IT TOOK FALLING ‘OUT OF LOVE’ WITH THE GAME FOR O’REILLY TO LAND WITH BLUES AND GUIDE ST. LOUIS TO STANLEY CUP GLORY

While cleaning out his locker last April as a member of the Sabres, Ryan O'Reilly said he was starting to lose his love of the game, and it resulted in a trade out of Buffalo. Now he's a Stanley Cup champion, Conn Smythe Trophy winner and he couldn't be happier.


By Ken Campbell
https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/it-took-falling-out-of-love-with-the-game-for-oreilly-to-land-with-blues-and-guide-st-louis-to-stanley-cup-glory
June 13, 2019

Conn Smythe Trophy winner: Blues' Ryan O'Reilly wins playoff MVP | SI.com

BOSTON – In the end, Ryan O’Reilly kind of talked his way into all of this. If he doesn’t talk about falling “out of love” with the game when the Buffalo Sabres are cleaning out their lockers last season, perhaps he doesn’t get dealt to the St. Louis Blues and none of this happens.

O’Reilly had a lot to say after his trade and almost all of it came true Wednesday night when the Blues shocked the world and defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. And because he backed it up with his play, O’Reilly was named Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP.

To wit, in his first conversation with Blues GM Doug Armstrong after the trade: “Let’s go win a Stanley Cup.” Later that summer at the annual BioSteel camp in Toronto: “A Stanley Cup is possible. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s definitely possible.” The day before Game 7 of the final: “I know this has to be the best game of my life.”

The man who couldn’t win for losing before this season – heck, even for the first half of the season – hit the trifecta. Losing isn’t following Ryan O’Reilly around anymore. When Armstrong acquired O’Reilly July 1, and swallowed hard having to pay him a $5-million signing bonus, he said he was never concerned about the O’Reilly comments. Armstrong had already had talks with Buffalo GM Jason Botterill about a deal, then the two spoke during the free agency courting period. After Armstrong and the Blues didn’t even get an audience with John Tavares, Armstrong signed David Perron and Tyler Bozak in free agency and circled back on O’Reilly. “I think the raw emotion came out last year at his end-of-the-year meeting,” Armstrong said. “I think if Ryan could take it back he wouldn’t have said it like that, but at the end of the day that worked out really good for the St. Louis Blues.”

Fast-forward through a miserable first half of the season that started to turn in January. Ironically, because the first-round pick the Blues gave up in the O’Reilly trade was lottery protected, Armstrong was in Russia scouting an under-18 tournament when his team really started to rally. The Blues finished a five-game road trip by beating the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning back-to-back on their Dads’ trip, then beat the Nashville Predators in a home-and-home series. “That was when the For Sale sign officially went off the St. Louis Blues,” Armstrong said. “The guys just needed me to go to Russia to get going.”

It was revealed after Game 7 that O’Reilly was actually playing with a cracked rib he sustained in the second round against the Dallas Stars. Although O’Reilly said it had pretty much healed up by the final, that’s not an injury that is a comfortable one to endure. It was funny how lifting up 35 pounds of nickel and silver alloy didn’t seem to aggravate the injury. “I felt great this whole series, but I thought (the Cup) would be heavier,” O’Reilly said. “I guess all the adrenaline made it feel pretty light. I felt like I could have tossed it into the crowd.”

With the Washington Capitals and Blues knocking “win a Stanley Cup” off their bucket lists in the past two years, that leaves 11 markets in the league still without a championship – Arizona, Buffalo, Columbus, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, Ottawa, San Jose, Vancouver, Vegas and Winnipeg. The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, are on notice. Their 52-year drought is now the longest in the NHL. In fact, they haven’t even been to a final since last winning the Stanley Cup in 1967, just months before the Blues came into the league along with five other expansion teams. In St. Louis, a fair number of older fans were sporting T-shirts emblazoned with, “Just one before I die.” They’re probably pretty happy right about now. The prairie drought is finally over and it came in a year when it looked bleaker and dryer than it had since the owners abandoned the franchise in 1983 and it almost moved to Saskatoon.

