As the second round of the NHL playoffs continues, Carolina Hurricanes fans in postseason withdrawal need not avert their eyes. There are enough former Hurricanes and other figures of note still playing to make it interesting.
Enough, in fact, to pursue Six Degrees of Playoff Separation:
1. Players
There are nine former Hurricanes sprinkled among the eight remaining playoff teams, although three are injured.
Most prominent: Boston Bruins forward Mark Recchi, who at 42 is playing just as well as he did for the Hurricanes when he was 38.
Least prominent: San Jose Sharks forward Dwight Helminen, who played 23 games for the Hurricanes in 2008-09.
Of the mass exodus at the trade deadline, only one player who left Carolina is still active: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Andrew Alberts. (Niclas Wallin has played only one game for San Jose in the playoffs because of an undisclosed injury.)
The others: Craig Adams, who won his second Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season; Patrick Eaves, who had 12 goals this season for the Detroit Red Wings after scoring only seven in 85 games with the Hurricanes; and Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Ladd.
Philadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton and Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg are out injured.
2. Coaches
One name tops this list: Peter Laviolette.
Coming off his 2006 Cup triumph with Carolina, Laviolette has won five straight playoff series, although that looks likely to end with the Flyers down 3-0 to the Bruins going into tonight's game.
Laviolette took former Hurricanes assistant Kevin McCarthy with him to Philadelphia when he was hired in December.
Behind the Chicago bench, Joel Quenneville played 457 games for the Carolina franchise when it was the Hartford Whalers.
Detroit assistant Brad McCrimmon is a few seasons behind, having played 156 games for the franchise.
And behind the Pittsburgh bench, although not a coach, is trainer Chris Stewart, Pete Friesen's assistant in 2005-06.
3. Broadcasters
Though not a former broadcaster, FS Carolinas play-by-play announcer John Forslund is on full-time duty with Versus during the playoffs.
He drew the Pittsburgh-Ottawa Senators series in the first round, a plum assignment.
Forslund is working the Chicago-Vancouver series with Dallas Stars analyst Daryl Reaugh, who was his broadcast partner with the Whalers for one season.
Forslund's predecessor with the Whalers, Rick Peckham (now with the Tampa Bay Lightning) has called playoff games for Versus as well.
Former Hurricanes defenseman Aaron Ward is scheduled to serve as a guest studio analyst on Hockey Central tonight and Saturday.
4. Executives
Laviolette and McCarthy aren't the Flyers' only links to Carolina.
In the front office, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren is a former coach and general manager of the Hurricanes franchise when it was the Whalers.
Detroit director of pro scouting Mark Howe was a star for the Whalers as well, and Vancouver general manager Mike Gillis' name may be known to die-hard Hurricanes fans as Matt Cullen's former agent.
5. Nemeses
There are any number of the Hurricanes' past playoff rivals still alive in the postseason, most notably Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, who quite possibly could have beaten the Hurricanes on his own last spring even if his teammates had struggled.
Also: Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger (2006 Stanley Cup finals) and center Daniel Briere (2006 conference finals); any number of former New Jersey Devils (many, many playoff series), including Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta of the Montreal Canadiens; and six of the Red Wings who got their names on the Stanley Cup in 2002 by beating the Hurricanes are still playing for Detroit.
Penguins forward Matt Cooke has few friends around the NHL, but none around here because of his concussion-causing hit on Scott Walker, among other transgressions. The same can be said of teammate Brooks Orpik, who broke Erik Cole's neck with a check from behind in 2006.
When they were AHL head coaches, San Jose assistant coach Trent Yawney put on a show for busloads of Hurricanes fans when he exchanged punches on the ice with Carolina assistant coach Tom Rowe in a brawl in Norfolk, Va., in 2004 during the NHL lockout.
6. Friends and family
The Bruins have a Boychuk, defenseman Johnny, who is not related to Hurricanes winger Zach; the Penguins have a Staal, center Jordan, who is related to Hurricanes center Eric.
Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland was high on the Hurricanes' draft board in 2003, but after taking defenseman Danny Richmond (on the Chicago playoff roster but not playing) with the first pick of the second round, they couldn't reasonably acquire another second-round pick to take him - partially because the Hurricanes were loath to give up future picks with the draft in Raleigh in 2004. (Eaves was another second-round target.)
And then there's Bruins forward Blake Wheeler. After meeting his father, an annual volunteer in the media tent at the U.S. Open, The News & Observer sports department made Wheeler its unofficial draft prospect even before Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes shocked the hockey world by taking him fifth overall at the RBC Center in 2004.
When Wheeler played against the Hurricanes in the second round last year, the circle was complete - possibly as tenuous a link to the Hurricanes as one can concoct, about six degrees' worth of separation.
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