The Carolina Hurricanes found themselves on the wrong side of history after winning their first Stanley Cup. While by no means a bad team, the 2006-07 Hurricanes struggled to find positive consistency. Despite three 30-goal scorers and a Selke-winning performance from Rod Brind'Amour, the Canes became the third team to miss the playoffs the season after their Stanley Cup win.
While they weren't much better in 2007-08, the Canes found themselves at the top of the Southeast Division late into February. Their spot was far from secure, though, with the Washington Capitals hot on their heels. With the division, once again, looking weaker compared to the rest of the Eastern Conference, the only way to guarantee a spot in the playoffs was to win the Southeast.
Our story begins on February 23, 2008. The Capitals were in Raleigh for a Saturday night tilt. The Canes entered four points ahead of Washington, but the Capitals had three games in hand, which wouldn't change after this game. Alex Ovechkin had three assists, but three-point nights from Eric Staal (2G, 1A), Joe Corvo (1G, 2A), and Matt Cullen (1G, 2A) guided the way for a 6-3 Carolina win.
With their win and a Washington loss in overtime the following night to the Devils, the Hurricanes sat five points up on the Capitals on February 25. With 17 games left, the Canes just needed to play their style, and they would be back in the playoffs. To their credit, they didn't play terribly down the stretch, but it's the last six games that cost them dearly.
Fast forward a month. March 25, 2008. Each side has played 76 games, and the Canes still hold a five-point lead over the Capitals ahead of another meeting in Raleigh. Both teams were on a roll, with the Canes entering on a three-game winning streak and Washington with wins in five of their last six. Instead of putting a stranglehold on the Capitals, Washington came away with a 3-2 shootout win.
The Canes bounced back for an ugly 7-1 triumph over the Thrashers a few days later, with six of the team's seven goals coming on special teams (5 PPGs, 1 SHG). However, they started to stumble from there. They lost consecutive games in Tampa and D.C. Meanwhile, with another win over the Canes, the Capitals pulled into a tie for the division lead with two games to go.
Each team's schedule to close the season was the same, facing Tampa Bay and Florida on alternating nights at home. The Canes struck first with a 6-2 win over the Bolts. The next night, the Capitals responded with a 4-1 win. It would all come down to the Panthers. The Canes saw their destiny slip through their gloves, losing 4-3 to close their season. The next night, Washington got it done.
To say that the Hurricanes choked their lead away would imply that Washington hadn't earned it. That's quite the contrary. The Capitals won 11 of their final 12 games, including a season-ending seven-game win streak that featured a pair of wins over the Canes. When you have the Art Ross, Rocket Richard, Ted Lindsay, and Hart Trophy winner on your team, that might help a little, too.
Still, it's hard not to look at this as anything other than a fantastic choke job by the Canes. In their defense, they went 11-5-1 to finish the season but just 2-3-1 in their last six contests. Their hopes were completely dashed when both Boston and Philadelphia won on April 4, the same night the Canes lost to Florida, keeping them one point out of the hunt and in ninth in the conference.
With the Hurricanes missing out on the division crown by two points, it's easy to fantasize about what a potential playoff run could've looked like. Washington, which qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2004, was knocked out in the conference quarterfinals after a heartbreaking Game 7 overtime loss by the Flyers. Would that have been the Canes' fate if the roles were reversed?
Might another Stanley Cup run have been in the works in 2008?
The short answer is probably not, but I think the Canes might've won a round or two during the 2008 playoffs, had they made it. As mentioned already, had the Hurricanes won the Southeast Division, their first opponent would've been the Philadelphia Flyers, starting the series with home ice despite finishing with fewer points.
The Flyers played very well against the Canes during the regular season, going 3-0-1, but they hadn't met since December, so plenty of time had passed. In two of those four meetings, a Flyer recorded a hat trick. One of them was a familiar foe in Daniel Briere, who faced the Canes with the Sabres in 2006. Starting goalie Martin Biron was Buffalo's backup goalie that year as well.
If the Canes beat the Flyers in the opening round, it would've sent them to the conference semifinals to face an all-too-familiar franchise. The Montreal Canadiens won a grueling seven-game series with Boston to begin the postseason. A clash with Carolina would've been the third in six seasons, with the previous two series won by the Canes in 2002 and 2006.
Against a veteran-led Canadiens team, Cam Ward and the Hurricanes would've gone toe-to-toe with an exciting rookie netminder in Montreal. 20-year-old Carey Price had taken control of the net after the Canadiens traded Cristobal Huet to Washington at the deadline. Montreal's season ended in five games against the Flyers, so maybe an experienced Canes team could've done the same.
A trip to the Eastern Conference Finals would've expedited the matchup between the Canes and the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Prince of Wales Trophy. It's hard to imagine an outcome different than the one we saw in 2009. However, if the Canes were the princes of the conference, a rematch of the 2002 Final with Detroit would've awaited Carolina in the Stanley Cup Final.
Of course, another change we'd see is in their draft positioning, moving them from the 14th pick, where they selected Zach Boychuk that June, into the early-to-mid-20s. Washington's pick landed at 23rd with their quick exit, though Minnesota owned the rights. It's crazy how one win down the stretch during the regular season could've caused a ripple effect that could still be felt today.
The 2007-08 team's inability to finish the job remains one of the organization's biggest choke jobs, as harsh as that might sound. However, it's far from the only one. There's one a few years later that, if corrected, might've changed our perspective of the team's dark days. It features a slightly different story, but that's a topic for another day this week.
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