Carolina Hurricanes

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Carolina Hurricanes
Conference	Eastern
Division	Southeast
Founded	1972
History	New England Whalers 1972 - 1979 Hartford Whalers 1979 - 1997 Carolina Hurricanes 1997 - present
Arena	RBC Center
City	Raleigh, North Carolina
Local Media Affiliates	FSN South WWMY (102.9 FM)
Team Colors	Red, Black, Silver, and White
Owner	Peter Karmanos
General Manager	Jim Rutherford
Head Coach	Peter Laviolette
Captain	Rod Brind'Amour
Minor League Affiliates	Albany River Rats (AHL) Florida Everblades (ECHL)
Stanley Cups	2005-06
Conference Championships	2001-02, 2005-06
Division Championships	1998-99, 2001-02, 2005-06

The Carolina Hurricanes are a National Hockey League team in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2005-06, the Hurricanes won the franchise's first Stanley Cup, beating the Edmonton Oilers four games to three.

Contents 1 Franchise History 1.1 2005-06 Championship 2 Season-by-season record 3 Notable players 3.1 Current roster 3.2 Team captains 3.3 Hall of Famers 3.4 Retired numbers 3.5 First-round draft picks 3.6 Franchise scoring leaders 4 NHL awards and trophies 5 Franchise individual records 6 Miscellaneous 6.1 Trivia 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Franchise History

See also: Hartford Whalers

The New England Whalers were born in November 1971 when the World Hockey Association awarded a franchise to begin play in Boston, Massachusetts. For the first two-and-a-half years of their existence, the club played their home games at the Boston Arena, Boston Garden, and The Big E Coliseum in West Springfield. However, sagging attendance forced the team to Connecticut. On January 11, 1975, the team played its first game in front of a sellout crowd at the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum. With the exception of a period in the late 1970s when the Whalers played at the Springfield Civic Center while their Hartford home was being renovated (due to a portion of the roof collapsing after a blizzard), the franchise was largely located in Hartford.

As one of the most stable WHA teams, the Whalers, along with the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets, were admitted to the NHL when the rival leagues merged in 1979. Because the NHL already had a team in the New England area, the Boston Bruins, the former WHA team was renamed the Hartford Whalers. Unfortunately, the team was never as successful in the NHL as they had been in the WHA, recording only three winning seasons.

In March 1997, Whalers owner Peter Karmanos announced that the team would leave Connecticut after 1996-97 because of the team's inability to negotiate a satisfactory construction and lease package for a new arena in Hartford. In July, Karmanos announced that the Whalers would move to the Research Triangle area of North Carolina and the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, become the Carolina Hurricanes, and change their team colors to red and black. Due to the relatively short time frame for the move, Karmanos himself thought of and decided upon the new name for the club, rather than holding a contest as is sometimes done.

Unfortunately, the Entertainment and Sports Arena wouldn't be complete for two more years, and the only other hockey building in the Triangle was Dorton Arena, a 5,100-seat, 45-year-old building completely unsuitable for NHL hockey. The Hurricanes were thus forced to play home games ninety minutes away at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro for their first two seasons in Carolina, displacing the AHL's Carolina Monarchs and temporarily putting the 'Canes in the highest-capacity arena in the NHL for 1997-98. This choice was disastrous for the franchise's attendance and reputation; most Triangle-area fans were unwilling to make the drive to Greensboro, while Piedmont Triad fans wouldn't support a lame-duck team, and were still upset over ticket price hikes when the Monarchs moved from the East Coast Hockey League to the AHL in 1995. With attendances of fewer than 10,000 for many games, Sports Illustrated ran a story titled "Natural Disaster", and ESPN anchors mocked the "Green Acres" of empty seats; in a 2006 interview, Karmanos admitted that "as it turns out, Greensboro was probably a mistake."

For 1998-99 the Hurricanes curtained off most of the upper deck, lowering capacity to about 12,000, but attendance continued to lag well behind league averages. On the ice, however, the 'Canes were now out of the doldrums; led by the return of longtime Whalers captain Ron Francis, Keith Primeau's 30 goals, and Gary Roberts' 178 penalty minutes, they won the new Southeast Division by eight points and made the playoffs for the first time since 1992. Tragedy struck hours after their first-round loss to the Bruins when defenseman Steve Chiasson was thrown from his pickup truck and killed in a single-vehicle drunk-driving accident.