There are a lot of people to thank for that. The Blues don’t do this without Jordan Binnington coming in and saving their season. They don’t do it without Craig Berube, who will have his interim tag removed in record time. They probably don’t do it without Larry Robinson, who came in as a consultant and molded a defense corps that smothered one of the most dynamic teams in the NHL in the final. He’ll pick up his 10th Stanley Cup ring for his efforts – six as a player with Montreal, three as a coach/assistant coach with New Jersey and one as a senior consultant.

But they most certainly don’t do it without Ryan O’Reilly, who led the Blues in playoff scoring, won faceoffs, scored key goals and was a presence on every inch of the ice. “It was always there that we could do it, but to actually do it, it’s exhausting,” O’Reilly said. “It’s exhausting.”

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REMEMBERING RED KELLY, A SUPERSTAR LIKE NO OTHER

By Stan Fischler
https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/stan-fischler-remembering-red-kelly-a-superstar-like-no-other
May 3, 2019

Without any fear of contradiction, I will firmly and unequivocally state that Leonard ‘Red’ Kelly was the most unique, underrated and undervalued superstar I have ever seen.

Since I began watching hockey at (old) Madison Square Garden in 1939, my statement covers 80 years, and since Kelly entered the NHL in 1947, that makes it 72 years, if you will. I was 15 years old and Red was 17 when he signed with Detroit. In fact, one could make a case for Red as the greatest player of all-time, depending on your set of hockey values.

Let’s start with the obvious. No player in history broke into the NHL as a defenseman and proceeded to become a Hall of Fame backliner during his dozen-year career with Detroit, where he won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings. Then, playing for seven-and-a-half more seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he transformed into a Hall of Fame center and the orchestrator behind major domo Punch Imlach’s four Stanley-Cup winners at the corner of Carlton and Church. That gave Leonard a grand total of eight Stanley Cup rings.

As an innovator, Kelly was way ahead of the game. Bobby Orr is mistakenly credited with being the first defenseman who became a modern-day offense-man, or rover, if you will. With little fuss and fanfare, Red was doing that before Bobby was born. I vividly remember taking a trip to Montreal for a Red Wings-Canadiens game in 1953. My purpose was to see how The Forum exploded when Rocket Richard scored a goal. Well, I was stunned to the very core. The Rocket went scoreless, but the 2-0 Detroit victory was the result of two magnificent rushes by Red.

It was Kelly’s very ability to smoothly bob and weave his way through enemy defenses that eventually inspired Imlach to move this amazing stickhandler up to center. And, let’s not forget, that the arrestingly productive young Frank ‘Big M’ Mahovlich – Red’s left wing in Toronto – became a Hall of Famer himself because of Kelly’s mentoring, not to mention radar passes.

Kelly was unique in so many ways. In a sport that’s often a war game on ice, Kelly unfailingly was the league’s gentleman star. Teammates never would hear filth from his mouth. “By Hum!” could have been his most angry words in the heat of a game. And, yet, there was another dimension – toughness – that often was ignored as part of the Kelly repertoire. Oh, boy, could this guy fight. I vividly recall the extraordinarily bitter Detroit-Toronto 1950 playoff semifinal Game 1. That was the one that resulted in a near-career-threatening injury to Gordie Howe for which the Motor City crew blamed Leafs captain Ted Kennedy. As a result, Game 2 was like a Pier Six brawl on ice. This time Kelly stepped out of character, fighting one of the toughest Leafs – I believe it was Vic Lynn – and Red was not the loser.

I’ll give another note that few remember. Red took a stance during the 1959-60 season that became the predecessor of free agency. Following a contract dispute with Jack Adams, the Wings boss traded Leonard to the New York Rangers with forward Billy McNeill. “I retired rather than go to New York,” Red insisted. The NHL was rocked by his decision, and the furor eventually abated when a deal was cut with Kelly winding up in a trade to the Leafs. History was made on the night of Feb. 10, 1960 in a game against the Habs. “I want you at center, going up against Jean Beliveau,” said Imlach. (Beliveau just happened to be the best center in the league.) Punch liked what he saw, put Kelly on a line with Big M and Bob Nevin, and the Leafs were off to the races.

