The Carolina Hurricanes brought the oldest and greatest trophy in sports to the unlikeliest of locations. North Carolina, known for its college basketball and recently thrust into the national pro sports spotlight with the Panthers' 2003 Super Bowl appearance, captured its first major league sports championship, and for at least a short time this area was hockey country. I became a hockey fan in the mid-90's, and never dreamed of seeing the Stanley Cup won in person. It was one of those things that I almost didn't connect with a real life event. I certainly didn't even think to imagine that I would watch a NHL team in Raleigh capture the Cup. Nonetheless, even though I couldn't really afford it, the second tickets went on sale for the Final, I was able to grab one for Game 7. Just in case. So on June 19, 2006, in section 329 of the RBC Center, Justin Williams scoring an empty net goal with 61 seconds remaining became the pinnacle of a (very short) lifetime as a sports fan.

Last year's playoff run was an unbelievable experience. The near comeback in game 2 against Montreal was one of the greatest and yet most disappointing things I have ever seen in person, and Eric Staal's overtime goal in game 3 avoided what likely would have been a first round exit (and I somehow found myself hugging the television set in our apartment). Then it was Staal again teaching a number of fans why you don't leave a game until it is over when he scored with 3 seconds left against New Jersey to tie the game after the Devils had taken the lead with just 20 seconds remaining. In the Sabres the franchise saw its first ever game 7, and the city of Raleigh learned to hate Buffalo with a deep passion. Finally, in dramatic fashion, the team "rose from the hockey morgue" (to quote Chuck Kaiton) to win the title in game 7 in what some would say was the greatest Stanley Cup Final ever.

Regardless of what your opinions are on the sport of hockey, the Hurricanes' championship was an important moment for Raleigh and the state. An area defined by college athletics now has a professional title to its name, and for a brief time bitter college rivals for united for one goal. In less than 10 years there was a transition from a dirt field beside Carter-Finley and the "green wave" of empty seats in Greensboro to 19,000 of the loudest fans in the NHL standing for an entire game and the Stanley Cup riding down Hillsborough Street.

So, for those of us who were fans since the beginning, and those who came on board along the way, even though this year was an incredible disappointment, we can at least take this one day to celebrate a huge accomplishment. And for the anti-hockey trolls, maybe even you can find at least one thing good to say on this day (Brind'Amour *is* wearing a NCSU hat in the picture below). Maybe...



Montreal Canadiens - 23
Toronto Maple Leafs - 13
Detroit Red Wings - 10
Edmonton Oilers - 5
Boston Bruins - 5
New York Rangers - 4
New York Islanders - 4
New Jersey Devils - 3
Chicago Blackhawks - 3
Colorado Avalanche - 2
Pittsburgh Penguins - 2
Philadelphia Flyers - 2
Carolina Hurricanes - 1
Tampa Bay Lightning - 1
Dallas Stars - 1
Calgary Flames - 1
Anaheim Ducks - 1











http://youtube.com/watch?v=MzEwp-BFBe4 - My Hurricanes slideshow from last season
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fzaVX4Fo6Ag - LOLConklin
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U2IpNHp0zB0 - Game 7 Goals
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ori1G0XbYzk - Canes/Oilers Montage
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0MbFJ3EFqP0 - CBC Playoff Montage
http://youtube.com/watch?v=87A2g1GPmOw - 05-06 Season Compilation

http://www.jonathanhawkins.net/canes/sounds/ - Some Hurricanes sounds, mainly clips from the playoffs

BEEP BEEP

6/18/2007 11:59:38 PM

you're 22 seconds early

6/19/2007 12:02:25 AM

22 seconds of bonus partying

6/19/2007 12:05:31 AM

nice

6/19/2007 12:07:20 AM

Which means the last hockey game I watched was exactly one year ago today.

6/19/2007 12:11:30 AM

On this day one year ago...


95 percent of Raleigh realized there was a hockey team in the city.

6/19/2007 12:26:19 AM

... Was a good day night to be in Raleigh

6/19/2007 12:31:32 AM

that whole night was a blur

i love this one picture i have that has confetti right in front of the camera when i take the picture, but you can still see almost everything going on.. i think, i'll find it later

<3 sect 111/112

i was deaf, my voice was gone, my legs were kinda hurting after jumping up and down and standing for 3 hours basically

nothing to describe it in words though

FWIW, http://hurricanes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=316753

game 7 viewing party tonight

[Edited on June 19, 2007 at 12:37 AM. Reason : ]

6/19/2007 12:36:28 AM

i'd relive that day over and over again if i could

6/19/2007 12:59:18 AM

While I was wearing Carolina red during last years playoff run and glad a franchise like that got a win, its disheartening that my own team the Chicago Blackhawks, a once proud and feared franchise have turned into the joke they are today.

Even though you guys didnt make the playoffs this year, still enjoy last years run like it happened today because you never know when you might be praying for a 500 season. Just remember your owner cares about winning, not about the bottom line.

6/19/2007 1:33:25 AM

We were all crying and hugging like little girls in 328. I'll never forget the ridiculous volume in the building that somehow got LOUDER with five seconds to go. Whenever I watch the game on DVD, I still can't believe that everyone stood for the entire game.