Despite their move to the brand-new ESA, the Hurricanes played lackluster hockey in 1999-2000, failing to make the playoffs. In 2000-01, though, they claimed the eighth seed and landed a first-round date with the defending champs, the New Jersey Devils. Although the Hurricanes were bounced by the Devils in six games, the series is seen as the real "arrival" of hockey in Carolina. Down 3-0 in the series, the 'Canes extended it to a sixth game, thereby becoming only the tenth team in NHL history to do so. Game six in Raleigh featured their best playoff crowd that year, as well as its noisiest. ^[1] Despite the 5-1 loss, Carolina was given a standing ovation by their crowd as the game ended, erasing many of the doubts that the city wouldn't warm up to the team. ^[2]

The 'Canes made national waves for the first time in the 2002 playoffs. They survived a late charge from the Washington Capitals to win the division, but expectations were low entering the Round One against the defending Eastern Conference champion Devils. However, Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes were solid in goal, and two games were won by the Hurricanes in overtime as they put away the Devils in six games. The second-round matchup was against the Montreal Canadiens, who were riding a wave of emotion after Saku Koivu's return from cancer treatment. In the third period of Game 4 in Montreal, down 2-1 in games and 3-0 in score, Carolina would tie the game and then win on Niclas Wallin's overtime goal. The game became known to Hurricanes fans as the "Miracle at Molson"; Carolina easily won the next two games over the dejected Habs to win the series.

In the Conference Final, Carolina met the heavily-favored Toronto Maple Leafs. In game six in Toronto, the Leafs' Mats Sundin tied the game with 22 seconds remaining to send it to overtime, where Carolina's Martin Gélinas would score to send the franchise to their first Stanley Cup Final, against the Detroit Red Wings, thought to be the prohibitive favorite all year. Though the Canes stunned the Wings in Game 1, when Ron Francis scored in the first minute of OT, Detroit stormed back to win the next four games. Game 3 in Raleigh featured a triple-overtime thriller (won by Detroit's Igor Larionov), which sportscasters called one of the best Final games in history. Despite the 4-1 series loss, it had been by far the most successful season in franchise history.

The momentum didn't last, however, and the next two seasons saw the 'Canes drop into the cellar of the NHL rankings; many of the new fans attracted to the team (and to hockey itself) during the 2002 playoff run lost interest and attendance declined. One of the few positive results of these losing years was the team's drafting of rising star Eric Staal in 2003. In December 2003, the team fired Paul Maurice, who had been their coach since their next-to-last season in Hartford, replacing him with former New York Islanders bench boss Peter Laviolette. Weekes remained tough, but offense was doubtful; center Josef Vasicek led the team with a mere 19 goals, 26 assists (tied with rookie Staal) and 45 points.

The outcome of the 2004-05 NHL lockout led to the shrinking of the payroll to $26 million; many fans were not optimistic about the 2005-06 season. However, the 'Canes turned out to be one of NHL's biggest surprises, turning in the best season in the franchise's 34-year history. They finished with a 52-22-8 record and 112 points, winning the Southeast Division for the third time and shattering the previous franchise record set by the 1986-87 Whalers. It was the first time ever that the franchise had passed the 50-win and 100-point plateaus, and the 112-point figure tied the Dallas Stars for third-highest in the league, one point behind the Ottawa Senators for first in the East. Attendance increased from 2003-04, averaging just under 15,600 per game, and the team made a profit for the first time since the move from Hartford. ^[3]

[edit] 2005-06 Championship

Main article: 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs

In the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Carolina lost the first two games of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal at home against the seventh-seeded Habs, leading many to believe that the Canes' grand season would come to a sudden end. Coach Laviolette made what would prove to be a fateful decision, lifting goalkeeper Martin Gerber in favor of rookie Cam Ward. A turning point of the series occurred in Game 3, as Carolina forward Justin Williams inadvertently hit Montreal captain Koivu in the eye with his stick as both players lunged for the puck. Koivu's eye was severely injured, causing him to miss the remainder of the series; Williams escaped a possible double-minor high-sticking penalty, striking many Canadiens fans as unfair. The Hurricanes went on to win both games in Montreal, tying up the playoff series and turning the momentum around. They returned home and took Game 5 to take a 3-2 advantage in the series, and finished the series in Montreal with a 2-1 overtime victory on a goal by Cory Stillman.