I defy any historian to come up with a player who performed such a unique transformation. I might add the soft-tempered Red skated under two of the most demanding – some would say hateful – leaders in Adams and Imlach. Jack’s problem in Detroit reminded me of why the Leafs didn’t originally sign Red back in 1946 when he was skating for St.Michael’s College with future NHLers Ted Lindsay and Jim Thomson. “The Toronto scout,” Red recalled, “didn’t want me because he said I wouldn’t last in the NHL for 20 games.” Likewise, Adams blew it when he figured Kelly’s legs were gone by 1959 and eventually unloaded him. So, Red went out and won four Cups and Adams got zilch.

Kelly went on to enjoy both a coaching and political career, but I only got to know him personally after his retirement. Each year Kelly and his lovely wife, Andra, would show up at the annual Canadian Society of New York Hockey Awards dinner. It was then that I got to appreciate his warmth and sincerity. Those seemingly insignificant hockey chats remain among my fondest memories in more than a half-century on the hockey beat. But when I look back at my opening statement that Red could be evaluated as the greatest of all time, it’s not an idle throwaway line.

Look at it this way: More than Wayne Gretzky, more than Eddie Shore, more than Mario Lemieux or Bobby Orr, Red Kelly mastered every aspect of positional hockey, except goaltending. To this day he remains the most underrated superstar to come down the pike. Yet his dossier cannot be disputed. He was the balance wheel of champions as a defenseman in Detroit, and, as a center, the most decisive factor in creating a dynasty in Toronto more than a decade later. No other hockey player can make that statement.

When I brought these facts up to Kelly at one of the Canadian Society hockey dinners, he blushed as usual, which prompted me to tell him: “Red, you only had one problem as a hockey player, you never had a good press agent!”

Otherwise, Red Kelly would have been The Great One before The Great One!

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Captain then, coach now: Brind’Amour coaxes Hurricanes back to conference finals

By Luke DeCock
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article229989684.html
May 3, 2019

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour of the Carolina Hurricanes makes remarks to the press following a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders in Game Four of Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 3, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

Perhaps because he so assiduously downplays the role coaches play during the playoffs, deflecting credit to everyone from the video guys to the trainers, Rod Brind’Amour hasn’t gotten the credit he deserves during these playoffs.

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As a motivator, certainly he has. His ability to coax this uncommon resiliency out of this group has never been questioned, nor his able management of incredible fatigue as the injuries mounted and the first round wore on and the second round began without a break.

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But as a tactician? Rod the Bod has a brain on him, too, and his first-intermission tinkering Friday broke open a series that had been decided by the finest of margins and led to a comfortable final act of a second-round sweep of the New York Islanders.

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The Hurricanes will travel north to face the Boston Bruins or host the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference finals, but there are at least two games left in that series, which will give the Hurricanes some much-needed rest and recuperation after the first four-game sweep in franchise history – a 5-2 win in front of the largest crowd, 19,495, in franchise history.

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They’ll need the time, too, after playing their most physically engaged game of the playoffs, a dimension the Hurricanes will have to bring again no matter which team emerges from the other, brutal series. But it’s a luxury they suddenly have as they prepare for a fourth straight trip to the conference finals, now 16-6 in the second round in North Carolina over a span of, uh, 17 years.

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It’s time to recognize Brind’Amour’s role in that, and how it goes beyond postgame speechifying.

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“You listen to him talk, it’s all about hard work and effort, but there’s much more behind that,” said Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell, a former NHL head coach himself. “Motivating and getting players to play, a lot of guys can do that over the years. It’s the balance of being able to do that and make a decision about switching the lineup or whatever it might be at that point in the game that separates you from being a good coach to a great coach."

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“Obviously, a first-year coach, he’s going to learn a lot this year. And I think he has learned a lot this year and he’s only going to get better as time goes on."

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Brind’Amour’s defensive maneuvering late in the first-round series against the Washington Capitals – primarily to get Dougie Hamilton away from Alex Ovechkin – went largely unnoticed, as did the way he manipulated matchups on the road late in Game 7 to maximize Jordan Staal’s impact, two steps ahead of Todd Reirden. Only one of them looked like a rookie NHL coach.