After the game, I went down to Glenwood and bumped into a friend I hadn't seen in a while. He just kept repeating to his friends, "This is the guy who said at the start of the season that Cam Ward would be the biggest difference maker this year! THIS GUY!"

Great times.

6/19/2007 2:06:59 AM

BEAP BEAP

since im sure i typed that somewhere one year ago tonight

this time last year we had a cone from the ESA that we ran around u woods with as if it were the stanley cup

it was one of the greatest nights of my life

at this exact time last year i was jumping over fire on glenwood

6/19/2007 2:07:42 AM

fluke

6/19/2007 2:37:42 AM

I don't follow hockey too closely, how did the Hurricanes go from heros to zeros in less than a year? What happened to them?

6/19/2007 9:30:33 AM

^this is not uncommon

6/19/2007 9:45:44 AM

^^New coach (Laviolette) who adapted to the post-lockout rules and style better than nearly every other coach in the league. Offseason signings (Stillman, Whitney, Kaberle) and trades (Commodore) that fit that style perfectly. The breakout of a second year player (Staal) and Erik Cole and Justin Williams playing their best hockey. The work of a solid goalie through the regular season (Gerber) and the breakout of a rookie in the playoffs (Ward). The pure will and determination of Rod Brind'Amour. And finally, the trades to pick up Doug Weight and Mark Recchi.

6/19/2007 10:32:08 AM

^4 its pretty hard to go through the entire NHL playoffs as a fluke

6/19/2007 10:57:15 AM

Ward's goal in the opening minute was massive. It erased the dissapointment of game 5 and the crappiness of game 6 and reassured everyone the cup was ours to lose. I've been to concerts that weren't as loud as RBC that night.

Don't forget Cam's DAGGER save in the closing minutes

6/19/2007 11:19:26 AM

the question the guy asked was how they got so bad

6/19/2007 11:47:43 AM

Wow I didn't read that right at all lol.

Eric Staal dropped off more than 30 points in scoring, which can be attributed to poor conditioning (I wouldn't expect that to happen again) and the short summer, and the slump that is common to players after their breakout year. The entire team was healthy for literally less than one game about halfway through the season. Cory Stillman (one of their top scorers last year) and Frank Kaberle (top scoring defenseman last year) were never 100%. Cam Ward may have been super human at times in the playoffs last year, but this was his first go at a full season as the starting goaltender. He did not have a great year, and has to get better (I expect him to) for the team to return to a championship level. They never could find a third line center that worked out. Trevor Letowski was a poor solution to begin with, Eric Belanger did not fit in, and bringing back Josef Vasicek was a long shot to work, and didn't. Kaberle was a decent powerplay quarterback last year, but this year there was absolutely no one who could get the job done, and the epic powerplay failure was the death of this team on many nights.

[Edited on June 19, 2007 at 11:55 AM. Reason : here we go]

6/19/2007 11:49:24 AM

Too many injuries on defense for a team that plays defense by committee, inconsistent goal production, and occasionally shaky sophomore goaltending. Also, that ^ is a better answer.

Still, they were in the playoff hunt with a week to go, so anyone who thinks things were "so bad" just wasn't paying attention. After the Canes went to the Finals in '02, they finished dead last in the league in '03. THAT was bad.

[Edited on June 19, 2007 at 12:01 PM. Reason : v91]

6/19/2007 11:53:04 AM

BEAP BEAP

I can't believe it's been a year, being at Game 7 was fucking boss.




and did DeWitt say he lived near LaRose?

6/19/2007 11:56:46 AM

lets hope we can bring it back again this season

GO CANES!!

6/19/2007 12:20:34 PM

ha, i had somewhat shaggy hair at the time, and a playoff beard, and some random guy came up to me on glenwood that night and was like "we have a mike commodore sighting!!!"

i was probobly the worst mike commodore lookalike ever, but it still was fucking awesome to hear

6/19/2007 1:15:42 PM

Cam Ward will be at the Ale House tonight.

6/19/2007 1:37:02 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLKyHH57BXA

PLZ to embed

6/19/2007 2:11:35 PM

glenwood and hillsborough st was verrry nice that night

6/19/2007 6:15:14 PM

Seems like everyone in the whole damn town decided to go to the ale house tonight. I guess it's fitting that I had to stand the entire game.

6/19/2007 9:54:13 PM

are you just now getting back from there?

6/19/2007 9:55:24 PM

Mhmm

6/19/2007 9:59:42 PM

I'm still REALLY PISSED at myself for opting out of rounds 3 and 4 b/c of price, when come game time, i gladly would have paid triple what I turned down.

6/19/2007 10:02:38 PM

i thought about going but decided against it because i didnt know how enthusiastic everybody there would be

was anybody else there other than cam?

6/19/2007 10:08:12 PM

I was there in luxury box 219. Free food and drink FTW!

Will never forget that, no one sat down, it was like the whole arena was a student section at the basketball game, and god damn it was loud in there.

6/19/2007 10:09:04 PM