The Hurricanes then played the third-seeded New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. This was expected to be a close series, but proved surprisingly one-sided. Carolina exploded to score six goals in Game 1, chasing New Jersey netminder Martin Brodeur from the net on his 34th birthday. This was goaltender Cam Ward's first playoff shutout, as the Hurricanes won 6-0. The Hurricanes won Game 2 in dramatic fashion with Eric Staal scoring with just 3 seconds left in the third period to send the game into overtime. Niclas Wallin was the hero once again, as he lifted the Canes to a 3-2 win. In Game 3, the Hurricanes took a stranglehold on the series with a 3-2 win in New Jersey, but in a penalty-filled fourth game, the Devils rallied back with a 4-1 win. The series shifted back to Raleigh for Game 5 where Carolina closed out the series with a 4-1 win. Stillman struck again, scoring this series-winning goal too.

In the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes faced the Buffalo Sabres, who had finished just one spot behind the Canes in the overall standings. The Sabres squad was devastated by injuries in the series, at one point in the series playing without their top four defensemen in good health. The Hurricanes were defeated in the first game, as Buffalo took a 3-2 victory and the early lead in the series. In the second game, however, the Hurricanes recovered, defeating Buffalo 4-3. Buffalo won Game 3 by a score of 4-3 to take back the series lead, but Carolina tied it up again in Game 4 with a 4-0 shutout, in which Gerber, who had relieved Ward the previous game, started in goal for the first time since Game 2 of the first-round. Gerber's good luck would not extend to Game 5, as after a shaky start, Ward was brought back in. Carolina took a 3-2 series lead by rallying and winning Game 5, as Stillman scored an overtime goal to give the Canes the 4-3 win. In Game 6 of the contentious series (both coaches — Lindy Ruff and Laviolette — took public verbal shots at each other's team), the Hurricanes lost 2-1 to the Sabres in overtime, forcing a seventh-and-deciding game in the series. In Game 7 the Hurricanes fell behind 2-1 in the second period but rallied with three goals in the third to win by a score of 4-2. Rod Brind'Amour scored the game winner as the Hurricanes reached the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in team history. The 2006 Hurricanes were the third major professional team based in North Carolina to reach the championship round in their league.

The Final began on June 5 as the Hurricanes hosted the Edmonton Oilers in Raleigh, marking the first time in NHL history that two former WHA franchises had played in the Final. The Canes rallied from a 3-0 deficit in Game 1 to win 5-4 after Rod Brind'Amour scored with 30 seconds left after some miscommunication behind the net between the Oilers' captain Jason Smith and backup goalie Ty Conklin, who had replaced injured starter Dwayne Roloson with five minutes to play. In Game 2, the other Edmonton reserve goaltender, Jussi Markkanen, was brought in and played for the remainder of the series, the first time a team had used three goalies in the Final since the St. Louis Blues in 1970. The 'Canes shelled Markkanen and the Oilers 5-0 to take a two-game lead, threatening to turn the series into a romp. However, it would eventually prove to be a classic nail-bitter, as Markkanen and the Oilers made adjustments.

The Oilers won Game 3, 2-1, as Ryan Smyth scored the game-winning goal with 2:47 left to play in the third period. Carolina rebounded in Game 4 with a 2-1 victory, and came home with a chance to win the Cup on home ice. However, game five saw the Oilers come back with a stunning 4-3 overtime win on a shorthanded breakaway by Fernando Pisani early in extra session. Suddenly the momentum started to turn the Oilers' way. In Game 6 in Edmonton, Carolina was soundly defeated 4-0, and now the possibility loomed of a team surrendering a 3-1 advantage in the Final for the first time since 1942, when the Detroit Red Wings fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The ace in the deck for the Hurricanes was their home ice advantage in Game 7, and one last chance to regroup.