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Justin Williams #14 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with teammates Jordan Staal #11 and Nino Niederreiter #21 after scoring a goal in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the New York Islanders during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 3, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

Friday, with the Hurricanes deadlocked with the New York Islanders through one very rough-and-tumble period, Brind’Amour went against his own typical form and shuffled his lines looking for a spark. It’s not his style, which is to hold things together as long as possible. He didn’t make a single goalie change until Petr Mrazek went down in Game 2 of this series, the 91^st of the season.

But Brind’Amour ignored his more typical impulses Friday and moved some things around, elevating the surging Andrei Svechnikov and putting the two Finns back together, and was rewarded with two long, puck-dominating shifts to start the period – the first by Nino Niederreiter, Jordan Staal and Justin Williams, the second by Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen.

At the end of that second shift, Aho stole the puck behind the net and fed Warren Foegele coming right off the bench, who tapped it to a wide-open Teravainen at the far post, left alone by a baffled and beleaguered Islanders defense. That was the first of two goals in 66 seconds and three in less than seven minutes as the Hurricanes broke open this series for the first time, cruising to a surprisingly comfortable win in a series that had been anything but to that point.

“Generally you hope to put the lines together you think will work,” Brind’Amour said. “You don’t necessarily want to (stray) from that right away, because all year it has worked, in my opinion. I knew coming into this series I wasn’t super-excited about some of the matchups. I thought we got to it the other night, thought we had good line combinations and the matchups were good. Right away, I could tell in the first that this was not going to work. So we had our Plan B ready to go, and we went with it, and it worked out."

It wasn’t the first time in the playoffs that Brind’Amour had a sense of what his team needed when it needed it, and while he’s gotten proper acclaim for the off-the-ice component of that, his command of the Xs and Os has not been adequately recognized, especially in a series where the first three games could have gone either way.

“Obviously you get lost in the shuffle here a little bit in Carolina, but we’re becoming relevant and Roddie is a phenomenal coach and an unbelievable motivator,” Hurricanes captain Justin Williams said.

As a player or coach, Brind’Amour’s past four playoff appearances with the Hurricanes have all gotten at least this far. There’s a Brind’Amour component to that, whether as a two-way center or captain or coach. The last handshake line on this ice was followed by Brind’Amour lifting the Stanley Cup.

He wasn’t a Jack Adams finalist after dragging this team from the depths of the Eastern Conference to the playoffs, and there was certainly a learning curve along the way, but it turns out in the postseason Brind’Amour as a coach is the same way he was as a player: hard to beat.

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Canes series clincher had familiar feel

By Adam Gold
https://www.wralsportsfan.com/gold-canes-series-clincher-had-familiar-feel/18346666/
April 25, 2019

McGinn #23 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates after scoring the game winning goal in the second overtime period against the Washington Capitals in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Hurricanes defeated the Capitals 4-3 in the second overtime period to move on to Round Two of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)

If you wanted to show someone unfamiliar with how the Hurricanes ended a 9-year post season drought, just dial up Game 7.

Brock McGinn tapped in a Justin Williams pass 11:05 into the second overtime and the season will continue, starting in Brooklyn on Friday against the New York Islanders. Final score, Hurricanes 4, Capitals 3, in double overtime. For what it’s worth, Carolina has never lost a Game 7 — ever. They’re 5-0, with the last three of those wins coming on the road.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The Hurricanes were pretty well awful for the first 30 minutes and trailed 2-0. It could have actually been worse, but for a couple of big saves by Petr Mrazek and a little bit of good fortune. Then Sebastian Aho picked up his own rebound and feathered in a shorthanded goal and the Hurricanes had their legs at the midway point of the second.

Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates his short-handed goal at 9:51 of the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Yeah, that’s right. The Capitals’ power play, which had been smoking along at a nearly 30% clip including five out of 12 on home ice, ended up being outscored in the series clincher. The Caps were 0-for-3 with the man advantage for the night. The Canes didn’t score on their first try but did on the Caps’ second.

Even though the Capitals would respond with a Evgeny Kuznetsov goal to make it 3-1, Carolina had broken the ice and their game was rounding into form. Teuvo Teravainen picked up a loose puck in the slot, wound and whipped it inside the right post for a 3-2 score and the comeback was on.

