Carolina Hurricanes Anatomy of a Moment: Ron Francis Silences the Motor City in the Stanley Cup Final

The Background

Going into the 2002 Stanley Cup Final, many felt the Carolina Hurricanes were lucky to be there. Their 91 points were good enough to win the worst division in the league by six points, but they were the seventh-best team in the Eastern Conference by that metric. They had fewer points than the Edmonton Oilers, who missed the playoffs out west.

The 2001-02 Hurricanes were one of the most successful teams in franchise history. They finished two points behind the 1986-87 Adams Division-winning Whalers for the most in franchise history. A lot of their points came from their league-leading 16 ties. The division title allowed the Hurricanes to earn their third straight trip to the postseason after losing in the conference quarterfinals during their previous two trips.

In the finals, the team across from them was one of the most impressive collections of players in NHL history. Led by the winningest coach in NHL history, the Red Wings had a veteran-led core that had been terrorizing the league for years. Over the last six seasons, Detroit had been to at least the conference finals four times, including back-to-back Stanley Cup victories in 1997 and 1998.

Detroit dominated the regular season, winning 51 games en route to a 116-point President's Trophy-winning season, scoring 15 more points than the closest team. Former Whaler Brendan Shanahan paced the Red Wings with 37 goals and 75 points, making him one of four players on the team to score 30 goals. The Red Wings were the best of both worlds, finishing with the second-most goals and the third-fewest goals allowed with the help of Dominik Hasek.

Their Paths to the 2002 Stanley Cup Final

Despite being on the lower end of the point totals, the Hurricanes earned home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils as the Southeast Division champions. Needing a lot of heroics, the Canes finished the Devils in six games to earn the first postseason victory since relocation. They faced the 2002 Hart and Vezina winner Jose Theodore and the Canadiens in the conference semifinals, the only team in the East to finish with fewer points than them. After falling behind 2-1 in the series, the Molson Miracle helped turn the tables and give the Canes three straight wins to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time.

The Hurricanes' battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Prince of Wales Trophy was tight. During the six-game tilt, all but one game was decided by one goal, four of which ended 2-1. Aided by three overtime victories, the Canes fended off the Leafs on Martin Gelinas' series-winner in overtime during Game 6. Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes did an incredible job of keeping teams off the board, while a balanced offensive attack allowed everyone to get involved.

Detroit's road saw them defeat Vancouver and St. Louis before locking into a battle in the Western Conference Final with the Colorado Avalanche. Much like the Red Wings at the time, the Avalanche had become a dynasty. The two sides had waged war several times leading up to the 2002 playoffs, but this seven-game series to decide the conference was phenomenal. The Red Wings were too much for the Avalanche to handle, winning 7-0 in Game 7 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Story of Fedorov and the Hurricanes

It's only fitting that Sergei Fedorov would be the first to find the back of the net in the series. After the Canes failed to clear the puck on the penalty kill, Steve Yzerman threw the puck at the net. Artus Irbe kicked it out, but a battle in front of the net between Tomas Holmstrom and Aaron Ward ended with the Red Wings' forward being pushed into Irbe. This allowed Fedorov to jump on the loose puck and beat Irbe.

The story of Fedorov and the Hurricanes is a very unique one. Through the 1996-97 season, Fedorov had already won the Hart, the Ted Lindsay, the Selke twice, and the Stanley Cup in 1997, but he needed a new contract, entering a holdout until the Red Wings gave him what he was owed. The restricted free agent held his ground into the 1997-98 season. That's when the Hurricanes came along.

Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos submitted an offer sheet to the Russian winger for six years worth $38 million that Fedorov signed. With the ball in their court, the Red Wings matched the offer sheet, ending Fedorov's holdout and allowing him to return to the team. Fedorov returned to play 21 games and win a second straight Stanley Cup by recording his fourth-straight 20+-point postseason performance. His production never returned to what it was before the holdout, hovering in the 30-goal, 63-69-point range.

Ronnie Franchise Leaves Them Stunned

The third period brought no resolution, meaning the opening game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final would go to overtime. After killing the final seconds of a late third-period penalty by Erik Cole, the Canes turned to their leader. After being drafted fourth overall by the Whalers in 1981, Francis was in the late stages of his second tour with the organization as its captain. At 38 years old, Francis led the team with 77 points, marking his most points since his final season in Pittsburgh in 1997-98.

Less than a minute into overtime, Jeff O'Neill tried to set up Sami Kapanen at the top of the crease. Being closely defended by Niklas Lidstrom, Kapanen couldn't finish it, but the puck found its way back to O'Neill, who sent the puck right back to the front of the net. O'Neill's pass landed on the stick of Francis as the captain beat Dominik Hasek with most of the net vacant.

The announcers were stunned and the crowd fell silent as Francis stood there with his arms high with the rest of the bench mobbing him. On the road against a veteran team with an unlimited amount of skill, the underdogs had come into the Motor City and shown that the Carolina Hurricanes weren't going to let the Red Wings walk all over them.

The Aftermath

While Game 1 was a great moment for the Hurricanes, it would be the last great moment they would have in the series. The Red Wings evened the series in Game 2 with a 3-1 victory before outlasting the Canes in triple overtime in Raleigh for Game 3 on the way to four straight wins and the Stanley Cup. Detroit outscored Carolina 14-7 in the series, with Jeff O'Neill scoring three of the team's seven goals.

There were 11 future Hall-of-Famers in this series, ten of whom played for the Detroit Red Wings. Their nine top scorers from the regular season all made it to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Among them were captain Steve Yzerman, regular-season scoring leader Brendan Shanahan, finals scoring leader Sergei Fedorov, and the top two vote-getters for the 2002 Norris Trophy, Niklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios.

The Hurricanes' lone Hall-of-Famer was, obviously, Ron Francis, who finished second on the team in scoring for the series. Francis would go on to be named the 2002 Lady Byng winner while finishing sixth in Hart voting. Francis played another year and a half with the team before being dealt at the 2004 trade deadline to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he would finish his career.

Francis would become the first player in franchise history to have his number raised to the rafter. On January 28, 2006, the team honored their former captain and franchise leader in scoring by ensuring that #10 would never be worn again. Behind multi-point nights from finals teammates Kevyn Adams and Rod Brind'Amour, the Hurricanes defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1. Francis would go on to become the General Manager of the team in 2014 before being let go in 2018.