on the blueline and the Hurricanes were happy to oblige.  The new addition showed glimpses of what he brought to the team but the Hurricanes’ struggles continued as the season crept towards an end.

With the playoffs out of reach for the second consecutive year, the Hurricanes traded veteran center and face of the franchise, Ron Francis, to the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 9.  In return, the Hurricanes received a 2005 fifth-round pick but the trade was more about giving the 41-year-old Francis a shot at another Stanley Cup.

Fun fact: The pick that the Hurricanes received in the Francis trade was later moved to Columbus for another pick that, via Chicago, ended up in Toronto.  The player the Maple Leafs took with that pick?  Current Hurricanes’ goalie James Reimer.

So, what went wrong with the 2003-04 Carolina Hurricanes?  Let’s start by taking a look at the offense.

The Defense

In fairness, the Carolina Hurricanes did see a reasonable improvement in their overall defensive game.  A year removed from allowing a total of 240 goals, the team managed to whittle that down to 209, good enough for a 17th place finish.  Not great, but a solid improvement from the year before.

Sean Hill led the way in basically every category, racking up tons of ice time, playing in every situation, and finishing just 6 points out of the team lead in points.  What really deserves praise is the fact that, on such an offensively inept squad and one with a lousy power play, Hill ended the year with 19 power play points.

The Hurricanes scored just 41 goals with the man advantage all season and Hill hand a hand in 46% of them.  To put that in perspective, Dougie Hamilton has factored into a slightly lower percentage (very slightly) of power play goals by this year’s team.  A team, I might add, that is much better offensively and has a much better power play.

Veteran Glen Wesley continued his solid defensive play, best evidenced by his team-best +18 rating.  Again, I know that plus/minus isn’t the greatest stat, but when you consider that the Hurricanes finished the season with a -37 goal differential and that Wesley logged significant minutes, it’s no small feat.

The Hurricanes allowed 5 or more goals on 8 occasions, a notable improvement.  Then again, we’re debating 5+ goals against games, so…  In those games, the team posted an 0-7-1 record.

Now, let’s take a gander at the last line of defense.

The Goaltending

Surely the improvement in goals allowed was at least partly due to goaltending, right?  Kevin Weekes saw the lion’s share of playing time and his stats were consistent with what he’d shown in his time with the Hurricanes.  Sadly, the anemic offense didn’t give him much of a cushion to work with.

His .911 save percentage tied him for 23rd in the league while his 2.33 goals-against average placed him 20th.  Weekes also picked up a career-high 6 shutouts, good for 6th place tie with Montreal’s Jose Theodore.  He also played in a career-high 66 games, tied for 7th most in the league.

Perhaps the saddest thing for Hurricanes fans was the continued decline in the play of Arturs Irbe.  Coupled with Francis’ departure, it signaled that big changes were on the way.  The Latvian netminder saw action in just 10 games and, while he did manage a 5-2-1 record, he posted a sub-900 save percentage for the second year in a row.  The 2003-04 season ended up being Irbe’s last in the NHL.

Then there was Jamie Storr, Rutherford’s insurance policy.  While he showed flashes of promise during 9 seasons with the Kings, Storr never came close to living up to the expectations of being a 7th overall draft pick.  His only season with the Hurricanes (and last in the NHL) did nothing to help his career.

In 14 games, Storr went without a win with a goals-against near 3 and a save percentage that was well below .900.

Postmortem

Okay, not a lot went well for the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2003-04 season but it was a step forward from the year before.  The Justin Williams acquisition would soon pay dividends and lay down the foundation of both personal and professional relationships that would endure for well over a decade.

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A revamped Hurricanes team was on the horizon, which was badly needed after their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals was followed by two seasons that are remembered largely for how awful they were. Or perhaps not remembered at all as we collectively voted to forget them.

With a pending labor dispute, how would then General Manager Jim Rutherford set about retooling the team for success?  We’ll take a look at that in the next article.

Were you around to bear witness to this disappointment of a season?  What are your thoughts on what went wrong for the Carolina Hurricanes in those seasons?