From that point, just like when the calendar turned to January, Carolina was skating downhill. Jordan Staal tied the game early in the 3rd and the game was played on the Hurricanes’ terms the rest of the way. Not that the Capitals didn’t have their chances, I mean the Canes did have their hiccups in the closing weeks of the season, remember? But, Lucas Wallmark tied up Jakub Vrana’s stick negating an easy goal and McGinn swept away the puck as it was creeping towards the goal line late in the 3rd and helped Carolina extend the game into extra innings.

That’s the story of this season. Rough first half, great turnaround, everyone contributes.

Remember when people tried to tell you that the Canes were better without Jordan Staal? Remember that nonsense? Well, in the season’s final 21 games, Staal piled up 17 points (6g11a) and was a +17. Then in Game 6, it was his goal in the early stages of the 3rd period that put the Hurricanes ahead to stay.

Jordan Staal #11 of the Carolina Hurricanes scores at 2:56 of the third period against the Washington Capitals in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Wednesday night in Washington, Staal did it again. Trailing by a goal entering the 3rd, he took a pass from Jaccob Slavin at the blue line skated down the right wing and sniped a wrist shot just inside the far post for a 3-3 game and the rest of the night was played Carolina’s way. Staal finished the first round with three goals and three assists and clearly was the Hurricanes’ best forward.

What do you say about the captian? Justin Williams, who’s now 8-1 with 15 points in his career in Game 7’s, won a face off, lost the puck but chased down Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen, delivered a hit that caused a turnover and then retreated to the other side of the ice. That’s where Slavin sent the puck and when Williams retrieved it, he threw it at the net where McGinn tapped it through Braden Holtby for the series ending goal.

Yes, the same Brock McGinn who saved the game in the 3rd won it in the 5th.

It was the best game of the series for Teravainen who has quietly built a strong early post season resume for the Hurricanes. Three goals in the series, all huge on the scoreboard and for the psyche. Game 4, right before the end of the 2nd, his goal restored the Canes to the lead they’d never relinquish. Game 6, early second period, Teravainen — again — streaking down the slot where Aho feeds him for a 2-2 game and the Hurricanes were headed for a 5-2 win.

Slavin had three assists On Wednesday night. He had nine in the series. He assisted on the Aho shorthanded goal. It was his pass to Staal that freed him for the tying goal and then Slavin placed the puck in the corner allowing Williams time to retrieve it and finish off the Capitals.

Petr Mrazek #34 of the Carolina Hurricanes pauses after a shot by Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals knocks off his mask during the first overtime in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

So many plays, so many contributors, and Petr Mrazek just battled his way through it all. He made some wonderful saves, including one that appeared to have drilled him in the mask off the stick of Ovechkin in the 3rd period to keep the game even.

The Carolina Hurricanes of 2019 are building a culture of character and resiliency. They displayed that individually and as a team throughout Game 7 and the entirety of the series against the defending champs. Down 2-0 in games, the Canes won 4 of the next 5, getting incredible contributions up and down the line up.

Just like we saw them do all year long.

I’m beginning to notice a pattern. This, boys and girls, is why there’s no such thing as house money in the NHL playoffs. You stay at the hop until someone taps you on the shoulder.

The Carolina Hurricanes are still dancing. And this season will continue for another couple of weeks, at least.

The Hurricanes Are Still Here, And We're All Better For It

By Lauren Thiesen
https://deadspin.com/the-hurricanes-are-still-here-and-were-all-better-for-1834286038
April 25, 2019

Brock McGinn #23 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with his teammates after scoring the game winning goal in the second overtime period against the Washington Capitals in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Hurricanes defeated the Capitals 4-3 in the second overtime period to move on to Round Two of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Carolina Hurricanes pulled off the last in a string of crazy first-round playoff series upsets on Wednesday night, disrespecting the far more experienced Capitals by wearing them down over two overtimes for a 4-3 win. It was going to be extremely tough for the ’Canes and the Caps to match the hijinks of the Knights-Sharks battle that went down less than 24 hours prior, but after slipping down 2-0 early, and 3-1 later, Justin Williams and the ’Canes found a way to stay alive in unforgettable fashion and move on.