In Game 7, before the second-largest home crowd in franchise history (18,978), the Hurricanes jumped to an early 1-0 lead on an Aaron Ward blast from the right circle at 1:26. In the waning minutes of the first period, Craig Adams corraled a rebound and drove it toward the net. Defenseman Steve Staios jumped on the puck to keep it from going over the line after a mistimed tip by Ales Hemsky. Referee Brad Watson initially signaled for a penalty shot, but it was washed out by a delayed penalty on Ethan Moreau. Later replays showed that Adams had actually gotten the puck in the net. In the second period, Edmonton defenseman Jaroslav Spacek was called for holding. At 4:18, Frantisek Kaberle blasted one in from the left circle. Edmonton finally got on the board early in the third period on a Pisani goal. The game remained in doubt until the Oilers pulled Markkanen in hopes of sending the game into overtime. However, at 18:59 of the period, an errant centering pass wound up on the stick of Bret Hedican, who dumped it to Eric Staal. He put it out to center ice where Justin Williams gathered the puck and scored on an empty-net breakaway, sealing the Hurricanes' first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

Cam Ward was honored with the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoffs' most valuable player, erasing the hopes that either Pisani or Chris Pronger would break the 30-year streak of a non-goaltender to win the award in a losing cause — the only player to fit in such a category is Philadelphia Flyer' Reggie Leach, who won it when his Flyers were swept by the Canadiens in 1976. He became just the fourth rookie to be honored with the award, following fellow goaltenders Patrick Roy (won with Montreal in 1986), Ron Hextall (lost with Philadelphia the next year), and Ken Dryden (also won as a Hab, in 1971, but not as an official rookie).

Rod Brind'Amour and Bret Hedican had both waited over 15 years to raise Lord Stanley's Mug, while Glen Wesley — the last remaining Hartford Whaler on the Hurricanes' roster — had waited 18 seasons.

The Hurricanes' Stanley Cup championship marked the first professional major league sports title for a team from the Carolinas. They are the second consecutive Southeast Division team to win the Cup, after the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003-04; like the Hurricanes, Tampa Bay defeated a team from the Northwest Division — Edmonton's provincial rival in Alberta, the Calgary Flames.

[edit] Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of November 15, 2006. ^[4]

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1997-98	82	33	41	8	—	74	200	219	1455	6th, Northeast	Did not qualify
1998-99	82	34	30	18	—	86	210	202	1158	1st, Southeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Bruins)
1999-00	82	37	35	10	—	84	217	216	799	3rd, Southeast	Did not qualify
2000-01	82	38	32	9	3	88	212	225	1083	2nd, Southeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Devils)
2001-02	82	35	26	16	5	91	217	217	1022	1st, Southeast	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Devils) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4-2 (Canadiens) Won in Conference Finals, 4-2 (Maple Leafs) Lost in Finals, 1-4 (Red Wings)
2002-03	82	22	43	11	6	61	171	240	1208	5th, Southeast	Did not qualify
2003-04	82	28	34	14	6	76	172	209	1102	3rd, Southeast	Did not qualify
2004-051	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005-062	82	52	22	—	8	112	294	260	1107	1st, Southeast	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Canadiens) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4-1 (Devils) Won in Conference Finals, 4-3 (Sabres) Stanley Cup Champions, 4-3 (Oilers)
2006-07	20	10	7		3	23	67	66	287	2nd, Southeast
Totals	662	281	266	86	29	677	1709	1810	9032	—	—

¹ Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

² As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games tied after regulation will be decided in a shootout; SOL (Shootout losses) will be recorded as OTL in the standings.

[edit] Notable players

[edit] Current roster

As of October 26, 2006. [1]

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
30		Cam Ward	L	2002	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
47		John Grahame	L	2006	Denver, Colorado

Defensemen
#		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
2		Glen Wesley - A	L	2003	Red Deer, Alberta
5		Frantisek Kaberle (IR)	L	2004	Kladno, Czechoslovakia
6		Bret Hedican	L	2002	St. Paul, Minnesota
7		Niclas Wallin	L	2000	Boden, Sweden
8		Tim Gleason	L	2006	Southfield, Michigan
22		Mike Commodore	R	2005	Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
28		Andrew Hutchinson	R	2005	Evanston, Illinois
45		David Tanabe	L	2006	White Bear Lake, Minnesota
48		Anton Babchuk	R	2006	Kiev, U.S.S.R.

