Carolina Hurricanes: 5 Underappreciated Former Players
Over the years, a lot of players have worn the red and white jersey of the Carolina Hurricanes. Who are some guys that just didn’t get the appreciation they deserved?
An NHL team consists of 20 players at all times. When a guy gets hurt, another guy replaces him. When a guy struggles, sometimes he’ll be replaced. Naturally, a lot of guys will come and go on a hockey team throughout a 22-year existence. Naturally, some will be fan favourites, some will be scapegoats.
For some, they’ll never get the appreciation they deserve. Whether it’s because they don’t put up gaudy point totals, their mistakes overshadow their brightness, or maybe a damaged relationship with the team left a bad taste in fans mouths, some guys just fly below the radar.
The Carolina Hurricanes have some guys who fit the description. This isn’t a “Top 5” list. It’s a collection of 5 former Hurricanes players that, in my opinion, haven’t gotten the respect they earned as Hurricanes standouts.
As always, give it a read, and I’d love to hear others’ opinions on social media afterwards. For now, let’s get started.
Chad LaRose
We start this list off with American winger Chad LaRose, who debuted with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2005-06, coincidentally the same year they won the Stanley Cup. He wasn’t drafted by the team, but he was signed as a free agent after a 117-point season with Plymouth of the OHL in 2003.
Interestingly enough, LaRose is the only player in history to play for all 3 of the Peter Karmanos owned teams – Plymouth, the Florida Everblades, and of course the Hurricanes, which I find pretty cool.
Anyway, LaRose spent 3 years in the minors before debuting with Carolina in 2005 – he played 49 regular season games and then 21 of the Canes’ 25 playoff games on route to the Cup.
LaRose would go on to play 8 seasons in Carolina, where he carved out an identity for being a heart-and-soul type player. He never amounted to the high-scoring player he was in junior – his career high was just 32 points – but he managed to score 19 goals twice, and eclipsed 30 points 3 times.
He was also a key component of the Canes’ trip to the Eastern Conference Final in 2009, scoring 4 goals and 7 assists in 18 games, his 11 points good enough for second on the squad.
Unfortunately, things went south for LaRose afterwards. His ice time was reduced and he scored just 4 points in 35 games for Carolina in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, and ended up no-showing Jim Rutherford in his season-exit meeting. LaRose was a fierce competitor, and couldn’t accept his reduced role.
“I had just built up so much anger and hatred for the game,” LaRose said, in hindsight. “I started not being myself, even to teammates.”
By then, some Canes fans were already growing impatient with feeling LaRose’s leash was too long, and his broken relationship with the team turned some fans against him. After that season, LaRose stepped away from hockey, feeling like he was done playing.
But 2 years later, LaRose had a change of heart, and came back to the only organization he’d ever known. He signed an AHL deal with Charlotte, where he led the team with 20 goals and 38 points, and provided valuable leadership. He was the assistant captain of the team, and mentored some young prospects who eventually played games with Carolina – Patrick Brown, Brock McGinn and Phil di Giuseppe, to name a few.
Overall, “Rosey” was a loyal soldier to the Canes organization, and played a vital role in two of their best seasons as a team. Only 10 players have played more than LaRose’s 508 games for the team, and he’s a guy that, despite some up-and-down moments with the franchise, should be remembered fondly.
Joni Pitkanen
If you want a guy who really divides fan opinion – look no further than Joni Pitkanen. I’ve talked to fans that have said he was the Hurricanes best defenseman when he was a member of the team, and I’ve talked to others who’ve said he was the worst. Honestly, to me, he was a dream and a nightmare.
Pitkanen, who came to the team via an Erik Cole trade to Edmonton in July 2008, was a polarizing player. He was specifically an offensive specialist, and his defensive game was a point of frustration to fans (especially considering he was a defenseman).
Pitkanen should always be remembered for his contributions in the 2009 Cup run. In Game 4 against New Jersey, he set up the Jussi Jokinen game-winner with just .2 seconds left in the game, and then once again set up Jussi Jokinen‘s game-tying goal with a minute left in Game 7 of that series, which Carolina (obviously) went on to win.
He was a really great puck-mover, and a powerplay factor for the team in the parts of 5 seasons he spent as a Hurricane. But on the flip side, his lack of physicality, propensity to get caught pinching and taking lazy penalties drew the ire of some fans.
Unfortunately, Pitkanen suffered a brutal career-ending injury in April of 2013, after a devastating crash into the boards (which I still have graphic image of in my head to this day). That would be the last of Pitkanen’s 535 games in the NHL – of which 256 he spent with the Hurricanes.
In hindsight, Pitkanen was a great offensive presence for the Canes in his tenure, and was a key factor in a couple of extremely exciting moments for a franchise that’s really lacked them recently. I think that makes him worthy of having his deficiencies overlooked, and should hold a warmer place in Canes history.
