Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Club is a National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Franchise history

With fan support dwindling and revenue opportunities in the Hartford Civic Center limited, Hartford Whalers owner Peter Karmanos quickly focused on addressing both issues. In 1996 Karmanos stated that if the Whalers could not sell 11,000 season tickets, he would likely move the team. Thanks to aggressive marketing efforts and an effort to reach out to the entire state of Connecticut (and specifically Fairfield County) this goal was met for the 1996-97 season. With this goal met, Karmanos then focused his efforts on securing a new arena to be built by the state of Connecticut, which he saw as necessary in order for the Whalers to be viable in Hartford. Karmanos worked with Connecticut governor John Rowland and an agreement was reached in principle for the state to subsidize construction of a new Hartford arena, to be completed around 2000. However, Karmanos then demanded that the state also cover up to $45 million in potential losses during the three years that the arena was being built. Rowland refused, and Karmanos ended negotiations, announcing on March 26, 1997 that he would be moving the team out of Hartford, to a site to be determined. After reviewing a proposal from Columbus, Karmanos accepted an offer to move the team to Raleigh, North Carolina for the1997. The team was renamed the Carolina Hurricanes and their team colors changed to red and black.

Related Topics:
Hartford Whalers - Peter Karmanos - Fairfield County - John Rowland - Raleigh, North Carolina - 1997

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As their new Raleigh arena was being built, the Hurricanes played in the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina their first two seasons in North Carolina. Due largely to the distance from the home city of Raleigh and the initially lackluster level of play, the Hurricanes pulled in fewer fans than they did in Hartford. Attendance numbers were inflated due to "2 for 1" deals where seats sold were counted, despite no fans in them. Sports Illustrated even ran a story named "Natural Disaster". Doubts were raised over whether North Carolina could support NHL hockey.

Related Topics:
Greensboro Coliseum - Greensboro, North Carolina

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On the ice, however, the Canes were out of the doldrums by 1999. Led by Keith Primeau's 30 goals and Gary Roberts's 178 penalty minutes, they won the new Southeast Division by eight points and made the playoffs for the first time since 1992. Tragedy struck when, at the end of their playoff series with the Boston Bruins, defenseman Steve Chiasson was killed in an auto accident driving home from a players' end-of-season party.

Related Topics:
Keith Primeau - Gary Roberts - Penalty - Boston Bruins - Defenseman - Steve Chiasson

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The Canes played lackluster hockey in 1999-00 and 2000-01, but broke out in the 2002 playoffs. They survived a late charge from the Washington Capitals to win the division, but expectations were low entering the first round against the defending Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Devils. Arturs Irbe and Kevin Weekes were solid in goal, and two games were won by the Canes in overtime as they put away the Devils in six games.

Related Topics:
1999-00 - 2000-01 - 2002 - Washington Capitals - New Jersey Devils - Arturs Irbe - Kevin Weekes

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The second round matchup was against the 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, the Hurricanes were down 2-1 in games and 3-0 in score, before the Hurricanes rebounded to win 4-3 on Niklas Wallin's overtime winner. The Habs were dejected and Carolina easily won the next two games to win the series.

Related Topics:
Saku Koivu - Niklas Wallin

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The conference final was against the heavily-favored Toronto Maple Leafs. In game 6 in Toronto, the Leafs' Mats Sundin tied the game with 22 seconds remaining to send it to overtime. The Canes took over from there. Martin Gelinas scored in overtime to send them to their first Stanley Cup final, against the Detroit Red Wings, thought to be the prohibitive favorite all year.

Related Topics:
Toronto Maple Leafs - Mats Sundin - Overtime - Martin Gelinas - Stanley Cup - Detroit Red Wings

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After the first game of the final, where Ron Francis scored in the first minute of overtime, Detroit stormed back to win the next four games in a row to win the Stanley Cup. Game 3 in Raleigh featured a triple-overtime thriller (won by the Red Wings 3-2 on a goal by Igor Larionov), which sportscasters called one of the best Stanley Cup Finals games in history. Despite the 4-1 finals loss, it was by far the most successful season in franchise history.

Related Topics:
Ron Francis - Overtime - Red Wings - Igor Larionov - Stanley Cup Finals

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