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
11		Justin Williams	RW	R	2004	Cobourg, Ontario
12		Eric Staal	C	L	2003	Thunder Bay, Ontario
13		Ray Whitney	LW	R	2005	Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
14		Kevyn Adams - A	C	R	2002	Washington, District of Columbia
16		Andrew Ladd	LW	L	2004	Maple Ridge, British Columbia
17		Rod Brind'Amour - C	C	L	2000	Ottawa, Ontario
18		Ryan Bayda	LW	L	2006	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
19		Trevor Letowski (IR)	RW	R	2006	Thunder Bay, Ontario
24		Scott Walker	RW	R	2006	Cambridge, Ontario
25		Eric Belanger	C	L	2006	Sherbrooke, Quebec
26		Erik Cole	LW	L	1998	Oswego, New York
27		Craig Adams	RW	R	2005	Seria, Brunei
37		Keith Aucoin (IR)	RW	R	2005	Waltham, Massachusetts
59		Chad Larose	RW	R	2003	Fraser, Michigan
61		Cory Stillman - A (IR)	LW	L	2005	Peterborough, Ontario

[edit] Team captains

Note: This list of team captains does not include captains from the Hartford Whalers (NHL) and New England Whalers (WHA).

• Kevin Dineen, 1997-98
• Keith Primeau, 1998-99
• Keith Primeau & Ron Francis, 1999-00
• Ron Francis, 2000-04
• Rod Brind'Amour, 2005 - present

[edit] Hall of Famers

Players

• Gordie Howe, RW, 1977-80, inducted 1972
• Dave Keon, C, 1976-82, inducted 1986

Note: Howe and Keon played for New England/Hartford.

Broadcasters

• Chuck Kaiton, 1979 - present, inducted 2004

[edit] Retired numbers

• 3 Steve Chiasson, D, 1996-99, including 1996-97 in Hartford, unofficially retired following Chiasson's death
• 9 Gordie Howe, RW, 1977-80, number retired by Whalers (the Hurricanes honor the retirement unofficially, but no banner hangs in the RBC Center)
• 10 Ron Francis, C, 1982-91 (Hartford) & 1998-2004, number retired January 26, 2006
• 99 Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide February 6, 2000

Hartford also retired the number 2 of Rick Ley (D, 1972-81) and the number 19 of John McKenzie (RW, 1977-79), but these numbers have been restored to circulation by Carolina.

[edit] First-round draft picks

Note: This list does not include selections of the Hartford Whalers.

• 1997: None
• 1998: Jeff Heerema (11th overall)
• 1999: David Tanabe (16th overall)
• 2000: None
• 2001: Igor Knyazev (15th overall)
• 2002: Cam Ward (25th overall)
• 2003: Eric Staal (2nd overall)
• 2004: Andrew Ladd (4th overall)
• 2005: Jack Johnson (3rd overall)
• 2006: None

[edit] Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise (Hartford & Carolina) history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Hurricanes player

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Ron Francis	C	1186	382	793	1175	.99
Kevin Dineen	RW	708	250	294	544	.77
Jeff O'Neill	RW	673	198	218	416	.62
Pat Verbeek	RW	433	192	211	403	.93
Blaine Stoughton	RW	357	219	158	377	1.06
Geoff Sanderson	LW	479	196	173	369	.77
Ray Ferraro	C	442	157	194	351	.79
Andrew Cassels	C	438	97	253	350	.80
Sami Kapanen	LW	520	145	203	348	.67
Sylvain Turgeon	LW	370	178	150	328	.89

[edit] NHL awards and trophies

[edit] Franchise individual records

• Most Goals in a season: Blaine Stoughton, 56 (1979-80)
• Most Assists in a season: Ron Francis, 69 (1989-90)
• Most Points in a season: Mike Rogers, 105 (1979-80 & 1980-81)
• Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Torrie Robertson, 358 (1985-86)
• Most Points in a season, defenseman: Mark Howe, 80 (1979-80)
• Most Points in a season, rookie: Sylvain Turgeon, 72 (1983-84)
• Most Wins in a season: Martin Gerber, 38 (2005-06)
• Most Shutouts in a season: Arturs Irbe; Kevin Weekes, 6 (1998-99 & 2000-01; 2003-04)
• Most Points in one postseason: Eric Staal, 28 (2006)
• Most Shutouts in one postseason: Cam Ward, 2 (2006)

