With all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding Tuesday's tilt against the Columbus Blue Jackets, it felt like the game became an afterthought. The Hurricanes beat the Blue Jackets, 4-1, with the 2005-06 team and the Stanley Cup in attendance as the team was honored during a pregame ceremony.
One of the best moments from the night didn't happen during the game, though there was plenty to like about how the Canes played during the second half of the contest. Instead, the moment that stood out was one from the festivities beforehand, involving one of the franchise's most prolific players.
During his walk out onto the ice, you might've noticed that Eric Staal wasn't wearing his usual #12, which now hangs high above the playing surface at the Lenovo Center. Instead, the 2006 postseason's leading scorer was wearing the #63 of Josef Vasicek. It was an incredibly classy move to remember a big part of the team's two biggest runs, including the team being honored.
Eric Staal wearing a No. 63 jersey for the 20th anniversary celebration of the 2006 Cup team, presumably in honor of the late Josef Vasicek.
— Cory Lavalette (@CoryLavalette) December 10, 2025
Vasicek was limited to just 23 games in 2005-06 after a knee injury cost him almost five months. He played in eight games during the playoffs, including three games in the Stanley Cup Final, to earn his spot on the Stanley Cup forever. Vasicek is probably better known for this work in the 2002 playoffs, scoring an OT goal against the Devils and helping to create the series-winner against Toronto.
The Czech forward was in the plane crash that killed the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team in 2011. The Canes continue to remember Vasicek in its renaming of the "Good Guy" Award to the Josef Vasicek Award, given to the player voted by the Carolina chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in recognition of their cooperation with the media. Sebastian Aho won last season.
Moments like this show that this group of guys will always be linked by what they went through as a team in 2005-06. Josef Vasicek will always be a Stanley Cup champion with the Carolina Hurricanes, and his legacy will live on through those who knew him and played with him. It was a beautiful tribute from the former team captain to honor him along with the rest of that team.