Rewind: What happened to the 2006-07 Carolina Hurricanes?
By Jeb Bohn
My God, The Inconsistency
The Carolina Hurricanes opened the 2006-07 season with 4 straight losses, being outscored 18-7 in the process. They finally got into the win column thanks to a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers and followed that up with two more wins.
The team continued to trade wins and losses before falling into a five-game losing streak that stretched from early to mid-December. Their offense dried up, with Carolina managing just 9 goals during the streak. Their opponents, however, didn’t share this fate as the Hurricanes surrendered 19 goals.
So, how does a team follow up a five-game skid?
With a five-game winning streak, of course.
From the 16th through the 26th of December, the Hurricanes rolled through opponents, racking up 17 goals while surrendering just 8. This, arguably their best stretch of play all season, gave hope that the team could turn things around and shed their inconsistency.
Nope.
The Hurricanes lost 4 of their next 5, including being shut out in consecutive games. They then won 4 out of 5. Rinse, repeat.
Then, on January 8, 2007, Rutherford sent Kevyn Adams to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. While Seidenberg was a good defenseman, he did little to help the Hurricanes’ floundering offense.
To address that, Rutherford re-acquired Vasicek from Nashville, sending the ill-fitting Belanger as payment. Two weeks later he shipped a draft pick to Columbus in exchange for winger Anson Carter. While Vasicek eased back into things, Carter saw action in just 10 games, picking up one goal in the process.
Ultimately, the Hurricanes missed the playoffs. They were close, but that just makes it worse. Not only were fans teased with the possibility of making it back, but, by missing so closely, they didn’t secure a high draft pick. Instead, the Hurricanes secured the 11th overall pick, using it to select Brandon Sutter.
The very next pick? Ryan McDonagh.