Rewind: The Carolina Hurricanes’ Date with Lord Stanley
By Jeb Bohn
After a lockout canceled the 2004-05 season, the NHL came back with a salary cap and a handful of rule changes. With a handful of moves made during the downtime, the Carolina Hurricanes were poised to take advantage of the new-look league.
This is the ninth installment in my Rewind series, taking a look at the Carolina Hurricanes of seasons past. To check out my prior articles, click a season below:
Oh, boy. Sam Beckett-ism aside, the 2005-06 season was unreal. To be clear, I’m saying that purely as a fan. The ghosts of the “Greensboro Years” were still fresh in my mind. Despite a number of new additions and a renewed sense of hope, things didn’t start great for the Carolina Hurricanes. I’ll go ahead and tell you that this one will be a little long. After all, we’re looking back at the greatest season in Carolina Hurricanes’ history (up until now, at least).
Newly designated starter Martin Gerber was in net for the season opener in Tampa Bay and, while I’d like to tell you he got off to a great start, I don’t want to lie to you. Through two periods Gerber yielded 4 goals on 19 shots. Rookie Cam Ward relieved the shell-shocked starter for the start of the third and turned aside 10 out of 11 shots he faced, though Carolina’s offense managed just 2 goals on future Hurricanes’ backup John Grahame.
The first glimpse of what the team was capable of came two days later when they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in their home opener. Ward was called on to start and responded by stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced. Eric Staal and Cory Stillman scored for Carolina and, with regulation drawing to a close, the fans in Raleigh were treated to one of the NHL’s new additions: the shootout.
This is where the fans’ love affair with Ward really started. The shootout saw Ward stop Mario Lemieux, Ziggy Palffy, and Sidney Crosby while Stillman and Matt Cullen scored, giving the Hurricanes a 3-2 win and their 21-year-old goalie an auspicious first start.