Rewind: The Carolina Hurricanes and the Season that Wasn’t

The NHL Draft comes to Raleigh

The last official NHL event prior to the lockout was the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, held at the RBC Center on June 26-27.  I went to witness the first round and, while nowhere near as exciting as an actual game, it was quite interesting nonetheless.

Much of the excitement came from the hype surrounding the top-two ranked European skaters, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.  Not content to sit on his hands, Rutherford swung another deal with Columbus, sending the #8 and #59 picks away in return for the fourth overall selection.

With the pick, the Hurricanes took Calgary Hitmen winger Andrew Ladd, the #2 ranked North American skater in the draft.  Ladd would return to the Hitmen for the 2004-05 season, suiting up in 65 games.  He notched 19 goals and 45 points, a 30 point drop from the previous season.

In the second round, Rutherford grabbed goaltender Justin Peters from the OHL.  Outside of the first two rounds, the draft didn’t yield much for the Hurricanes.  There were, however, a number of players drafted in 04 who would later spend time with the Hurricanes, including Bryan Bickell (41st), Andrej Sekera (71st), Tim Brent (75th), Kris Versteeg (134th), and Anton Khudobin (206th).

While the draft taking place in Raleigh added excitement for fans, the picks wouldn’t hold the same weight for the Hurricanes as the preceding years when the franchise selected Cam Ward (2002) and Eric Staal (2003).

Now, let’s take a look at some of the moves that were made between the end of the 2003-04 season and the start of 2005-06.

Transactions

With the departures of Ron Francis and Arturs Irbe, the Carolina Hurricanes were in a state of flux.  Future cornerstones Eric Staal and Cam Ward were in the fold but, with a lockout looming, more change was on the way.  For sanity’s sake, we’ll take a look at these moves chronologically.

Two days after Irbe was traded to Columbus, Rutherford acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from Anaheim in exchange for defenseman Tomas Malec and a 3rd round pick in the 2004 draft.

A late-bloomer, Gerber had spent 2 seasons with the Mighty Ducks, posting impressive stats while backing up former Hartford 1st rounder J.S. Giguere.  At 29, Gerber was ready to prove his worth as a starter, though he would have to wait a year to get the chance.

The two other most notable moves from 2004 were free-agent signings, with Rutherford picking up defenseman Frank Kaberle in July and center Matt Cullen in August.  In what would become a trend for the Hurricanes during this period, neither move garnered headlines though both players would be big pieces for the team moving forward.

Little happened until the end of July 2005.  Then, one day before the 2005 draft, the Hurricanes sent a 3rd round pick to the Calgary Flames for rugged rearguard Mike Commodore.  Squeezed out of an NHL spot due to Calgary’s defensive depth, Commodore would prove to be a valuable asset for his new team.

Then came the draft itself.  In what was billed as “The Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes”, the Hurricanes, who had been in the running to draft the phenom, ended up with the 3rd overall pick.  With that selection, Rutherford took Hurricanes’ legend Jack Johnson.  Johnson, the 3rd ranked North American skater, played as many games with the Hurricanes as 7 of the other 8 players that Carolina selected: Zero.

The first day of the draft also drove another nail into the coffin of the old guard for the Hurricanes when winger Jeff O’Neill was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return for a 4th round pick in 2006.  The departure of O’Neill, who had accumulated 359 points (176g, 183a) with the Hurricanes, left Glen Wesley as the only remaining player who had taken the ice for the Whalers before their relocation.

August 2005 was an enormous month for the Carolina Hurricanes.  Three free agents were added, two of which played huge roles for the team.  On August 2, Cory Stillman was added from Tampa Bay.

Stillman, who was fresh off of an 80 point season with the Lightning, saw his stock dip slightly after posting only 7 points in 21 playoff games as Tampa brought home their first Stanley Cup.  At the time of the signing, Stillman had averaged .67 points per game through 645 games.

Two days later, Rutherford added offensive defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky.  Through 615 games, Tverdovsky had picked up 74 goals and 290 points, including 3 seasons of 10 or more goals and an equal number of 50+ point campaigns.

Three days after that, Carolina’s GM snagged playmaking winger Ray Whitney.  Whitney, who was coming off of a disappointing season with the Detroit Red Wings, had averaged .76 points per game through 700 NHL games.  A gifted passer who possessed great on-ice vision and a high hockey I.Q., Whitney would be counted on to help drive the new-look Hurricanes’ offense.

There were a number of other moves (including the brief departure/reacquisition of Craig Adams) but these are the key moves that set the revamped Carolina Hurricanes in motion.  Also, Adams was a big part of the Hurricanes’ chemistry and I won’t downplay that.  I am simply not including his movement because he didn’t actually suit up for another NHL team during this time.

Now that we’ve covered the big moves, let’s take a look at how some of the players spent the lockout.

How I spent the lockout

While there were pieces in place, the NHL was still inactive.  With no big league games in sight, let’s look at how a few key players bided their time during the lockout.

Eric Staal

After making his NHL debut in the 2003-04 season, Staal spent the lockout season with the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL.  In 77 games, Staal picked up 26 goals and 51 assists, helping the Lock Monsters reach the postseason for the first time since 2002.  In 11 playoff games, Staal scored 2 goals and 8 assists before Lowell was eliminated in the 2nd round.

Cam Ward

Speaking of the 2004-05 Lock Monsters, boy did Cam Ward play a huge role in their success.  Ward saw action in 53 games for Lowell, posting a record of 27-17-3 with 6 shutouts.  His goals-against average (1.99) and save percentage (.937) were not only sterling but were single-season records for the team and his 6 shutouts tied him for the team career record.  Ward played in all 11 of their playoff games, going 5-6 with a 2.53 GAA and a .918 save percentage.

Justin Williams

Justin Williams took a very European route during the work stoppage, signing with Lulea HF of the Swedish Elite League.  In 49 regular-season games, Williams picked up 14 goals and 18 assists, adding 1 assist in 4 playoff games.

Rod Brind’Amour

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At 34, no one would have blamed Rod Brind’Amour if he opted to take the lockout as a chance to rest.  Then again, that doesn’t sound like something he would do.  Instead, the veteran signed with the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss National League.  He put up 2 goals and 1 assist in 2 regular-season games and followed that with 2 goals and 4 assists in 5 relegation games.

Erik Cole

Yet another player who went to Europe, Erik Cole signed on with Eisbaren Berlin in Germany’s DEL.  Cole picked up 6 goals and 21 assists in 39 games, adding 5 goals and 1 assist in 8 playoff contests.

Okay, Caniacs, how grueling was the 2004-05 lockout on you?  What did you think of the moves that the Carolina Hurricanes made?