Jeff O’Neill
This is an interesting one, because Jeff O’Neill was definitely fondly remembered by Hurricanes fans, until he went on an absolute tirade saying that he was embarrassed to be an alumni of the team when the new Tom Dundon regime took over.
After the split with Bill Peters and the team unceremoniously demoting and then firing Ron Francis, O’Neill publicly lashed out at the Hurricanes in May of 2018, and definitely didn’t hold his feelings back.
“It’s embarrassing,” O’Neill said. “It just seems like they’re morphing into the Cleveland Browns of the NHL.”
O’Neill was also extremely critical of Dundon’s impending GM search, saying “you know it’s bad when people are declining [to be interviewed].” He also made his feelings known on Twitter, when he said:
Quite a scene in Carolina. Embarrassing.
— Jeff O’Neill (@odognine2) April 30, 2018
O’Neill was originally drafted by the Hartford Whalers, and spent 9 years playing in the organization with 7 of those being for the Carolina Hurricanes. He scored 416 points in his tenure with the team, and was an instrumental piece of their trip to the 2002 Stanley Cup Final – with 8 goals and 5 assists in 22 games, and also set up Ron Francis’ game-winning goal in the first game of the Finals against Detroit:
Now for a quick moment in Hockey History.
— Cardiac Cane (@CardiacCane) November 5, 2019
Ron Francis Edition:pic.twitter.com/5C0oDTOcUY
An amazing goal with an equally amazing call by the legendary Bob Cole. Chills.
Anyway, despite his recent criticism of the team, I urge people to remember that everyone says things they regret in the heat of a moment – and O’Neill likely felt the need to stand up for his buddy Ron Francis, whom he spent a large chunk of his career playing alongside. With 4 straight 60-point seasons, hockey wise, O’Neill deserves a lot of respect.
Jiri Tlusty
Jiri Tlusty is kind of a weird one, because his Hurricanes career in hindsight feels brief, but then you remember that he actually played 322 games over 6 separate seasons with the team. On the ice, his performance was inconsistent, but his highs were a good altitude.
In the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, he formed one of the best trios in hockey alongside Eric Staal and Alexander Semin, and his 23 goals in 48 games that year were actually tied for 4th in the entire NHL, which is easy to forget.
Unfortunately that season was the pinnacle of his Canes career. Expectations for him got unrealistically high, so his dip in goals to just 16 (in 20 more games) the following season was a disappointment, despite the fact he did score at a 20-goal pace in the 2 seasons following his breakout effort with the team.
He was deemed expendable and was traded to Winnipeg in February of 2015 for 2 draft picks, which the Canes used to select Matt Filipe and Spencer Smallman, two prospects who are still members of the organization (though their futures look bleak at best). Unfortunately Tlusty’s career tapered off after leaving Carolina, and he retired last year.
All things considered, Tlusty ended up scoring 76 goals and 145 points in 322 games for Carolina. That production isn’t world breaking, but when you consider they acquired him for Philippe Paradis – a guy who never scored more than 16 points in an AHL season – Tlusty was a steal, and had a respectable run with the franchise.
Justin Faulk
Last but not least, we end the list with one of the most controversial Hurricanes of all time: Justin Faulk. The All-Star. The root of all problems. The man, myth, legend.
On paper, Faulk had a great career in Carolina, especially when you consider he was a second round pick by the team in 2010. Of all the players in that draft, Faulk is 5th in games played with 602 (559 of them with Carolina), is third amongst defenseman with 270 points (258 with Carolina), and leads all D in goals with 88 (85 in Carolina).
With his 258 points for Carolina, he holds the franchise record for points by a defender and it’s not even close; the next in line is Sean Hill with 157. This is a guy who scored 15+ goals in 3 straight years as a blueliner. How can he be underappreciated? Uh, well…
His -100 plus/minus rating with the team is an absolute eyesore, and most fans will probably remember him for his low defensive awareness and overall lack of hockey sense. He was often criticized for his defensive play (or lack thereof) and became a figurative punching bag for fans.
So to no surprise, fans were divided on him. His lethal point shot and sometimes noticeable physicality were a draw for his fans, while his detractors always pointed to his defensive ineptitude. He improved a lot last year under coach Rod Brind’Amour, but a lot of fans had already buried Faulk in a grave by then.
Him being traded was long foreshadowed, and it finally happened during the summer of 2019, when he was sent to St. Louis for Joel Edmundson and top prospect Dominik Bokk, and proceeded to sign a long-term, big money deal.
Unfortunately for Faulk, despite his All-Star Game appearances, loyalty to the team and juicy offensive numbers, he’ll probably be remembered for all the wrong reasons, which is probably unfair of us to do. He was a bright spot for the franchise in their darkest days, and he deserves to be commended for that.
Must Read. Reasons Not to Panic... Yet. light
Question for CC Readers: Who’s some other former Canes who’ve been underappreciated?