The Last Shot tour

RALEIGH -- In hockey, as in life, little is ever guaranteed and rarely do things remain the same.

Every game is different. Every season is different. And in the National Hockey League, every team is different every season.

The Carolina Hurricanes fancy themselves Stanley Cup contenders as a new season begins tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Canes reached the Eastern Conference finals a year ago. Nearly all of the faces remain the same, and some new ones were added.

Center Eric Staal and goaltender Cam Ward are the headliners. They are the Hurricanes' stars of today and tomorrow, both awarded long-term contracts and deemed the franchise cornerstones.

But there is a core of older players, like a band of hockey brothers, that has meant so much to the organization, that likely will be making the last go-round this season, perhaps a last run together at a Cup.

It's tempting to call them "Roddy and the Vets." Rod Brind'Amour is the team captain and the oldest player on the team. There's Scott Walker and Ray Whitney, Matt Cullen and Niclas Wallin. All but Walker won Stanley Cup rings with the Canes in 2006, and Walker aches to hold the Cup before his career ends.

"As you get a little older, you appreciate the fact that even great teams only get a certain number of opportunities, and I do feel that with this group," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. "You never know what's going to happen. And the other part of it is because they enjoy playing here so much, they want to keep playing and they want to keep playing here, so they have to show that they can."

The captain

Brind'Amour, 39, will have a year left on his contract after this season. But the other four are in their final contract years with the Canes.

All will be unrestricted free agents and could re-sign with Carolina and return. None could return. This could be it -- a last-shot tour, so to speak.

"We've all been together for a while now, and there's definitely a sense of urgency," Cullen said. "Guys are hungry and feel like this is as good a shot as you're going to get with the group we have. And with the fact some of the guys are getting older and nearing the end of their deals, you can feel this is a real good opportunity for us."

Brind'Amour and Wallin, 34, were members of the Canes team that reached the Stanley Cup finals in 2002. So was forward Erik Cole, who came back to the Hurricanes in a trade this March and now is working on a two-year contract.

"You never take anything for granted, whether you have a five-year deal or one year," Brind'Amour said. "Every day is something you have to cherish and try to make the most of, taking advantage of every opportunity you're given."

Whitney, 37, is in his fifth season with the Canes. The winger was the team's leading scorer during the regular season last year with 77 points while also topping the Canes with 53 assists and 30 power-play points.

Cullen, 32, played on the '06 Cup champions. The forward went to the New York Rangers the next season as a free agent, then returned to Carolina in a July 2007 trade.

"You get so accustomed to having these guys around," Brind'Amour said. "They've been good friends and good teammates. You've been through so much together, and you almost take it for granted. The camaraderie we have is something special.

"But at the same time, we know it's not going to last forever, and we want to make the most of it."

A new perspective

Walker, 36, was well-respected in the league long before coming to Carolina in a 2006 trade with Nashville. The tough, gritty forward had never scored a playoff goal until last season, and what a goal it was -- the Game 7 overtime winner against the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Walker missed a chunk of last season with a concussion. During the playoffs, it was learned his wife, Julie, had been diagnosed with cervical cancer.

But Walker is healthy. Julie Walker, he said, has responded very well to treatments. He enters his 15th season with a certain peace of mind, with a new perspective.

"When you start getting older, you always feel like you're playing the back nine of the golf course," Walker said. "You need to enjoy every time, every practice, because one day they'll come and say, 'You're done, you can't play anymore.'

"I will enjoy it. If I'm on the fourth line or the first line, it doesn't matter. I'm not thinking about [the contract] at all. I just love playing the game and want to win."

With more than $95 million now tied up in Staal's and Ward's contracts, Rutherford may not have the resources to re-sign everyone and fit it within the Canes' budget. Defensemen Joe Corvo and Aaron Ward also will be unrestricted free agents.

The River Rats

There's the young bunch in Albany with the River Rats of the American Hockey League -- Brandon Sutter, Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman, Jamie McBain, Mike Murphy -- that's eager to make the move up to the big club and establish themselves.

"Boychuk will have my job one day," Whitney said of the winger, the Canes' top draft pick in 2008.

Rutherford said the play of the Canes this season will dictate which players will be back. Such is the nature of the business.

"If this group is successful," he said, "it makes a stronger case for them to stay together longer. But that's the same every year regardless of age or contract."

As some of the older players recently posed for a photo shoot at the RBC Center, playfully bantering as cameras clicked, it was impossible not to sense their bond, the strength of their achievements together.

"Every one of them means a lot to the organization," Rutherford said. "Those are all guys you don't just look at their ability -- you look at their character. They're all great team guys. That's why we know we always have a chance to win, even in tough times.

"That's why most of them have won a Cup and been to the conference finals and won big games. I mean, it doesn't happen by accident. You can have all the ability in the world, but you have to have guys who know how to win, and that's what we have."