And so the Hurricanes advance to what should be a strange but awesome second-round series against the Islanders, continuing a season that’s been incredible to watch for either a curious neutral or a formerly apathetic Carolinian. In just one year, a team that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2009 made a 16-point jump from ignored and unpopular to an extremely fun team that went up against the defending champions and lived to tell the tale, and god do I hope they stay this way.

The enduring image of the Hurricanes’ regular season was, strangely, not any specific goal or win, but what came after the victories at home. As the Hurricanes evolved from an oddity to a truly competitive team, their postgame Storm Surge celebrations evolved in their choreography from basic—“skate towards the boards”—to exceptionally advanced—“bring out a basketball hoop and run a play so Trevor van Riemsdyk can dunk on skates.” Masterminded by the beloved three-time Cup winner Williams, the celebrations not only pissed off old farts like Don Cherry, but added excitement and unpredictability to the team’s home games. Suddenly, when those “Bunch of Jerks” won, you had to notice.

But the celebrations would have been few and far between if this team didn’t have talent, which they certainly do. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen are the offensive duo of the present and the future, as the 21-year-old Aho led the team with a career-high 83 points in his third NHL season, with the 24-year-old Teravainen right behind him with 76. Both of them scored in Game 7. Nino Niederreiter, who’s locked up long-term, notched 30 points in 36 games with the team after arriving midseason from Minnesota. Defensively, their core guys are still in their mid-20s but already allowed just the third-fewest shots per game of any team in the league this year. And Andrei Svechnikov, a 19-year-old with the dumb guts to fight Alex Ovechkin, scored 20 goals in his rookie campaign, while on the other end of the spectrum, 37-year-old captain Justin Williams—the Robert Horry of hockey—has seen just about everything a player can see throughout his career.

The Hurricanes also have a lucky pig. His name is Hamilton.

Brock McGinn #23 of the Carolina Hurricanes scores the game winning goal against Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals at 11:05 of the second overime period in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Hurricanes defeated the Capitals 4-3 in the second overtime period to move on to Round Two of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

This sounds ridiculous to say about a team that just beat the Capitals, but the actual most impressive thing ’Canes is that they should be even better, because analytically, they are spectacular. The team ranked a mere 16th in goals scored this year, but in expected goals scored, they were third. In goals against, they were seventh best in the league, but in expected goals against, they were second. What does this tell you? Even with as much success as they’ve had, they’ve been very, very unlucky. If that bad luck regresses, they’re an elite team.

Still-young goaltender Petr Mrazek has had some hiccups that have disrupted his promising career, but in this recent stretch he’s been very solid, and might just now be entering his prime. He’ll be a free agent after this year, but assuming the Hurricanes keep Mrazek or get a different good goalie and ink the RFA Aho to a big extension this summer, they’ll still have some cap space to play with to either bring back Micheal Ferland or improve their skating corps in other ways.

In a wide-open Stanley Cup Playoffs, this could very well be the ’Canes’ time to shine already. But even if it’s not, they still have plenty of promising seasons ahead of them. If you got into the Hurricanes this year after a decade of apathy, great for you. And if you haven’t quite caught on yet, stop dragging your feet and watch them take on the Islanders! Nothing is certain in hockey—just ask the Oilers—but as long as the universe is feeling charitable, and GM Don Waddell stays logical, these ’Canes are going to become a familiar sight in Aprils and Mays to come.

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The enduring image of the Hurricanes’ regular season was, strangely, not any specific goal or win, but what came after the victories at home. As the Hurricanes evolved from an oddity to a truly competitive team, their postgame Storm Surge celebrations evolved in their choreography from basic—“skate towards the boards”—to exceptionally advanced—“bring out a basketball hoop and run a play so Trevor van Riemsdyk can dunk on skates.” Masterminded by the beloved three-time Cup winner Williams, the celebrations not only pissed off old farts like Don Cherry, but added excitement and unpredictability to the team’s home games. Suddenly, when those “Bunch of Jerks” won, you had to notice.