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Trivia

• The Hurricanes received their new name a few months after a particularly active hurricane season for North Carolina in 1996, which included one major storm, Hurricane Fran, that hit Raleigh directly.
• The abbreviation 'Canes is often used, as with the teams of the University of Miami, whose teams have long been known as the Hurricanes.
• The term Whalercanes, a combination of the Hartford and Carolina nicknames, is used occasionally (often derisively) to refer to the franchise's combined history in Hartford and North Carolina.
• Hurricanes fans call themselves "Caniacs", a derivation from the shortened "'Canes" form of the team's nickname.
• The Hurricanes' alternate logo actually is a signal for a storm watch, since it uses only one flag. A hurricane warning is indicated by two such flags, but showing two flags flying from the hockey stick would be aesthetically awkward.
• The Hurricanes launched a cheerleading team called the Storm Squad in 1999.^[5] The Storm Squad, which in 2005-06 consisted of fourteen women and two men, helps drive crowd noise, assists in games and giveaways during stoppages, and appears at outside-the-rink promotional events for the team.
• North Carolinian professional wrestler Ric Flair is featured in a video played after a goal is scored, leading the crowd in his trademark "Woo!".
• In spring 2002, the tailgating habits of Hurricanes fans (echoing the fall football tradition for N.C. State games at Carter-Finley Stadium across the parking lot) expanded and intensified as the Hurricanes ran deep into the playoffs and the North Carolina spring weather warmed up. By the Eastern Conference Final, the pre-game party atmosphere drew major attention from Canadian and northern-based media as a hockey novelty.
• Caniacs at the RBC Center have made a reputation for loudness during the Canes' two long playoff runs. In 2002, CBC analyst Don Cherry called RBC Center "the loudest building in the NHL" during the ECF against Toronto, and in 2006, televised displays of handheld decibel meters during the Stanley Cup Final repeatedly showed readings above 125 dB, considerably above the threshold of pain. Official records for arena volume are not kept due to the difficulty of standardizing this measurement across different game situations and arena acoustic environments, but the 133.4 dB recorded by arena staff during Game 5 of the 2006 ECF broke an unofficial record held by Sacramento Kings fans at Arco Arena. ^[6]
• During the 2006 playoffs, some Carolina media and fans adopted the slogan "Redneck Hockey" ^[7] parodying a stereotype of Southern culture and the region's image as a non-traditional hockey market, in response to some opposing fans contending that Carolina fans were less hockey-savvy or less dedicated than other fans due to their status as fans of a Southern team. Fans at the RBC Center began wearing T-shirts and displaying posters bearing the slogan, or pictures of Barney Fife captioned "Barney knows hockey", a reference to the classic North Carolina-based TV series "The Andy Griffith Show" and a parody of the Nike "Bo Knows" advertising campaign of the late 1980s.
• Another tradition that has developed among Hurricanes fans is meeting the team at Raleigh-Durham International Airport upon their return from road playoff games, usually after midnight. The team saw crowds of various sizes gather there after every return trip during the 2002 and 2006 playoffs.

[edit] References

1. ^ ESPN.com, New Jersey Devils/Carolina Hurricanes NHL recap on ESPN
2. ^ SportsIllustrated.com, SI's 2001-02 NHL Team Previews: Hurricanes
3. ^ ESPN.com, NHL Attendance
4. ^ Hockeydb.com, Carolina Hurricanes season statistics and records
5. ^ CarolinaHurricanes.com, 2005-06 BCBSNC Storm Squad
6. ^ Fayetteville Online, Hurricanes fans bring the noise
7. ^ SportingNews.com, My Turn: I'm a 'redneck hockey' fan

[edit] See also

• List of Carolina Hurricanes players
• Head Coaches of the Carolina Hurricanes
• Hartford Whalers
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons
• List of Stanley Cup champions

[edit] External links

• Official website of the Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes Head Coaches
Maurice • Laviolette